Have you ever been asked this question before or even considered it yourself? Running an online service business requires wearing many hats. Do you know how many hats you wear in your business?
When I began providing online services for business owners, I remember how overwhelming it was to keep up with it all. The irony is that I was right back there again when I transitioned and became a business coach. Life comes full circles sometimes.
What Hats?
What does wearing hats mean?
Wearing Hats represents that you have many titles in your business. This also signifies more on your to-do list. Each title involves a multitude of tasks that you have to do as well.
The number of hats you wear can depend on how you manage your online service business. Honestly, some of these will not be appropriate for a solopreneur service business; however, I’ve also listed optional titles or hats you may do.
We will discuss the following 7 Hats You May Be Wearing
- CEO or Founder
- COO (Business Manager)
- CFO (Accountant or Bookkeeper)
- Marketing Director
- Sales Team
- Client Management
- Planning Team
There could be a countless list that is very individual to your business, but we will take an overview of these hats today.
Hat #1: CEO or Founder
The first hat is obviously Founder or CEO (Chief Executive Officer). Wearing this hat involves several tasks throughout the day, not the least of which is running the day-to-day business.
- Decision Maker
- Leadership
- Setting the Vision for the company
- Establish company goals
- Set the business strategy for the future
The bottom line is that everything falls back on you.
As the Founder, you do everything as the solopreneur online service business. You may not refer to yourself as the CEO, but the reality is that as you grow, you should begin acting more like the CEO at some point if you hope to scale.
What does acting like the CEO mean? In simple terms, it means you work less on client work (tasks) and work more on the business itself.
Hat #2: COO – Chief Operating Officer (or Business Manager)
The Chief Operating Officer can overlap with many functions, including Human Resources (HR) and Business Manager.
A chief operating officer (COO) is responsible for implementing and overseeing a company’s strategic plans and operations to align them with its overall business goals.”
investopedia
- Hiring and firing employees or contractors
- Budgeting for different departments (if appropriate)
- Work closely with the CEO
- Help implement the CEO’s business strategy
You support the CEO and their strategies.
It can also include hiring and firing to start and build a team. It will more than likely also include helping to budget for the various departments (if you have them; if not, you will as you scale).
You will also be the right-hand person to the CEO. The COO also manages and oversees the daily activities of the company. This includes documenting all processes of the business.
Hat #3: CFO – Chief Financial Officer
I would be remiss if I did not also mention the CFO, or Chief Financial Officer. This is the person who watches the business expenses and incoming revenue.
You set financial goals for revenue earned as well as help the departments stay within their budgets.
You also review finances to see if the company is hitting all its goals.
The CFO will keep the accounting software up to date. They will balance the checking account monthly. And review the balance sheet and all ledger sheets to have them balance.
This role may also be supplied by your Accountant or Bookkeeper, while you are a Solopreneur.
Hat #4: Marketing Director
The fourth hat you wear is the Marketing Director. As a Marketing Director, you oversee the creation of all content, including graphics, copywriting, and ad production.
It also falls to you to oversee (at minimum) all social media platforms, social media management, and all ad campaigns.
Summary of the Marketing Director Hat:
- Copywriter and editor
- Content creator including graphics
- Competitive and online market research
- Development of a Free Offer
- Email marketing
- Social Media Manager
- Marketing ads
- Budgeting for the department
- SEO Blogging
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- Create marketing funnels
Keep in mind that the social media management includes reviewing analytics and scheduling content. This would include Google Analytics and social media platforms and ad platforms to discern where to put your energies by which content is performing best.
Hat #5: Sales Team
One of the most important hats you wear is the sales team hat. This includes strategies to attract prospective clients.
It also includes managing your CRM platform, keeping up with lead generation, and notes in the CRM system. Not to mention developing sales scripts for meetings with your prospective clients (if needed).
You would also work closely with the marketing team in developing ways to create client sales.
Summary of Sales Team Tasks:
- CRM platform
- Lead generation
- Creative sales scripts
- Works closely with Marketing Director (esp. if running Ads)
Hat #6: Client Management (customer service)
Client management is all about creating a good experience for your clients, as well as creating client loyalty. Client care is the key task for the client management team.
This is also called customer service or customer support. From onboarding to the daily interactions (if needed) with your clients and sometimes with their clients.
This role cannot be underestimated. It is crucial to keep the business thriving.
Hat #7: Planning Team
The planning hat could potentially fall into the CEO and COO category except for the solopreneur. The solopreneur manages all this alone.
The planning team considers the future and how to plan for all departments. It would include planning foreseeable revenue, expenses, marketing and ads, new services or products you wish to develop, and more.
Most of the time, as an online service provider, all of the planning is probably happening within your head. It is important to do brain dumps or brainstorming to get these ideas out of your mind and onto paper (or digital notes).
Final Thoughts & Solutions
As you begin to grow and scale, some of these titles will develop out, and you will hire other people to fill these roles. For now, however, you are wearing all of these hats and more.
Because you are asked to wear so many, it is important that you block time where you are offline and doing self-care. Otherwise, you may not make it to the scaling stage.
Keeping this in mind as you grow is important. Also, you should cleanse your mindset at times. Whether that means with your business coach or a mentor, it is a necessary step. The more you can do this, the more you are free to develop new ideas for your business.
The Solution
I couldn’t write about all of the hats we wear without offering a solution. The solution is to slowly bring on subcontractors to do your client work. At first, you will probably need to wait for new clients and then hire your subcontractor.
If you need help with any of these or more information on the solution, please set up a free session with me.
I love helping women online service businesses scale and showing you how you can Work Less and Earn More!
Tammy Durden is an award-winning business coach and consultant who specializes in helping women online service providers grow a business to fit their lifestyle rather than squeeze a life around their business.
Tammy has established herself as an authority figure over the last 18 years while creating and growing several online service businesses. She is also a sought-after thought leader, course creator, and speaker in the online service industry.