So I’m totally mindful that scaling your business in this current environment might be the furthest thing from your mind – you might be focused more on just hanging on right now.
But as a business owner, I reckon it’s times like this exact time right now that are rare opportunities to take a little pause (whatever that looks like for you) and to put some deep thought into your ambitions for your business.
What’s worked up to now? What hasn’t?
What does a ‘reboot’ look like for your business?
Where’s your business going? What do you need to do to take it there?
What are you going to do differently?
Some businesses in some industries are crushing it right now.
Others are pretty much immune from the impact of covid.
And then there are those (tourism, hospitality, retail…) that are fighting for their lives.
But we have to assume that a bounce back is inevitable. These challenges won’t last forever and – if you are impacted right now – we’ll hopefully soon begin to see a landscape emerge that’s going to allow you to reboot your business…
(and you’ll need to be hyper aware when it does because its super easy to quickly fall into the same old habits that haven’t served you or your business well in the past and blocked you from reaching your potential).
So when that happens, ask yourself these 5 questions:
1. Am I afraid to delegate everything besides my ‘superpower’?
To scale your business you have to delegate, you have to outsource, and you have to give up control.
You may be “holding on for dear life” to intimate pieces of your business; and in the process you’re most probably suffocating your own growth.
Right now you’re probably wearing as many as 6 or 7 different hats: marketing, sales, operations, finance, delivery, support, and much more all at once.
How many jobs are you really doing? Chances are if you’re doing 6 or 7 different jobs you’re doing them pretty badly – even those ones that you’re actually really good at.
By creating your own little “blend” of jobs within your business, you’re probably doing a fairly average job of everything.
What’s worse, you keep telling yourself “No one else can do this as well as I can, so I have to do it.” (which is just you coming from a place of fear – and it’s almost certainly not true)
You’re scared to let go of processes within your business because you don’t trust the result.
Ever heard of your ‘Zone of Genius?’
We’ve all got one…
…and this is the ‘only’ place that you should be operating.
So if you don’t think you know where that ‘Zone of Genius’ is – that’s your first stop. Find out where it is. And then dedicate yourself to working only in that space.
You must delegate and outsource EVERYTHING BUT your Zone of Genius. Because this is what’s going to enable you to scale.
If what you’re selling continues to involve your time, you’ll lose that ability to scale.
2. Am I automatically attracting leads (and systematically turning them into customers?)
Growth is going to be slow and laborious using only your network and referrals to drive sales.
If you are the thing that is bringing in new customers you’re always going to be months away from a disaster.
Where are you generating new leads? How are you going to do this automatically?
True success and rapid growth is found in your ability to consistently attract new leads and systematically (and automatically) convert them into customers.
If you’re the ONLY one generating sales…
If you aren’t finding your perfect customers automatically…AND If you don’t have a way for enquiries to be managed and converted without you involved…
Scaling your business is going take you a long, long time (and you’ll probably need to clone yourself at least once)
3. Are You Trying to Follow Someone Elses “Blueprint”
Simply put… almost impossible.
My experience has told me that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ formula for growing your business doesn’t exist.
I LOVE taking inspiration from many places. I even love ‘hacking’ elements of other successful businesses…but I’ve learned (and sometimes the hard way) to disregard what works for someone else, because there’s a good chance it won’t work for me..
Find mentors and coaches that have done exactly what you want and study them closely.
Incorporate the stuff you like and leave out what you don’t.
I’m talking about how you run your operations, your sales, your marketing…
Learn from the best. Inject elements and inspiration into your business.
4. Are you comfortable with missing goals and targets?
If you want to scale your business and enjoy outrageous success, you need to get obsessed with the process, not the result.
You have to be comfortable with repeatedly failing to not achieve the goals and targets you set – and not allow that to discourage you from continuing to set them.Falling short of your goals will happen time and again.
Surviving these shortcomings requires a large amount of patience from you.
Beating yourself up over goals you didn’t hit, or just feeling disappointed won’t get you anywhere.
Don’t get attached to the outcome.
Your focus should be on perfecting the process and watch the result improve over time. Adopting this mindset takes the pressure off, and means you’ll operate with more positive energy.
5. Do you have an executor?
As a business owner, chances are you’re somewhat of an entrepreneur. And if you’re an entrepreneur, you’re probably great at starting things……
But you might not be a great executor NOR a scaler for your business…
This means that if you want to scale up, a great executor is needed.
Someone who can take your ideas, your vision, document them and bring them to life. Then assemble a team around it and make it happen.
Without this person, you’ll continue to hit hurdle after hurdle…
So be honest with yourself…are you the executor your business needs? You may be this person but my experience has shown me that often the starter/owner/entrepeneur is not.
So, ask yourself these 5 questions, be honest…and hopefully the answers are going to guide you and enable you to achieve every goal you set for your biz
Let me know if you enjoyed this 🙂
Josh