In this week’s episode of Business by The Books, Danielle Hayden, reformed corporate CFO and founder of Kickstart Accounting, Inc., breaks down the real journey from entrepreneur to small business owner to finally stepping into the role of CEO.
This isn’t about chasing flashy titles or hitting arbitrary revenue goals. It’s about clarity, confidence, and understanding your numbers so you can actually lead your business instead of letting it run you.
Key Takeaways:
- Entrepreneur Stage – Building with Instinct: Many entrepreneurs start with passion and creativity but rely only on income goals and bank balances instead of true financial clarity. Danielle explains how this stage can fuel growth, but also stall it.
- Small Business Owner Stage – Running the Machine: This is where consistent revenue, vendors, and maybe a team come in. But too many owners still try to do it all themselves, which leads to mistakes and burnout.
- CEO Stage – Leading with Vision and Data: The mindset shifts that happens when you step into your CEO role, where you go from reacting and needing to have your hands in every area of the business to delegating and making intentional, future-focused decisions.
- Real-Life Client Success – Delaney Fischer’s Story: Hear how one client shifted from messy spreadsheets and receipts to clarity and balance once she started seeing her numbers monthly.
Topics Discussed:
(00:00) Intro: Redefining the CEO Role – Why It’s About Clarity, Not Business Size
(01:11) The Entrepreneur Stage: Passion-Driven But Missing Profitability
(03:37) The Small Business Owner Stage: Transitioning to Systems, Responsibility, and Financial Clarity
(06:27) The CEO Stage: Leading with Data, Mindset Shifts, and Future-Focused Planning
(08:52) Stepping Into Your CEO Role: How to Stop Doing More and Start Gaining Clarity
(09:53) Outro: Kickstart’s CFO Services, Like, Share and Subscribe!
Resources:
CFO Services | https://kickstartaccountinginc.com/the-cfo-solution/
Client Success Story | From Burnout to Balance: Redefining Entrepreneurial Success Through Break-Even Analysis with Delanie Fischer of Self-Helpless Podcast
Book a Call with Kickstart Accounting, Inc.:
https://kickstartaccountinginc.com/book-a-call/
Connect with Kickstart Accounting, Inc.:
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/Kickstartaccounting
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@businessbythebooks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/kickstartaccountinginc
Episode Transcript
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;28;20
Danielle Hayden
Today we're diving into something big because this episode, it's about evolution, the evolving process from entrepreneur to CEO. And to be clear, this isn't in a seven figure boss babe kind of way. This is the real, grounded numbers backed way that actually gives you clarity on what it means to approach your business and your financials as an entrepreneur, business owner, and CEO.
00;00;28;23 - 00;00;51;19
Danielle Hayden
Now, I want to clear something up before we get started; I hear all the time that only big businesses have CEOs, that I'm a solopreneur, I don't have a big team, and I'm just not established. Right? I'm not ready to be a CEO. And here's the hard truth for you: The CEO role, it's not about business size. It's not about the size of your team.
00;00;51;21 - 00;01;18;27
Danielle Hayden
It's about business clarity and that clarity, it starts with you, your mindset, your numbers, and your actions. Let's talk about each role; entrepreneur, small business owner, and CEO. What each of those roles need in their financials, and how you can move from doing to leading. Let's start with the entrepreneur stage. This stage I like to identify as the building with instinct stage.
00;01;18;29 - 00;01;43;24
Danielle Hayden
This is where so many of us begin. Accidental entrepreneur. I'm really good at my craft. I love doing this craft and I wanted to serve a bigger purpose. I wanted to serve my community. Now I have to worry about all of the business side of being a business owner. Our entrepreneur stage, this is where we are running on creativity, energy and instinct.
00;01;43;26 - 00;02;08;07
Danielle Hayden
So you might be in this stage if you are still figuring out your offers, you're doing your own books, or you haven't looked at your numbers and months, you're focused on income generation. You're focus on figuring out who your ideal client is, what you do for them, trading time for money and not quite understanding how to build a team or focus on profitability.
00;02;08;07 - 00;02;35;10
Danielle Hayden
Yet during this time, what we see is that most people are focusing on revenue trends and their business checking account balance at this stage. The mistake that I see being made is not focusing on the specific spending categories, just the bank balance. At this stage, I see entrepreneurs making the mistake of focusing on revenue. I want to hit six figures.
00;02;35;13 - 00;03;03;16
Danielle Hayden
I want to make it there. However, not focusing on profitability. Now, you guys heard Delaney on the podcast a few months ago. She came to us at this stage. She had income, a growing business, but she was using spreadsheets and a drawer of receipts. She operated like an entrepreneur, passionate and energetic. But she knew that she wanted to grow into a business that really supported her lifestyle.
00;03;03;17 - 00;03;33;08
Danielle Hayden
So we helped Delaney by getting out of the spreadsheets, out of the box of receipts, and clean up her books so that she can receive a monthly Snapshot and see her numbers. And she shared with us that this is when everything for her started to change, and not in a way that she grew a massive business, but where she started to understand financially what she needed in her personal life so that she can have a work life balance.
00;03;33;10 - 00;04;04;02
Danielle Hayden
That served her and where she's at at this stage of her life. So as we move from entrepreneur stage to small business owner stage, this is the time where we're starting to run a machine. Our business is becoming the machine. This is where we have consistent revenue. We're starting to create real systems and we have responsibility. We have vendors, partners, clients, and maybe even team members who are counting on us to show up.
00;04;04;04 - 00;04;30;23
Danielle Hayden
But this is also a time where as a small business owner, we're in everything, right? You're answering the client emails, approving invoices, running payroll, maybe even doing your own bookkeeping, checking in with your accountant once a year. We're in that stage where our hands are still touching every area of the business in a doing aspect, not leading as a small business owner.
00;04;30;25 - 00;04;55;24
Danielle Hayden
We can start to lean into the machine that we built so that we can pull on levers rather than doing everything. So at this stage, the biggest mistake that I see business owners making is trying to be the one to do everything. At this stage, business owners understand that they need to know their numbers. They understand that they have to file their taxes every year.
00;04;55;28 - 00;05;21;21
Danielle Hayden
They have to save for taxes. They have to plan for that cash outlay. But they're trying to be the one to do everything. And because they're trying to do everything, their bookkeeping is actually not right. And at this stage, it is so important that as a business owner, you can see your profit and loss by service line, by revenue stream, that you can see your expenses and where they're going.
00;05;21;21 - 00;05;45;22
Danielle Hayden
And every category that you can see, your balance sheet that your assets are growing and not your liabilities, not your debts. We have to be watching monthly cash flow trends, understand our owner’s pay, taxes, and when it's time to become an S Corp. This is a time where we see business owners, they want to grow, but they know they're maxed out.
00;05;45;23 - 00;06;26;28
Danielle Hayden
And here's the thing: What got you here, from entrepreneur to small business stage, it won't get you to the next stage because you need clarity to make decisions. It's not about surviving. It's not about breaking even. It's about scaling with purpose, with intention, so that you can continue to serve your community. And so at this stage, as a small business owner, it's important that you have bookkeeping off of your plate so that you can start to spend your time not doing the bookkeeping, but actually analyzing that information to be able to ask yourself, what's working, what's not working so that we can get to the next stage.
00;06;27;03 - 00;06;54;08
Danielle Hayden
Now the last stage is the CEO stage. This is the stage of business where we are leading with vision and data. Remember, this isn't about your size. I'm not mentioning revenue on purpose. I don't care what your revenue is. I don't care how many employees you have. This is about mindset. The mindset shift from entrepreneur, solopreneur where I have to do it all myself
00;06;54;11 - 00;07;24;23
Danielle Hayden
to small business owner, I understand that I need data to lead with intention to CEO stage leading with clarity and vision. The real CEOs that I know, the successful CEOs I know, they know their financial patterns. They delegate their bookkeeping. They have a money team, they have a budget, and they check it monthly. They use their reports to plan, not just to look back.
00;07;24;26 - 00;07;47;06
Danielle Hayden
I've worked with CEOs making $100, 200,000, 2 million a year in revenue. And it's not about the size. It's about mindset and systems. So here's what CEOs need to see in their numbers: They need to be able to see a monthly income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. That's the basics, right? We are looking at that monthly.
00;07;47;06 - 00;08;14;13
Danielle Hayden
We've gotten into a habit during the small business owner phase, where we are in the habit of looking at these reports monthly. Now, the add on as we shift into CEO mindset is to start looking at our monthly budget versus actuals. How did we actually do compared to where we thought we would do? Looking at our rolling cash flow forecast, we know where we thought we were going to go in our budget.
00;08;14;15 - 00;08;40;24
Danielle Hayden
Now that we know where we're actually going, how are we going to plan for cash so that we can continue to fund our investments and growth of the business? We need to understand our payroll. As a CEO, you are getting paid and hopefully you're getting paid as an S Corp, paying yourself a reasonable compensation through payroll, as well as owners draws as a percentage of profit.
00;08;40;27 - 00;09;08;20
Danielle Hayden
CEOs look at their growth strategies before implementing them. They understand how they're going to grow and they do it with a plan. Our CEO clients, they shift from small business owner by asking the future facing questions. What can I invest in next quarter? I don't have to cut back. I have to invest. Can I afford a new hire?
00;09;08;22 - 00;09;35;05
Danielle Hayden
What do I need to continue to delegate and can I afford to do that? Should I launch again or optimize what's already working? I need to plan my revenue and expenses for future profit. So if you're listening to this and thinking, I've built something, but I'm tired, I'm making money. I don't really feel in control. I want to grow, but I don't know how to decide what's next.
00;09;35;08 - 00;10;02;17
Danielle Hayden
You are not doing anything wrong. I promise. It's a sign that you've outgrown your current stage in business. The next step isn't you doing more or hustling harder. It's more clarity. It's time for you to step into your CEO role and get the right support. I want to invite you to receive the monthly Snapshot. Let us show you your numbers in a way that makes sense.
00;10;02;20 - 00;10;30;29
Danielle Hayden
Here at Kickstart, we have a proven framework and strategy that's worked for thousands of business owners over the years. The way that we deliver your numbers through the Snapshot creates power and confidence. So let us help you build this system so you can stop reacting and start leading. If you're ready to step into your CEO role, whether you're just getting started or managing a team, you don't have to do it alone.
00;10;31;01 - 00;10;58;29
Danielle Hayden
Visit KickstartAccountingInc.com and book a discovery call with our team. We'll walk through where you are in business and show you how we can support you with bookkeeping, CFO services, and strategic planning, and help you finally see a path forward. If you're not quite ready, that's okay. Keep listening. Subscribe to the show so that you get weekly alerts and stay on this journey with me.
00;10;59;05 - 00;11;32;06
Danielle Hayden
I'll be back every week to help you continue to use your numbers to make business decisions and step into your powerful role as CEO. I hope you enjoyed today's episode of Business by The Books. Don't forget to hit like and subscribe! This is the number one way we can help other entrepreneurs find this podcast, because here at Kickstarter Accounting, Inc., it is our mission to help entrepreneurs understand their numbers, get access to this information, and grow and thrive in their business.
00;11;32;06 - 00;11;54;28
Danielle Hayden
So please help me, help other entrepreneurs understand their numbers so they can finally grow and thrive.