Some lessons observed in helping 7- and 8-figure+ companies scale their operations last month:
• Scaling is NOT increasing ad spend. It can’t only be front-end focused. My favourite definition for ‘scaling’ is that of Rob Sutton, that “scaling is how far you can spread your message WITHOUT sacrificing quality”
If you fall into the trap of believing scale is a front-end operation only (as in, more leads & higher conversions) you’re in a for a bumpy ride.
• This creates what I call a “front-end loaded” business.
Like the Titanic, all the weight is on one end of the ship, tilting it up to the sky, butt-naked ass first…. and then sinking into oblivion.
• Its most likely that you need to focus more on back-end operations & infrastructure BEFORE attempting to scale your front-end.
• I take my clients through what I refer to as ‘Winter” and “Summer” periods.
Summer periods are where you invest resources & energy into front end growth – get more leads, launch new products, aggressively pursue sales.
Winter periods are when you ease back on the growth and invest more resources & energy into the back end stability and quality control. For example, if you just signed up 100 clients in your Summer phase, now its time to focus on onbaording them, over-delivering service & analyzing behavioral data.
The Winter period is also about developing your team, & building infrastructure that can contain the next wave of clients – while offering the same quality of value.
• As a coach, consultants or freelancer, you’ve more than likely been in a continual “Summer” phase for the last 6months to 6 years of your life…. aggressively trying to “grow,grow,grow!” like the FB ads all encourage you to do.
Doing so is both the cause of your rise and of your following demise.
You know the cycle. You start getting more clients… so you run more ads… so you get more clients… then you attract more organic attention…
And things are going well… until you become a victim of your own success.
You’re suddenly burned out. Fully booked.
Spinning multiple plates at once.
And now you’ve built yourself into the TRAP of doing lead generation, sales, onboarding, delivery, operations and finance all by yourself… caught in the time for money trap.
• Sorry I take that back.
You never do your finances. That just goes to shit.
• So it makes sense that you’ve been in a growth / summer phase for long enough. Scaling HARDER isn’t going to help.
First you must look at back end operations and get things in place ready TO scale – and maintain quality.
Some other lessons in effective scaling…
• When you grow your core team, emotions will rise
People that have been at your side since day one can get territorial when new people come into the fray.
Your core team could be thinking:
“Are these newbies going to take my job away?”
“What will I do when I share the workload?”
“Will I still be SEEN and appreciated?”
Remind your core team that delegating some of their tasks doesn’t mean they have less to do … they actually have more. Move these people into higher positions of responsibility when ready.
• The most important number – revenue generated per team member (employee / contractor).
If you don’t know how much the job position is going to MAKE for the company, don’t ask me what you should pay them. Because the answer is, “It doesn’t matter”.
• As the leader of the company, refine your own job role & responsibilities every 60-90 days.
You only have one job – to work yourself OUT of the technical operations of the company so you’re in a position of management & leadership.
Your next role, from there is to determine if you’re more naturally a leader (visionary / entrepreneur) or a manager (integrator / investor) – and then delegate the side you suck at.
Very few people make exceptional leaders AND managers.
As soon as you own that and become aware of filling your weaknesses as well as doubling down on your strengths, you’ll see business escalate faster in 6 months than it did in the last 6 years. Pinky promise.
For more lessons from helping 7- and 8-figure coaching businesses, get Part II here
