How I Grew: Fatimah Abbouchi, Founder and CEO of Agile Management Office

Comments? Suggestions? Text the show here! One of the most challenging aspects of starting and growing a business is transitioning from employee to entrepreneur.As an employee, you're focused on your core skill set. But in your own company, you're responsible for sales, marketing, finance and managing your people.Managing all your new tasks can get complex, but it's exciting when you get it right and can drive growth. In today's special first-anniversary episode of Help! My Business Is Growing, we welcome Fatimah Abbouchi, Founder and CEO of Agile Management Office, a high-powered boutique project management agency.She's the first guest of our new mini-series, "How I Grew", where we feature CEOs, leaders and founders and ask what specific steps they took to grow their businesses successfully.  Fatimah is also the founder of Return of the Panda®; a not-for-profit focused on improving the mental health of millions of anxiety sufferers worldwide.Today, she generously shares her success story, tips and resources you can apply to your company, and other valuable insights on growing your business.We discuss:01:46 What made you leave the corporate world?05:55 How were those first years for you running your own company? How was the transition from employee to business owner? 07:57 How did your business processes look at the start, and how did they evolve as your business grew?10:15 What kind of financial support did you have? Did you hire a bookkeeper or accountant or have an outside payroll company?  12:38 How is it making financial decisions now that you have the proper financial systems compared to previous years?  15:00 What are some examples of important questions you ask or things you look at in your financial statements that are relevant to you?17:48 What financial decisions or forecasting do you make when hiring people?  20:23 Where do you find these experts? Are there special sites or via your network's recommendations? 22:28 How did you manage to bootstrap your business to seven figures?  25:56 How did you go about "productizing" parts of your business?28:43 Do you have plans to productize more of your company in the future?30:03 What were your biggest growing pains in the past and today? 32:49 Where do you see your company in five years?34:02 What got you into the mental health space? 35:54 How do you manage your mental health?Resources:Fatimah Abbouchi, Founder and CEO of Agile Management Office:https://fatimahabbouchi.com/https://agilemanagementoffice.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fatimahabbouchi/Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/FatimahAbbouchi8/Twitter: https://twitter.com/fatimahabbouchi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fatimah_abbouchi/ Kathy Svetina, Fractional CFO:https://www.newcastlefinance.us/Blog post | How I Grew: How I Grew: Fatimah Abbouchi, Founder and CEO of Agile Management Officehttps://www.newcastlefinance.us/post/how-i-grew-fatimah-abbouchi-founder-and-ceo-of-agile-management-officeIs your growth causing financial headaches? Sales up, but profits lagging? Financial practices stuck in entry level mode?Don't worry, it's not you—it's your financial setup.Introducing NextGen Finance Blueprint by NewCastle Finance. This CFO-led roadmap: • Brings fuzzy finances into focus • Gives you a clear money picture • Creates a step-by-step action planReady to level up? Visit newcastle.finance/blueprint