How to Build a Scalable Business

Even if you’re kind of new to this concept of a scalable business model, you probably still know that word scale is definitely a buzzword in the industry. But even with this word popping up literally everywhere, most entrepreneurs don’t really understand how to scale. 

My mission and my goal is for you to have a business that has no ceilings and that’s not contingent on the time and the energy that you have to give. Because honestly, if our growth and scaling our business depended on how much time and energy we had, we wouldn’t get very far and 6 and 7 figure business would be impossible. 

Here’s my one caveat: Success is in the details, and there are a thousand other little actions and steps that will help support a scalable business model, but we’re going BROAD strokes today. Kinda like taking a peek at the blueprints before we start building the foundation.

Four Areas to Focus On

# 1: The mindset of a LEADER

This is where it all starts, so it’s the first thing we’re going to cover. We cannot scale a business if our mindset is still, in gig freelancer mode, or in I wanna make a little bit of extra cash mode or any money I make money is great mode. If you started your business that way (didn’t we all?!) you’re here because your business has grown and evolved. BUT sometimes our mindset doesn’t grow with our business. You need to start thinking like a business owner that has a big business already. I’m talking big time CEO energy.

#2: Take a look at your offers

Your offers are a big piece of the “scalable business” puzzle and here’s why: If all of your offers require more TIME from you, you will never be able to scale. You should have one offer where it doesn’t matter how many people sign up for the offer, it doesn’t require more time or energy from you.

Here’s an example of what this would look like in my business. I’m a business coach, and I have one-to-one offers and I have group coaching offers. Right now, my group offer is evergreen. You can join at any time, and there’s really no limit on how many people can come into that program. New members coming into my group program do not require a significant amount of additional time or energy from me. This is a scaled offer. Keep in mind that not every offer has to be scalable right this very second, but it has to have capacity to scale in the future. 

#3: Systems

Systems are a really, really big part of scaling and even though they aren’t sexy, they need all your attention. 

The goal of good systems is to allow you to step out of the minute details of your business and spend more time doing what actually makes you money. I know you might not yet be in a position where you can hire a team to handle the mundane tasks we are sick of doing, and I get that. There can be stages to your systems. 

Here’s the first step: Figure out where all your time goes. Stop touching the same thing over and over and over again. With that in mind,  I want you to think of everything that you touch in your business. Write it down and compartmentalize all of them into three category “buckets”: internal systems, sales systems and client systems. 

Once you have your list, start brainstorming ways you can reduce the amount of time you are spending on these items. This could look like applying some kind of tech software,  or hiring a team member. 

Simplicity is gonna be your friend here. If you start to feel overwhelmed by the process of creating systems, there’s a good chance you are offering too many things and you need to simplify your offer suite. 

#4: Marketing strategy

If you want to scale your business, you have to have a strong marketing strategy. This is non-negotiable. You have to have a system that continually brings new, ideal clients into your world. In short, you MUST prioritize marketing. 

None of the previous three areas matter if we’re not getting visible. We’re covering this last because it is the most important. 

Find Leads. This is what it all comes down to. Whether you’re committed to direct outreach, attraction marketing or social media, you need to have a duplicatable system that is consistently bringing fresh leads into your world.

Nurture Your Leads. Once we’ve identified the ideal way to bring new leads into your world, you need to nurture them. The best way to do that is through content marketing. This covers written content, video content and audio content. The goal of good content marketing is to continually pour into our audience and remind them that we are the authority in our specialty and that we can help them get the transformation that they desire. 

Sell To Your Leads.  Here’s what it comes down to: You have to talk about your offers. You have to give strong calls to action. You have to know in your bones that this offer is the offer that can change your ideal client’s life or business circumstances. 

You have to feel that in your bones, and you have to sell it like that. If you don’t sell your offers like you believe in them, no one else will either. 

In a nutshell 

Growth happens in the details. Building a scalable business structure takes intention. It takes strategy and it takes time.

Start with the mindset of a leader, then take a good hard look at your offers, and after that it’s time to implement and clean up your systems. Last but not least, you must have a duplicatable, strategic marketing strategy that brings new leads into your world. 

I created Grow Business and Marketing Academy because I wanted to create a space where you are able to implement all of the strategies and concepts I’ve shared today (and SO much more!) in a structured setting with the support of an experienced business coach and other high-level entrepreneurs on the same journey.

For more details, be sure to check out the full podcast linked above!