How to build a six figure business

One of the questions I get most in business (after how to hire my first team member) is ‘How do you actually scale to six figures?’.

I’ve thought long and hard about this for the last year, drawing on what I’ve learnt from others, the trends I’ve seen coming into fruition and more than any of that; the lessons I’ve learnt from building three six figure businesses from scratch over the last ten years.

It feels crazy to write that down – that I’ve built three six figure companies literally from scratch – because I don’t come from business parents and I never went to business school. 

Every business I ever set up came from a crazy idea, I turned into a crazy vision and built with a crazy plan. 

Yes I read some books (I’m a fanatic learner), and yes I hired coaches along the way, and yes…I just kept going until I figured it out.

Once I’d done it in the world marketing, it was easier to do it in recruitment and then it was easier to do it in online courses and coaching programmes.

Well, ‘easier’ isn’t the right word haha. I mean, I believed it was possible so that made it easier mentally.

So, pulling on everything I’ve learnt over the last ten years, let me share with you what it takes to hit multiple six figures in your business (in a scalable and sustainable way!).

1

Visionary Leadership – Building a six figure business isn’t just about your vision for your busy, it’s about taking your place and holding space as a leader in the field.

2

Being strategic – Having an approach that uses the resources, time and opportunity you have in a smart, albeit ambitious, way. And it means ruling out just as much as you rule in.

3

Scalable Operations – putting in place systems, people and processes that allow you to scale month on month.

How to set a strategy for success

Think of business strategy this way. You’re standing at the edge of a river. On the other side of the river is your vision. There are multiple ways to cross the river.

You could take the bridge, fly, swim, use stepping stones, row etc. etc. But would you agree that you can’t use the bride and swim at the same time? Because that’s impossible. So pick one. Which is the best option giving the time, the resources available and the landscape.

I think this is one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when trying to get to build a six figure business. They try to deliver on two strategies at once. Take your time. Think it through. Make a decision.

For example, when I was first building DARETOGROW, I made the strategic decision to vlog almost daily to document my journey of change. It was a great way to break through the noise, build trust and prove it was possible to scale a business from nothing to multiple six figures. Now that I’m running a much bigger business, it’s just not practical to vlog every day. I’m working much more closely with clients in Expansion Business School, I’m travelling more and I have other projects like my book and my upcoming podcast wahooo!!

So, me and my team sat down to refocus our vision, explore the options and decide on a new strategy. The outcome? Now we batch-film content in one day. We literally meet in a location, list out all the things our audience needs to know and film 6-8 videos in a day!

As your business grows, your strategy will evolve. That’s cool. Let it. But at each stage decide.

Don’t get stuck in the fantasy land of business planning, never to execute on your business growth plan. The best part of the plan is the delivery of it. That’s when you learn what will really work.

How to grow a six figure business: new content

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