The Fierce Business Babe Podcast Ep 82: Key Factors For Scaling
In today’s episode I am discussing the key factors for scaling and what it looks like to be a multiple six figure business owner and how to get there. We are going to dive deep into what you need to set your business up for success early and be prepared for those multiple six figure years to come.
Key Factors for Scaling
By: Melissa Lin
So the online business, the online space is literally booming right now, in high demand. My opinion always, always continues to be this way. So today Im really want to dive into what it looks like to be a multiple six-figure business owner. And for those of you that are working towards 6 figures right now. No worries! This is still going to be an incredible episode for you too just because it's always so great to be prepping and adding things into your business, systems and things like that, early so that you are equipped to handle level in your business. For example, My team and I right now are already putting systems into place so that we can easily handle the 7-figure business level that we’re working towards. So, today we will be diving to tracking your business numbers, data, business expenses, Outsourcing, systems, mindset, how to really stay high Vibe and so much more. I'm so excited to dig into all of this with you!
The first thing I want to really get into is tracking numbers and different data in your business. So I mentioned this on one of my more recent podcast episodes. The numbers always tell you a story; so whether the numbers are in sales, podcast downloads, expenses, emails to subscribers, they all tell you a story. They are telling you an immense amount about your business. so Let's talk about these numbers that my team and I are tracking. So, what we track when we track how we track and all of those things. This is definitely not cookie-cutter, right nothing in business ever is, but this might give you a better idea of the things that you can track in your business. If you're not so numbers savvy, you’re not tracking anything in your business. That’s Okay. That's why we're here today, to determine what some of the things are that you might want to start to actually look at.
My team and I, multiple times per week, are always looking at Team Melissa Lynn company metrics. If we were in a big launch, we’re looking at our numbers even more. Some of the things that we track; sales, of course, how much are we bringing in, how many booked sales we’re bringing in, what’s booked, what’s cash, passive income sales, everything to do with what we’re actually generating in the business. Huge numbers to be looking at. You want to know those; especially as CEO. You've got to know your business numbers.
We also look at podcast downloads, you know, which episodes perform better than others. Are there certain topics that get higher downloads? Do interviews get more downloads? How are my solo podcasts? All of those things are very critical and they tell us a big story in our business.
We look at website traffic, sales page views, Pinterest traffic and social media performance. These numbers can tell you a lot.
For example, let's say that you're launching right now and your program is in open enrollment, but you're hearing crickets. You haven't had a sign up, you haven't had an application come in for a few days, and something you might be feeling (because I've had this happen and so have my clients) is that things aren't working. Nothing is happening because you're not getting those applications. When, in reality, things are working and it's important to go and look at the story. Go look at your numbers. Are people looking at your sales page? Are they looking at your application form? Are they clicking? Did they get to the sales page, but not submit an application? Do they look at your sales page and maybe press the buy button, but then not follow through? These different actions, you can easily track. They tell you a story. They might tell you “Well, Maybe my copy needs some adjustment. Maybe I need to adjust my message. Maybe I need extended payment plan options”. There’s so much that these numbers can tell you when you go and look at them. One of the biggest things that I've learned over the years is to focus on the items that we track. The numbers you actually know and these are the things that start to change. The things that we focus on start changing in our business. So let me ask you, do you even know how much you're spending in your business each month? Are you tracking your monthly recurring Revenue? Are you wanting your Facebook group to grow? Start tracking these numbers. If the number stays the same, what's going to happen is, you're going to see that number not change over and over and over and your brain is going to go “Ding, Ding! And you’ll start to put a little more focus on that. Focus on those numbers that we’re seeing over and over and over, if that's what you want to focus on. The more you know, the more data and numbers you know about your business, the easier it will be for you to make decisions in your business, or changes, or pivots in your business.
Now, I want to really get into business expenses. I know a lot of you are getting into your businesses and you're scaling, but you're just not sure how much to be spending in your business. Let's get into a little bit of what I spend my business, how much I was spending when I first started, all of those things. I do want you to know, every month will probably be different. Some months, you might have higher expenses. Maybe you hosted a VIP weekend for some clients and you covered all of the expenses because it was included in your VIP program. Maybe the following month, you only had your typical expenses of software and paying your team members.
Let’s think back to the early stages of your business. Let's say like 3k months or so. You probably don't have too many business expenses. I really didn't start to have any business expenses until I started to scale and get closer to the 5-10k months of my business. So let me break down what my business expenses were in those early stages, when I was just starting out. I'm pretty sure that my business expenses were really just spending on Zoom Pro, like 15 bucks a month. I didn't even have a website when I first started. Actually, I think that's it. I was using Google Drive and other free forms of software. Everything else, I was able to use a free version of until I started making more money. I use MailChimp as my email service, the free version of typeform in Google forms, I use Google Drive to host a lot of my client worksheets and use Facebook groups and Voxer for client communication.
Then, as I started to scale into the 5K and 10K month range, a few more expenses were added. I upgraded to a new platform for my course work. So, that added expenses. I added some website expenses and hired my first team member, my first virtual assistant. Then, I started to, of course, move away from the free versions of my favorite softwares and upgrade to the pro versions just because it gave me a little more flexibility and it was more of what I needed in my business at the time. As you continue to scale into the higher months, the 20-50K range, the business expenses continue to increase as you begin hiring more team members, adding new systems because of the business needing a larger email server, and more. So as you scale, usually your expenses will as well. However, it's not linear, as you scale and you'll be able to make more and then you can budget and do different things and your expenses aren't so, so, so overwhelming.You can easily have a business where you're only putting back in around 20%, or less, into your expenses. And that's definitely the goal. Less than that, right? The more profits, the better. Woohoo!
Now, I want to really dig into something that is a business expense for me, which is outsourcing. I know a lot of people have questions about this. I did a little Q&A on my Instagram stories the other day and I had at least two or three people ask about Outsourcing. So, as you start scaling in your business, you will start to see a trend (if you’re anything like I was). I was trying to be a one-woman show for the longest time because I always thought, and you may laugh at this “I could do it faster because it's going to take me too long to train someone. It’s way faster for me to just do it.”. Right? Have you ever felt or told yourself this? Has that little voice in your head ever said this? It turns out, outsourcing has been one of the best things that I've actually ever done in my business. Now, instead of me just being a task bunny, I can focus on the things in my business that only I can do and I can outsource the rest.You're going to start to see this too.
So for example, if you're at about the 3-5K month range and wanting to scale to 10k months, imagine if you hired a virtual assistant that could take 5 hours per week off your hands. That’s 20 hours per month doing tasks for you, that you probably don't even enjoy anyways. Guess when you can easily be doing during those 20 hours every month? You can be hopping on sales calls with potential clients, selling courses and putting funnels together so that you are literally selling in your sleep. Allowing you to take action on the things that are actually going to move you closer to the 10K, 15K, and 20K a month range instead of just doing tasks and tasks and tasks that take up your entire day.
So here is a quick rundown of all the things that I currently outsource in my business (I also outsource some things in my personal life as well). Some of the things that I outsource are:
My photo shoots (they usually do about one branding photo shoot every month or so)
Any Administration operations that go on in my business
My Facebook ads
I have a PR team, so my PR management is outsourced.
My VA takes care of all of my customer service and I love her, love her so much.
I have two incredible support coaches inside of my programs
I do have some social media management outsourced, but not much. My Pinterest is completely outsourced, and my LinkedIn management is partially outsourced. Then, some graphic design work and some website stuff is also outsourced. As you continue to scale your business, you'll start to see that there's a lot more that you can do either automatically or by outsourcing in your business. I will touch a little more on automation in a moment, but first, let’s talk about systems.
I know that the word “system'' can overwhelm a lot of people, so I really want to talk about this. Systems are a wonderful thing and will really add ease into your business. So do you need systems right away? Definitely not. When I started my business, I started with such messy action. Oh my goodness, It was so messy! I had zero systems in place. Would systems have helped? Probably. However, it definitely wasn't necessary. But as you start to move past the beginner stage, the more organized you get and the more systems you add into your business, the easier things will be as you scale.
I mentioned this earlier, my team and I, we’re already putting a 7-figure business model into place so that we can handle everything that comes with a 7-figure business. So if you're going to be hitting six figures, or multiple six-figures, this year, ask yourself: “What are some of the systems I will need in my business to actually sustain this?” For example, how about client onboarding? How does that system look in your business? Is the system as streamlined as it can be? Let me ask you, if I were to hand you 20 or even 25 clients today, right now, through the microphone, Would you be able to onboard them easily with your current process? Would it be a smooth customer experience for that client? Or is it a hot mess, train wreck? And that is something, for example, that you can serve to put a system in the place. My client onboarding is very streamlined. Once someone purchases the program, the majority of it is automated. So they'll get emails to get them signed up automatically. Then, if they are part of a coaching program, my team will add in anything that isn’t automated. So a Google drive folder type of thing.
Let’s get into some other examples of different systems that you can actually start thinking about putting into place with yourself, and your team. Remember, if you're in the beginning stages, if you're literally just starting your business, congrats on starting! You don't need all of this right away. I am years and years into my business. You don't need this right away. However, as you are scaling to six figures and then multiple six figures, you will definitely want to be putting some systems into place. So, some examples of other systems you can start to think about:
SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures). These are huge huge huge huge in like every industry. I even created SOPs as an engineer. SOPs are standard operating procedures and I highly recommend this. When we hired our first data support coaches for my team and started to train them, for example, we were creating operating procedures. So that when we hire the next one, the onboarding and training process for new team members would be so seamless and so simple. They would have all the step by steps of what to do and how to do different things.
Another thing that you can put into place is some type of system for Content repurposing. Do you have a great way to do this? Do you repurpose your content? How often do you repurpose your content? Is your VA able to do this for you? My team and I use Google Docs, love Google Docs, love Google everything. We also use airtable to repurpose content easily. We actually also use airtable to keep our content organized. As you start to hire employees, you’ll want to start to track different things in your business as well, such as; your employees' business time, your own time scheduling and whatnot. So other systems that we use for that, for my team members and I, we used Toggle. I love Toggle. Some other people that I know just use an Excel spreadsheet, so it is really up to you. But of course, the more automated, the easier it is going to be for you.
Other systems you can set up include email automation, Convertkit is amazing, along with activecampaign. Those are both great ones as you continue to really grow, because it's designed to be very hands-off as you create funnels in your business.
Adding more automation into your business is going to be so important. The more hands off your business can be, the better. That’s more time that you can give to your clients, to be supporting your clients, and your team. So something that's super super cool is a site called Zapier, and if you haven't used it before, I highly recommend it. This can help you automate almost anything and everything in your business, almost anything and everything, go check it out. We use it so much in our business.Then, you can be adding systems in your business with a project management tool. My team and I use the Asana to keep track of our tasks, the operations in the business, client statuses and so much more. Asana is such a big part of the business because it keeps everything on track. We know dates, deadlines and what’s next. Everything stays organized and we know who is supposed to be doing what when.
All of those things are great, right? Tracking expenses, tracking numbers, scaling your business, all the different tools you can use, adding systems, and what that looks like.
One of the most important things that is really going to be necessary as you are scaling to the six-figure, and multiple six-figure point in your business, is your mindset. Really staying in a “High Vibe” mindset at every stage in your business. Some of the things that I like to do to make sure that my mind is top of my game is journal everyday and set intentions every single morning. I love asking myself, “Okay, Melissa, what would make a great day?”. I love reading my affirmations to myself and truly acting us a next level version of me. “What would the seven-figure Melissa do and with her online businesses?” It can be really difficult to not get sucked in to the scrolling, the consuming, and comparing yourself constantly.
So there are few things that I personally like to do and I'm going to share them with you. Any time I get on social media, I go in with the intention of doing this, one set intention, whether that’s reaching back out to potential clients, answering questions in the DMs or posting on stories. I dont sit and just scroll, because I know where that will lead me. Especially during my launches, I'll even mute my friends and others that I follow so that I'm not distracting myself with consuming other people's content. I can be more focused on creating amazing content for my audience. So if you're about a lunch program, I highly recommend doing the same. If you are seeing yourself getting distracted by consuming more than creating, I recommend muting some people. You don't have to unfollow them if you don't want to, just mute them, but don't be just sitting there going through all of their content. You can be utilizing that time to create your content.
If you're about to launch a program, another thing I highly, highly recommend is to act as if it's already happened. So if you're launching and you want five girls inside your program, or 10 girls inside your program,act as if it's already happened. Those five, those ten, dream clients. They're already coming your way. Stay in that mindset and stay high vibe. I know a lot of us right now, we're being quarantined with the Coronavirus. So even with this, find ways to stay high Vibe. I was chatting with all of my clients and really supporting them this last week so that I can help them stay high Vibe. Ask yourself, “What keeps you high Vibe?”. Personally, I love warm bubble baths with a book. I love my Prosecco and champagne flutes, a nice home-cooked meal. So stay as high Vibe as you can because you're going to be attracting so many more people when you're in that ‘High Vibe’ state. Stay high vibe and start implementing some of the items that I mentioned today, if you don't already have them in your business. Let me know what you're implementing. I can't wait to hear about them.
Topics we cover include:
What it looks like to be a multiple six figure business owner
Tracking your business data and expenses
Outsourcing
Systems
Mindset
How to stay high vibe in your business
And so much more!
Times to check out:
(5:09) Tracking Numbers and Different Data In Your Business
(9:16) Tracking your business expenses
(12:46) Outsourcing as your business grows
(16:18) What systems and automations to consider in your business
(22:15) How to keep a high vibe mindset in your business
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