You’ve scaled your business, and everything looked like it was on an upward trajectory… but then 2020 hit (or some other setback), and you’re struggling to scale any further. If this sounds familiar, you’re in the right place.
As we head into the new year, it’s a good time to think about goal setting for next year. However, you need more than a list of goals to scale your business fast. It would help if you had a good strategy in place, along with a set of clear systems and processes. If you lack any of these things, you will continue to struggle to scale, whether you are the owner of a start-up company or the ruler of a six-figure business.
If you want to make 2021 the year you scale your business beyond six-figures, here are some of my best tips of 2020 to help you do just that. These tips are highlights from my blog posts and YouTube videos of 2020. I’ve taken the best tips, the ones that will help soar your business to new heights and wrapped them in a neat bundle in the form of this blog post (and, of course, the video below).
Enjoy!
1. Believe you are an entrepreneur
Ah, crippling self-doubt, I’ve missed you (not really). Entrepreneurs can be beaming with confidence one minute and battling severe imposter syndrome the next. It’s a constant struggle for many of us, but here are some words from Richard Branson that might help silence that irritating voice of self-doubt in your head:
“Everyone is born an entrepreneur, and everyone has the potential to be an entrepreneur.”
I love that quote. We are all born with the ability to become an entrepreneur, but not everybody gets the opportunity. Plus, even those who do get the chance often fail to grasp it fully. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need the right environment, conditions, and motivations. Above all else, you need to be willing to take risks.
2. Define your strategy
You need to have a strategy in place to help your business scale. Identify your destination first, and then think about what will get you there as fast as possible. What is your ultimate goal? What do you envision as your final destination?
With this in mind, come up with a strategy that will help you move closer to your goal or destination. Only move forward with the things (such as new ideas, tools, products, etc.) that will help you reach your goal. As for everything else? Turn a blind eye because you do not have time to waste on things that do not help move your business forward.
3. Focus
If you want something, you’ve got to focus on it. You will never scale your business fast without focusing on your strategy and focusing on the things that will help you reach your goal.
Don’t waste time on pointless ventures that will not help foster results. Focus on your goal, destination, and strategy, and get rid of anything that distracts you from those things.
4. Slow down
Sometimes, you need to slow down to speed up. As entrepreneurs, we tend to get excited when we have new ideas and do everything ridiculously fast. So fast that there is no time to optimise what we’re doing, never mind measuring the results.
You don’t have to rush through everything. It’s okay to slow down and take your time when you need to. Make an effort to be consistent because consistency and being able to optimise your processes, etc., is what will help you scale your business.
5. Be the CEO of your business
Do you want to be the CEO of your business? Or, would you rather be too wrapped up inside your business to focus on actually scaling it? I know it might be tempting to stay working inside your business because you love it so much. However, if you’re busy inside your business, who is going to run it? Who is going to scale the business?
You must step up as CEO of the business or find someone else who will. You must also define your business’s functions and the roles you need to fill to deliver the services or product you want to provide.
6. Map out the future of your business
You may not have a crystal ball to tell you what the future holds, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t plan. I suggest strategically mapping out what you want your business to look like in three years. You can dream as big as you like, but make sure that it’s a feasible dream.
Consider how your business will operate and what functions and roles you’ll need in the business. Then, draw an organisational chart for it. Think strategically about what will drive your business forward. When you get stuck, remind yourself who you want to serve and why.
7. Implement the right systems and processes
If your business can’t run without you, it’s because you lack suitable systems and processes in your business. Your business needs systems and processes to operate effectively and efficiently, whether you are there or not.
If you need a reminder, a process is a set of steps that you need to have inside your business for anything that you’re going to repeat more than once.
When things go right, turn it into a process or system. When something goes wrong, improve it until you can convert it into an effective system or process. It is that simple, and if you want to scale your business fast, you need both inside your business.
8. Believe in yourself
People that run super successful businesses have an unstoppable belief that they are destined for greatness and success. The problem is that many people have a disjointed relationship with money. They want to make money, but they’re afraid to ask for it.
Usually, this stems from the silly notion that money is the root of all evil. However, you can do many amazing and wonderful things with money. Besides, all businesses exist to make money. So, try to silence the inner voice that holds you back from scaling your business. You’re providing a product or service to serve your customers, sure, but you’ve also got to make a profit.
9. Say “no”
Why are we so afraid to say no to people? As an entrepreneur who is actively trying to scale a business, your time is precious. You must use your time wisely, which means saying no when you want to say no.
Every time you say yes to something or someone, you’re saying no to the next opportunity that could be waiting for you around the corner. So, choose your “yes’s” wisely and say no without feeling guilty about it.
10. Delegate
I had a friend who always seemed like he was either on holiday or planning the next one. I always wondered how he did it while scaling his business at the same time. Then, he told me his secret – delegation. He delegated as much as he possibly could and doing so freed up his time so that he could have the freedom and success he always wanted.
The moral of the story is to outsource and delegate what and when you can. Find skilled people you can trust to do the tasks you don’t want to do, and you’ll have more time to yourself and more time to focus on scaling your business.
11. Hire slow, fire fast
It’s an uncomfortable topic for many, but you can’t be afraid to let go of people in your team who are not performing well. You need to make sure you have the right people in your business. Hire slow means not hiring the first person that applies for the role. It means taking your time and waiting until you find the right person for the job.
Firing fast means letting the wrong people for the role go sooner rather than later. When you hire someone new, give them small tests. If they can do them properly, move them onto larger and more important tasks. However, if they fail at the small jobs, it’s time to move on and find someone else.
12. You’re responsible for your own success
The world has conditioned us to fear failure. We become so terrified to fail that we often don’t even try because we’re so afraid to fail. As the CEO of your business, you might fear the responsibility you have for other people. Perhaps you’re worried if you fail, you’ll let down your team, your family, and yourself. However, that’s not entirely true.
In the context of your business, responsible means to be response-able. You must be able to respond to people. Let others carry their own burdens and achieve their own goals. You can’t carry the weight of everyone else on your shoulders. You are only responsible for your own success.
13. Build a business around a market need
You should not build a business around a passion because not all passions are profitable business ideas. Instead, you should build a business around a real market need. Build a business around something that people actually want to buy from you. If there is no market need for your business, you will not be able to scale it.
In the best-case scenario, you fuse your passion with a profitable business idea. But whatever you do, don’t start a business that is based on your passion but has no real future in the market.
If you are making six-figures but struggling to scale your business any further, you’re in luck. The Firestarter Programme is a tailored 12-month programme that takes you from where you are now (potentially stuck and struggling to scale) to taking your business to new heights.
To find out more about The Firestarter Programme and book a FREE strategy session, head over to: https://ceoentrepreneur.com/firestarter
For more helpful tips and advice about scaling your business, why not subscribe to my YouTube channel.
