Are you Ready for the Next Level?
Are y’all ready for this?! Whether you’re a small business owner or the CEO of a company with 100 employees, there are ways you can prepare yourself and your business to grow quickly and sustainably. How you go about achieving these steps will be unique to you, your business, your industry, your challenges, etc. (That’s why you hire someone to help you create your roadmap and guide you through the process… ahem, ahem.) But these 5 pillars of your foundation will serve you well in the long-term if you focus on them and leverage them as a springboard for growth.
Finances
This is going to be quick one: If you don't have a bookkeeper, get one. If you don't have a CPA, get one (and make sure to ask about whether your business type needs to change when your business reaches its next level of growth, for tax purposes). If you don't use a reputable software to track all of your expenses and revenue, get one. If you don't have a HYSA account for your taxes, get one.
Mindset & Community
At every stage of entrepreneurship, we’re challenged again and again to face our fears and get out of comfort zones. But this stage is especially critical. You’ll be overcoming deep-rooted beliefs about success and money to get to the next level, not to mention facing new fears, all while transitioning to a real leadership role in your organization. It’s a lot. But for sustainable success, you need to be as intentional with your personal growth as you are with your business growth. Do the work. This could include coaching, therapy, meditation, hiring a personal assistant, getting a certification, etc. Non-negotiable though, is joining communities and building a network that pushes you to be the best version of you AND supports your goals. Your friends are your future.
Evaluate & Optimize
If your business is rockin’ and ready to scale, you’ve done a lot right. But what got you here won’t get you there. What are you offering, and why? Do your products & services bring you money, time, and joy – or do they rob you of them? Do you have offers that are scalable, or are they resource-constrained? Dive deep on what’s working and what’s not, but through the lens of your next level business. You might be able to offer a lot more of your services but only if you have a bigger team, so you need to ask yourself: will you still have a profit margin with that model? Or you might be able to create a lot more of your products but only by working with a bigger manufacturer, so you need to calculate that cost into your ROI and be ready to make the move quickly.
Systems & Processes
What if you sold $1M tomorrow? FANTASTIC, right?! Not so fast. If you sell more, you also have to be ready to deliver and support what you sell. If you fail at delivery and support, you don’t have a sustainable business. You need systems & processes. Not only will the right infrastructure support your success and growth, it (along with your mission & team) will also help you step out of day-to-day tasks and distractions, freeing up your time to focus on the work that really moves the needle and makes the money. Set aside dedicated time for creating your processes and implementing systems – it’s an up-front investment that will have invaluable returns for your revenue and your happiness.
Mission, Values & Culture
It’s time to take your goal-setting up a level with a mission & values statement that helps you and your team stay focused and motivated, and helps you celebrate your accomplishments. Your values should reflect how you want your business to feel and guidelines to enforce the culture you want to build. Think words or phrases like honest, innovative, respectful, adventurous, or obsessed with data. Your mission should be more specific, stating a quarterly or annual goal that ties to the bigger purpose of the business, and states how you will accomplish it. This ensures your team is rowing your metaphorical business boat together and in the same direction, and gives you something to track to. Be transparent with your company and share the wins and you’ll have a head start on a culture where people enjoy what they do and are driven to contribute their best work.
Analyze & Market
Once you’ve worked on the other pillars, your next step is to figure out how to evolve your marketing strategy to support big growth. This starts and ends with analytics. If you don’t already have systems that can give you useful data, implement those first. Use data to help you home in on your current marketing results. Double down on what’s working, and either change or remove the things that aren’t working. If you’re changing or adding to your offers, make sure to look at this through the lens of your next level – what type of marketing is the best fit for your new suite of services? Build the time and resources for marketing you need into your timeline and goals. And get set up with report outs that you review weekly to adjust quickly and make marketing work for you.
