The truth is, many entrepreneurs can launch a business, but not all of them are cut out to take their business to the 7-figure level.
It’s not a question of intelligence, skill level, or experience. Scaling a small business to 7-figures (and beyond) has a lot more to do with whether you’re ready to become a leader, rather than rely on tactics and tools. Stepping into your leadership role might be one of the hardest things you’ve had to do so far.
If you follow these 5 steps, you’ll have what you need to get out of the minor leagues, and start playing with 7-figure all-stars.
1. Get out of your own way and let go
One of my entrepreneurial heroes, Richard Branson, wrote: “In order to grow you must be able to let go,” and I couldn’t agree more.
If you’re on a mission to make the 7-figure jump, you simply can’t go it alone. It can take courage to loosen the reigns, but if you’re trying to hold on too tightly as you grow, you will be your own greatest bottleneck on your 7-figure journey.
2. Hire a team of people who are better than you
Speaking of letting go, the best way is to hire people who are better than you at certain things. A top-notch team will free up your time. It will also help you maintain high levels of quality as your customer base grows.
When you curate and attract top talent, you will create a competitive edge and the foundation needed to expand to new heights. It’s important to get the right people, who are aligned with your company values, into the right roles. This will make the difference between soaring in high growth and profits, or crashing and burning at take off.
YFS Magazine contributor Katie Bronnenkant confirms that, “the team is the most important part of an early stage company.” Leverage the unique skill sets of high-quality team members, and you will far exceed what you could accomplish by trying to be the jack of all trades.
3. Stop chasing shiny objects and get focused
On your path to 7-figures, it is time to grow up into a responsible business owner. That means achieving focus and clarity in your actions. As business gets busier, your time will become more and more valuable. So you need to be mindful about where you spend it.
Concentrate on activities that bring the greatest ROI on your time investment. They might not be the most exciting things, but they’re the ones that will build the foundation for a sustainable business that can handle growth without slipping out from under you.
4. Build strong business systems
As your business grows, without streamlined systems in place, chaos will ensue.
It’s a stressful endeavor to let go of some control and relinquish certain responsibilities to your team if you don’t have systems in place to maintain that reputation you worked so hard to establish.
Since you’re growing your number of clients and team members, it’s more important than ever to make sure information flows effortlessly so everyone is on the same page. That is why communication lines need to be clear so everyone work togethers and people aren’t dropping the ball on important work.
Tedious tasks that can suck up human resources need to be automated. Service fulfillment and product delivery need to go off without a hitch. All of these things are attainable when you implement systems that create structure, consistency, and predictability as your business becomes more complex.
5. Be the lighthouse
Becoming the leader of a growing organization means you need to set the bar. Be accountable, live by your values, and make sure the vision and mission are clear, so your team has a clear direction and example to follow.
In this article, Darren Chait goes into detail on what makes (and breaks) a great company culture.
Become resilient and use your collective mistakes as opportunities to always improve. Show your team what it means to innovate and trail blaze. Set goals that will excite and stretch everyone. Your role as the lighthouse is to get your head out of the weeds of the day-to-day and light the way.
When you embrace these 5 steps, you transition away from being the ultimate “doer” in your company, to building the foundation needed to grow beyond 6-figures and make that 7-figure jump.
Alison Beierlein uses her more than a decade of experience in business, sales, and financial planning as a Certified Income Specialist and Consultant to help business owners scale their business to the next level. Whether they’re struggling with how to bring on their first (or more) team member(s), how to increase their income, or how to create systems that will allow them more freedom to focus on the parts of the business they love, Alison helps business owners create a scalable model that creates a bigger impact (and more cash in the bank). When Alison isn’t helping her clients multiply their income, she’s playing Legos with her kids, breathing in the country air, and looking for the next best story to share on her podcast, License To Receive.
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