Think Like a 7 Figure Business Owner Before You Become One

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Most service-based business owners hit a wall.

You’re working all the hours. You’re delivering amazing results. But you’re still not scaling. And no matter how hard you hustle, it feels like something’s missing.

Here’s what I’ve discovered:

👉 Getting to 7 figures isn’t about working harder.

👉 It’s about thinking differently.
👉 It’s about building like a CEO—before your revenue reflects it.

In this post, I’ll walk you through the 7 biggest shifts I teach clients who are stuck at 6 figures but ready for more. If you’re a coach, consultant, or service provider who wants more income, impact, and freedom—keep reading.

Start Thinking Like a CEO

Most 6-figure owners ask:
“How do I make more sales this month?”

7-figure CEOs ask:
“How do I create a system that sells—without me?”

The difference?
One is tactical. The other is strategic. One is short-term. The other scales.

The first shift you need to make is this:
🧠 Stop doing. Start directing.

That means carving out space for clarity. One full day each month to zoom out and plan. I call this my CEO Day. No client calls. No content. Just strategy, metrics, and decision-making.

“If you don’t take time to think, you’ll always be stuck in reaction mode.”

📍 Do this: Schedule one CEO Day each month. Treat it like your most important client.

Eliminate What’s Slowing You Down

If you’re still:

• Answering emails
• Onboarding every client
• Chasing leads manually
• Managing admin
• Delivering everything yourself

You haven’t built a business. You’ve built a job.

To scale, you need to remove yourself from the daily grind. Here’s the simplest framework:

• Eliminate what’s not essential
• Automate repetitive tasks
• Delegate what others can do 80% as well 
• Build repeatable systems for everything else
  
  

🎯 Try this today:
Make a “Stop Doing List.”

• Write down everything you do in a week.
• Circle only what ONLY you can do.
• Then start eliminating, automating, or delegating the rest.

Bonus tip: Record yourself doing recurring tasks. Turn those into SOPs using AI tools like Scribd.com or ChatGPT. Then hand it off.

Know Your Numbers or Stay Stuck

You don’t need more sales. You need more clarity.

Here’s what 7-figure owners track every single week:

• Revenue and Profit
• Cash Flow
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
• Lifetime Value (LTV)
• Time vs. Return on Effort
• Conversion rates
• Churn and Retention
  
  

Sales mean nothing if your expenses are outpacing profit. Cash flow issues? That’s the #1 reason businesses fail.

📍 Action: Use a Google Sheet or accounting software like Xero to track these metrics weekly. Don’t wait until tax season.

Streamline Your Delivery to Scale

At six figures, most businesses are:

• Customising every offer
• Delivering inconsistently
• Reinventing the wheel for each client
  
  

At seven figures?

• Offers are productised
• Delivery is systemised
• Clients know exactly what to expect—and love it
  
  

Ask yourself: If you doubled your clients tomorrow, would your business break?

If the answer’s yes, you’ve hit your current delivery limit. You don’t need more hours. You need better infrastructure.

Build a Team That Owns Results

Hiring a VA is a start. But scaling means bringing in people who think, lead, and own their area.

Here’s how 7-figure CEOs hire:

• For outcomes, not tasks
• For leadership, not follow-the-rules execution
• For fit, not just availability
  
  

If you’re micromanaging everything, your team isn’t the problem—you are. Want to scale? Hire slow. Train well. Let go.

Stop Doing What 7-Figure Owners Would Never Do

Let’s get specific. Here’s what 7-figure business owners simply don’t do:

• They don’t live in their inbox
• They don’t check LinkedIn 20 times a day
• They don’t take every sales call
• They don’t deliver every part of the client experience
• They don’t operate without data
• They don’t react all day
• They don’t try to do it all themselves
  
  

Because they’ve built systems that do it for them.

What they DO instead:

• Surround themselves with people smarter than them
• Take time out to think clearly
• Protect their energy so they make better decisions
• Track performance weekly
• Improve client experience continuously
• Lead with a vision, not a to-do list
  
  

“You cannot scale chaos. You scale clarity, systems, and people who get sh*t done without you needing to hover.”

📍 Do this: Audit your weekly calendar. How many hours are spent on tasks you could eliminate or hand off?

Show Up Online Like a Leader

Here’s the harsh truth: If you're not visible, you're invisible.

Six-figure business owners often hide behind the brand. Seven-figure CEOs are the brand.

They:

• Share content more than 5–7x a week
• Lead with original ideas
• Speak boldly
• Say what their audience needs to hear—not just what’s popular
  
  

You don’t need to go viral. You just need to show up with value, consistently.

📍 Start here: Commit to 3–5 quality posts a week on LinkedIn. Share what you know. Take a stand. Your dream clients are watching.

Final Takeaways

If you want to scale to seven figures, start thinking and acting like a seven-figure CEO—now.

Here’s your checklist:

✅ Block one CEO Day a month
✅ Build systems that scale without you
✅ Track real metrics, not just revenue
✅ Streamline client delivery
✅ Hire people who own outcomes
✅ Protect your energy
✅ Show up like a thought leader

You don’t need to do it all this week. Just start with one.

🎯 Action Step: Pick one shift above and implement it this week. Then commit to the next.

Want To See Where You’re At Right Now?

Quickly run through the free  Business Scaling Checklist to gauge how scalable your business is right now, and get some tips on what to do next to build a stronger foundation now—before you hit that 7-figure milestone.

📥 Business Scalability Checklist

Listen to the Full Episode

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Keep mastering your business. 

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“Great insights on getting noticed in the market

Deirdre does a great job of helping understand best marketing and business strategies with a easy to understand and entertaining podcast.

Education in your ears.”

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