Starting a new business is scary. Growing a business is a different beast altogether.
It’s fairly easy to get first clients, but once the immediate access network around us is exhausted – scaling the biz is sometimes proving difficult.
In my first business, as a web designer I started with 1 client (I didn’t have a business before that client;). I wasn’t bad at SEO so I got couple more enquiries and soon enough I had clients from Australia, UK and US. Clients told me they were amazed I responded to their emails like a normal human being (I didn’t know about automations and intake forms than;)
But once the kids came I quickly realised I just don’t have enough time in the day, so I closed the biz for new clients and just kept those who were on retainer. Web design business model, unless you are willing to go agency route proved to be too difficult to scale for me. I didn’t have time for meeting prospects and pursuing clients.
So I took a piece of paper and made a list of things I could do – and retainer clients were the easiest solution. I got paid every month, without wasting time trying to get new clients. Problem solved. (I booked enough work in the first 2 weeks of my new business to last me a year).
And social media business model, once again worked for me quite well – all businesses I have started over the last 8 years made money from the start. I didn’t have time to blog or send newsletters weekly – so I created pillar content and a mini email course instead to nurture prospects. Again, I didn’t know this is not how ‘proper’ biz is done. I did what I could – and instead of growing huge following on social media I talked with people until I was fully booked. Silly me.
Than I discovered the world of Facebook groups and so called business coaching and I was amazed – people who never run a profitable business before were suddenly ‘top biz coach’ – because they have heavily invested in a course. I also discovered that what I was including for free in my web design and social media strategies is actually business coaching and I should have charged 10x as much for it.
I’m still considering the idea;)
So, how do you scale your biz to $5-$10k months and what habits got to do with it?
I wasn’t sure I could name this webinar this way. It’s very specific – and I know that results may vary. So please take it with a grain of salt and I am not making any promises – because I don’t know what you are truly capable of. One of my clients is making over 7 figures with this model and the others are breaking 6 figures this year, but I also have clients who need more time to figure out what they really want to do and who to work with – and that’s ok. They are building their audience and once they are ready to launch – all the foundations will be in place.
Because not every business model is scalable – when we are starting out, having any money coming in is good. It’s only later when we literally don’t have enough time to work (or we burn out trying) and we hit that income ceiling we can see that the income model needs changing.
It’s a different strategy to build a $10k month blog and it’s a different strategy to build a $10k month coaching business. And scaling your business is not always as easy as just tacking in another stream of income. Lower priced sales need larger audience, simply because of the numbers and conversions. But you can make money in your business, even without the list or huge following if you create a great offer and price it right – and get it in front of the hungry audience.
But I also noticed a very peculiar thing – I’m very creative so my inspiration comes and goes and I’m not particularly consistent. But it wasn’t the mad sprints of promotional activities that brought me clients – the biggest impact made those small daily tasks I did consistently. I wasn’t consistent with Facebook and my page has 4 times less followers after 2 years than I gained on Instagram in 2 months. But I was posting on Instagram daily, only occasionally missing the odd day. I spend around 15 minutes on Instagram each day since I started in February but I got now 900 followers, and get on average 80-100 likes on each photo. That engagement is nowhere near my Facebook page engagement. My Twitter account has over 7000 followers now – and I spend on it less than 30 minutes per week, mostly chatting to people.
And that’s what I am going to talk about in this webinar series – about what strategy, tech and mindset is required to grow your business with class, sass and integrity.
Success Habits: How to scale your biz to consistent $5-$10k months:
- How to create your brilliant business plan – and align your dreams and deadlines
- How to create your content marketing strategy to consistently create high impact content that is adored by your clients
- How to create your $10k launch using focus, commit and hustle formula
You will also receive free Success Habit Planner, to create your own success habits.
How to use Success Habits Planner
(You can download it at the bottom of this post, it’s free – don’t miss it!)
There are 3 special sections on this calendar – especially for insanely busy entrepreneurs.
On the side, there are 3 sections that give focus to current month only: again, with 3 sections each to avoid overwhelm and to increase chances of accomplishing them.
FOCUS section: your biz & personal goals
Here you write your 3 main goals for the month. The idea is, if you only accomplished those 3 things – you would be feeling successful. It can be to make it $10k month, get 3 new clients, book a spa visit to celebrate your success. This is your shining beacon in the dark sea of decision making – will it get me closer to achieve my top 3 quarterly goals? And each time you need to make a decision this month you ask yourself – does it get me closer to achieve this or is it a distraction right now?
COMMIT section: your success habits
Those are your success habits, small, ideally daily tasks that bring you so much closer to achieve your goals. Writing 1000 words daily, exercising daily in the afternoon to re-energise your day, being active in 3 Facebook groups or following up with 3 potential clients. They are small tasks, that you want to become your habits.
HUSTLE section: this where you challenge yourself
Here you write down tasks that get you out of your comfort zone. Things that you think you are not ready for just yet. But we never feel ready, so now is just as good as any. Start now.
There is a bonus section at the bottom with your monthly stats for social media and blog growth, including best image dimension sizes for social sharing. I always have to look those up, so to save time I added them right there. Handy, right?
Download your ready to print planner below and you will also receive invitation to my monthly Business Attitude Masterclass. I don’t do newsletters much, but each month I’m hosting live masterclass which you can attend for free or buy a replay later. I love receiving emails from my readers, especially when they tell me they implemented my advice already and got more clients straight away, so I hope you’ll write to me too to celebrate your success!