Episode 39: How to Audit Your Business Like a CEO (Even If You’re a One-Woman Show)
Introduction to the Play Big Queen Podcast
Welcome to the Play Big Queen podcast.
This is for the woman ready to lead with power, move with confidence, and own your Play Big self.
For my newly minted or late blooming, neurospicy visionary babes who are waking up to your power and unmasking your brilliance.
For the sovereign leader building success on your own terms.
I am your host, Kate Bailey.
I am the Play Big Queen.
My name is my title and a command for all women, Play Big Queen.
I invite you to claim this title for yourself and coronate your Play Big Self too, so it can serve you.
This is a space for bold embodiment, radical reclamation, unapologetic leadership, and a business that works with your wiring, not against it.
Your voice is meant to be bold and heard and your brilliance is here to be claimed.
You are already powerful.
I am in service of everyone fucking tired of the people pleasing grind.
We go deep, we get real, and we play big.
It's a new era for women on the Play Big path.
Long may we reign.
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You know how sometimes you walk into a business and you can feel that it's about to blow up?
Like they're on the edge of something bigger.
But the truth is most people try to grow before they ever stop to check whether their systems, their pricing, and their energy are actually ready for that growth.
It's one thing to want to grow. It's another thing entirely to actually be ready for growth.
You could want to grow your business, your visibility, your profit all day long. But if you're not ready, you're just setting yourself up for more disappointment.
So today, we're talking about something that I call the business self audit.
This is the checkup your business needs before she can scale. And if you go to the show notes, there is a free downloadable business self audit checklist that can really help you get the most out of this episode.
So a little context before we get into it.
I run a personal brand and coaching business that is entirely online. Sometimes I'll do in-person intensives, workshops or retreats, but the bread and butter of my business is high level group and private mentorship. It's virtual. I can connect with women anywhere in the world. I can be here in New Mexico and talk to someone in Australia and still help her grow her brand, her mission, her purpose, and her profit.
But lately I've been coming back to my roots, connecting locally, focusing on small businesses right here in my little desert town in Carlsbad, New Mexico.
I'm originally from New York, so is my husband Tony.
When we decided that we were both going to play big in our marriage and individually, we made a commitment that we would go wherever we needed to go for Tony's next career step. So we opened up his career search to the entire US, even internationally, because my business is location independent, which meant I could support him fully in the sense of where he wanted to physically be and spend his time.
And it was such a privilege to be able to do that.
To be able to say, "yes, babe, we can go anywhere you want to or need to so you can level up."
I could be anywhere and still serve my clients, but before I ever had an online business, I came from a family of small business owners. My mom was the first woman to own her own bridal shop and business in our immediate family. I grew up going in and out of family stores on Long Island. My dad worked in marketing and he was the guy in Ad Age's 40 Under 40.
So as a child, I was sitting in marketing meetings before I even knew what marketing was.
I was a child runway and magazine model and did fashion shoots for Laura Ashley. I wrote my first copy that was published and actually used to sell products in a catalog when I was 15, before Facebook was even a thing.
In my late 20s, I ran a group in Brooklyn, New York called Startups in High Heels with other people who reviewed pitch decks and went to pitch competitions and angel investor soirees and parties at Google when they moved into the new Chelsea building.
I learned about running small businesses and how if it's not done right, they don't actually give you the peace or independence of being your own boss that you thought it would give you.
And now I'm learning all the current information on digital audiences and data analytics and what's new in AI by going back to college at 44 to enhance everything I've learned and make sure that my knowledge base is up to date.
And with all this real world experience and being exposed to mentors fairly early in my journey, I learned something.
Business more than anything is psychology, specifically relationship psychology.
Sales is just relationships, how well you can connect, listen, and position value.
And that is the first piece of auditing in your business, realizing that scaling is never just about more followers, more space, or more clients.
It's about clarity. It's about knowing what's already working and what is draining you.
I wanna give you a quick story or example so we can make this tangible for a minute.
Imagine that you are running a plumbing business. You do like a bit of everything. Clogged drains, leaky faucets, pipe repairs, installations. You are busy all the time, but income just feels flat. You're juggling emergencies and wondering why you are working so hard without real growth. So you sit down and you do a simple audit. You look at time, materials, profit, how happy your clients are after each job.
And it's not that long before a pattern starts to emerge. You notice that hot water heater replacements are quietly outperforming everything. People are relieved, they pay on time, and they refer their friends. It's a high need, high trust, high profit kind of situation. And this information is gold, right? Because instead of trying to do more of everything, you decide to do the right thing better.
You can shape your marketing to homeowners with older units. You can add a quick diagnostic form to your website. You streamline scheduling and parts so these jobs move fast. You train your team to ask one question on every call, how old is your hot water heater? And then suddenly your business starts feeling lighter. There's less chaos, more momentum, not because you expanded, but because you edited, because you refined.
That is what an audit does. It shows you what is already working and where your focus will compound.
So today for this episode, I want to give you a clear step-by-step framework to do so you can do a preliminary business audit, even if you've never done one before.
If you are a one woman show or you are just starting to grow and scale, this episode is for you, my Play Big Queen.
And if you feel overwhelmed at the idea of an audit, I wanna invite you to just take a breath.
This is not about judgment, this is about awareness.
Awareness always leads to behavior change, most often for the better.
And in the words of the Play Big Queen, Maya Angelou, who...comes as one but stands as 10,000, the woman who brings all her ancestors with her in all the play big moments... Auntie Angelou said, "when you know better, you do better."
So this episode is about knowing your business better so you can do better.
I want you to walk away from this episode feeling empowered, not intimidated, like you can finally see your business with fresh eyes.
And the teacher and college professor in me just like needs to give you the 101 first, right?
So what is a business audit and why does it matter now?
A business audit is basically your CEO check-in. It's where you stop doing long enough to look at what you're doing. Most small business owners, especially creative ones, leak time, energy, and money every single week without even realizing it.
They're spending money on tools they don't use, they're undercharging, they're giving too much stuff away, discounting way too much stuff, they're working 60 hours a week, but only paying themselves part time. An audit is how you shift from running a business, or rather, letting your business run you, to actually leading a business.
It's like going to the doctor and getting your blood work done before starting a new workout plan. You need to know what's actually going on inside, especially if you want to be healthy in your approach.
So let's put a sexy, imaginary white lab coat on, play doctor, and give your business a checkup.
Together, let's walk through seven areas that make up your business self audit. You don't need fancy spreadsheets for this.
Just grab a notebook or do voice memos and take notes as we go.
So number one, financial reality check. And personally, I always feel like this one is the hardest because there's a lot of shame wrapped up in money. And even when you deconstruct the beliefs and do your shame work around money, there are just layers and layers to keep unpacking, especially in your business, right? But we need this financial reality check.
You have to ask yourself, am I pricing based on feelings or facts?
Look at your numbers.
Where are your costs to deliver each service?
How much time does it take? What are your profit margins?
If you're in a service business like a salon or design studio or maybe even a restaurant, are you tracking how long each client takes and what your actual hourly rate ends up being?
Know your break even point.
Know your average sale per client.
And most importantly, pay yourself first.
If your business doesn't consistently pay you, then it's not a business, it's a hobby that has gotten way too busy.
Number two, audit, brand, and marketing alignment.
Ask yourself, is my marketing keeping up with my growth?
Maybe you're posting gorgeous photos, but they're not converting into clients or sales, something's missing.
You might be marketing your product instead of your transformation.
Instead of being like, "here's the new color or the new outfit our store is doing today" try saying something like, "here's how I helped a busy mom feel like herself again."
It's important to remember why people buy products or services. It's either to solve a problem because they want a transformation, because they're driven by pain or emotion, or they're driven by aspiration.
And then also people buy, yeah, because they want to support people, but... more so because they connect with the person selling. When they can see and connect with the real you, your visibility goes up and people buy more. People bond and in their minds formulate connections over the silliest things because they feel like they can see themselves inside of you and that makes them feel safe.
I've had clients say that they bought from me because I said I hated polka dots. Other clients bought from me because I had a miscarriage or because I inspired them or they heard about a result that another client got or that my spaces are neurodiverse affirming.
Ask yourself this, would I follow me if I didn't know me?
And if not, that's your first audit insight.
Look at your business and your social media from the outside.
Is there clarity in who you are and your vibe? that signature feeling of your way of doing things, your signature style, what you are the best at, what you do that no one else can do it like you?
And is that coming through in how you market who you market to, whether that's on organic social media, paid ads, in email lists or in person?
Okay, so next you're going to audit is number three, systems and scheduling.
Ask yourself, does my time management match my ambition?
Do you have systems that support you or are you still running on adrenaline babe?
I mean, this is really big for my ADHDers out there. Automation, if you're not into it yet, can relieve so much of the pressure. Automate everything that you can... your appointment reminders, your follow-ups, deposits, rebookings, use tools like Square, Acuity, Gloss Genius to track your metrics and simplify your calendar.
And if you've been in a place for a while where you've been dreaming about being ready to scale, then the systems that you have set up should save you hours per week and not create more chaos.
And also I think it's worth noting here that I work with a lot of women in business who are in their 30s to their 60s and depending on who you are, where you're from and how old you are, a common problem for a lot of women that they face in business is flat out being afraid of technology.
And if that's you, I wanna remind you that no one is inherently bad at technology and if you are an entrepreneur, my guess is that you can learn new things.
You've got to try to have the courage around tech to either head right into that fear and figure it out or consult with someone who can do it for you and teach you.
But automation, learning about AI, seeing how technology fits into your business operations in cost effective ways that make your business run more smoothly is essential.
Because from small businesses to epic celebrity musical brands like Beyonce and Taylor Swift, it is evolve or die.
You have to have staying power and you gotta be Beyonce, babe, and figure out all that shit so you can keep staying relevant.
Trust yourself. Trust that you can figure it out and educate yourself on the newest and latest technology systems that can help your business run more efficiently.
You don't need a massive tech budget, but you do have to be informed because again, it's one thing to want to grow, it's another thing entirely to be ready for growth.
Getting informed about tech and systems in your business starts to position you to scale.
Okay, next in your audit we're gonna do number four, which is customer experience and retention.
Now the question to ask yourself here for this audit is would your clients describe you as unforgettable or just convenient?
Again, sales are relationships, right?
You never want to be that girl in a relationship who's in a relationship because it's convenient. You want to be in a relationship because you are loved, you are un-fucking-forgettable, you are the Play Big Queen. You are incomparable, you cannot be compared.
So to be unforgettable, what are you doing?
Are you following up after services?
Are you sending thank you notes?
Are you remembering birthdays or preferences?
Small touches matter and give that white glove service that make you not just feel convenient, but an unforgettable luxury that they must have.
And also the follow-up game and the small touches, that is what builds loyalty.
It's not just skill, but it's the experience that they have. Most small businesses pre-scaling focus on new business before they learn to retain the business that they already have.
They try to grow before they stow away the current people who are taking the flight with them in their business journey.
If 80% of your revenue comes from repeat clients, which is such a common percentage for a lot of business owners, then your retention strategy should be your biggest area of focus.
Building a loyalty and a referral ecosystem where they have some sort of digital card based loyalty and referral programs set up or perks or birthday or anniversary gifts.
I see way too many small business owners discounting to reward people for just getting in the door for the first time when... if your business is going to bleed time, money or energy on anything, you've got to get a return on it.
So investing what I call your "discount budget availability" on people who you want to reward or clients you want to train to be loyal and come back to you is a much better investment than giving people a ton of freebies out the gate because then you just get people who are there for the free shit and you're not actually getting people because you solve their problem, they connect with you, et cetera.
Okay, so number five, and this is a big one.
Team and culture, even if it's just you.
And this goes back into branding, right?
Culture is tied to branding.
So if you're a solo entrepreneur, you, my queen, are the culture.
Ask yourself, am I treating myself like an employee or like the CEO?
Do you overwork and underappreciate yourself?
Do you celebrate wins?
Do you have clear expectations for anyone that you collaborate with?
A healthy culture starts with the energy that you bring to your work, not just what you demand from others. And remember, your culture is your brand.
I have over 22 years experience in freelance logo and branding creation for businesses with clients big and small.
And I say it in just about every single episode, a brand is the change you want to create in your community.
Like Nike, they want to get people into action and they want people to "Just Do It." That's Nike's three word revolution for their brand business.
Personally, I want neurodivergent female entrepreneurs, leaders, professionals and business owners to stop shrinking and stop feeling incompetent like they're imposters or jokers. And I want them to self calibrate to their brilliance and their inner knowing of the queen archetype. So my three word revolution is Play Big Queen and that's my brand, that's the change I want to see in my community, right?
And your brand, that change is delivered through a feeling or a vibe that is circulated through your community via culture.
And the teacher in me is going to break down what culture is for you, right?
Culture is your shared system of beliefs, values, behaviors, traditions, your customs, the language that you use, how you talk when you are in your business.
So whether you're a solopreneur or a whole damn team, you have to think about culture, how you talk, walk, be and believe the change that you want your community to experience. And are you and your team the living embodiment of that culture?
Okay, I wanna take a minute now because I'm getting passionate and I'm riffing and like, I know auditing can be overwhelming, even if it's just broad strokes like in this podcast episode and not a one-to-one private audit, but take a deep breath.
And I mean it, especially for my ADHD entrepreneurs, because we struggle with filtering information. So everything can feel like it is a demand on your brain and your body all at once. And we can feel overwhelmed by how much we have to do or change in our business.
And if that's you in this stage of this podcast audit, just take a deep breath and remember that we don't harvest the crops on the same day that we plant the seed.
If thinking about auditing your business is new for you, then this episode is just about planting that seed.
It's just about information gathering, learning about which nutrients you need in order to grow.
So just take it one day at a time and remember that small steps over time are what lead to playing big and big business growth.
Did you do it? Did you take a moment to breathe? Okay.
We're gonna keep going.
We've got six and seven left, right?
So number six in your audit, marketing channels and visibility.
Ask yourself, are the right people actually finding me?
Remember the example with the hot water heater, right? Like you might not be for everybody. You just might need the people who need hot water heaters to find you.
So ask yourself, like you might have beautiful branding... but are locals in your city actually seeing you?
Are you using Google Business, local directories, or partnerships?
Are you collecting client testimonials and using them in your marketing?
That is a big one.
A lot of people forget to get client testimonials that actually showcase the transformation. I even forget this sometimes, especially while I'm busy and deep in coaching and going back to school and doing all the things, but it's like the most important thing and even I forget it and I've got a whole system built around it.
But where I live in Carlsbad, New Mexico, for example, local business thrives on community, referrals, visibility, and consistent storytelling about the transformations people get with you are going to be your main growth engine.
And really take a moment to just think beyond posting, like really think about connection.
Think about setting up a testimonial system that would feel good for you and your clients who you provided services or products to.
Maybe you have a Google form where people fill out a testimonial like towards the tail end of when they're working with you.
Ask them specifically, what did they feel like before they came to you?
And what did they feel like afterwards?
What was the problem they were grappling with before they came to you and what was the problem that was solved afterwards as a result of working with you?
And you might think you know the answer to this, but when you actually have this conversation with people, they tell you in their own words how they perceive you and the transformation and the problems that you solve and the change.
And having that language... the dialect of your customer or your client, is so critical.
Having the language of their point A and their point B and the transformation that they had with you is invaluable because people need to see themselves in the stories and the testimonials of your clients. They need to have the thought, "I'll have what she's having" or "I want what her client has. They need to connect with you, yes, but they also need to connect with the transformation" that they could have.
Okay.
And finally, the last thing for today's audit.
Number seven, you're going to audit your CEO vision and do a CEO energy audit.
So this one is less tangible, but it's more important than anything else.
Ask yourself, how does my business actually feel to run?
And don't overthink it when you're asking yourself these questions because usually that first intuitive nudge that comes up super fast from your intuition, that's the answer.
Ask yourself, are you inspired or are you running on fumes?
Are your offers and services aligned with what you actually love doing?
Do you get a good sense of being good at it and doing it because you know, doing something that we're good at, something that we're talented at and operating in our zone of genius is what makes us feel so good in our life's work. It's what gets us into flow in the groove. It's what makes work not feel like work.
So are you in your zone of genius or are you doing busy work that should be outsourced to another team, member or another company?
Does your pricing support your peace, not just your profit?
Does the energy exchange feel good?
Meaning when you exchange your time and energy and get that money in return, does it feel good?
Or do you feel resentful, which is a sign of over giving?
Or do you feel guilty or anxious, which could be a somatic sign that maybe you're overcharging?
I'm all for, especially women in business, getting paid large amounts of money and charging obscene amounts of money for their services.
But again, to want growth and to be ready for growth are two different things.
You gotta find the growth edges that you can push on your pricing without blowing out your nervous system and going into guilt or anxiety because then it's always gonna be an energy leak or a battle.
You gotta find that sweet spot where you're like pushing your edges on your prices but you're not constantly tipping over into anxiety or guilt.
You have to be able to naturalize your new next level prices.
So asking yourself, are you, the CEO, energetically aligned in your value exchange in your business?
Because energy leaks will kill your business faster than bad marketing ever could.
Okay, so if you're still listening, I want to remind you again to breathe baby girl.
Seriously, take a breath.
You are not behind. You can do hard things. You can do the hard work of auditing your business.
You could look at what is working and amplify that.
And you can look at what is draining you and plug those leaks.
You can do that because most people don't ever pause long enough to look at their businesses like this. Most people won't even listen to a podcast that is going to put them face to face with the idea of an audit and looking at their shit because it means that they're going to have to actually handle their business.
But you...
you are not most people, are you?
You are still here.
And just the fact that you're curious puts you in the top 10% of leaders in business.
A business audit is like turning on the lights.
It might look messy at first, but once you see it, you can clean it up.
The goal is not perfection.
The goal here is awareness.
So here is your invitation this week, my love.
Set aside one hour. Grab your coffee, your notebook, set the scene to soothe your nervous system, maybe light a candle, and just look.
Look at your money. Look at your marketing. Look at your time. Look at your energy.
And you don't even have to look at it all in one hour, just start to look at it.
It might take multiple sessions, and it might require a lot of pleasure padding to make this task enjoyable, but you can create like a CEO hour or a day or once a week where you do this and ask yourself...
What's working better than I give myself credit for?
And what is quietly draining me that I have been avoiding?
Because again, as I said earlier in the podcast, scaling isn't about adding more, it's about doing better with what you already have.
Business is art and often with the process of creation and creating art, the most powerful and valuable pieces aren't about what the artist added. It's about what they took away.
It's a subtraction process or more accurately, it's an editing process.
That's why the word audit sounds so much like the word edit.
A brilliant artist, a brilliant business artist knows how to edit their own work.
And that's what it means to audit your business like a CEO.
And being a brilliant business artist who knows how to edit, this is not a natural inborn skill that you either have or you don't.
This is learned.
This can be acquired.
All right, Queenie Boo, if this episode got your wheels turning, share it with another business owner who is ready to grow.
And if you want a downloadable checklist for your own business self-audit, then go to the link in the show notes.
Or if you're already on my email list, check your email this morning because I sent it to you in there.
Remember why you are doing this.
You do not need to hustle harder.
You just need to see your business more clearly.
And when you are willing to do that, that is the moment where everything changes.
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Outro 1
That's it for today, Queen.
Take what lit you up, leave what didn't.
You know what serves.
If you want to stay in this Play Big Queen orbit, get the rituals, resources, and real talk that fuels your Play Big self, go to xxxkatebailey.com, scroll to the bottom, and join this community.
This is where bold women gather. Neurodivergent visionaries, disability warriors, sacred disruptors.
If this episode spoke to you, leave a review on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.
Leave comments, give me all the stars, share it.
That's how we create change that ripples, and how this podcast gets out to more people who need it.
If you're ready to work together to make your play big self not just a vision, but a reality that you embody, then head to xxxkatebailey.com, go to the work with Kate section, and join in on a program
that feels right for you.
Or tag me on socials and tell me a moment that truly served you from this episode.
Until next time, remember to honor your own timing, value your own unique way.
And most of all, when you come face to face with your boldest desires, trust your brilliance and Play Big Queen.
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Outro 2
Hey, queen, are you still here?
Good.
That means you're not just curious.
You are being called and want more.
I am here for the ones who want more than party trick mindset hacks.
The ones who need nervous system rooted, neurodiverse affirming space held by someone who is trauma trained, so they can rise on their terms.
My work is designed to center folks navigating ADHD, autism, disability, trauma, or mental health challenges and their brilliance all at once.
You do not need to be someone who identifies as neurodivergent or someone who has a disability to benefit from this work.
If you're feeling called, you belong here.
I believe in and support queer and trans rights, Black Lives Matter, sex worker rights, Palestinian, Ukrainian, and global self-liberation, religious autonomy, and dismantling abusive systems.
If that's too much for you, then babe, this isn't your podcast and you know where the unfollow is.
But if that lights a fire within you and you are inspired to learn more, then my Play Big Queen, you are home.
You can also head over to xxxkatebailey.com/about to learn more about me, my company,
qualifications, methodology, values, worldviews, philosophies, and my mission.
My mission is to activate 10,000 women with invisible disabilities to lead, create, speak up, and claim the spaces that they were told to shrink inside.
Because their leadership, your leadership, will change the world.
If you know that's you, declare it.
Put your energetic line in the sand and tell me.
Email me at [email protected] and tell me why this work is so important for you and we can explore opportunities to work together and make your Play Big dreams a reality.
