How does the idea of making money in your sleep sound? Well, what about being able to spend more time doing the creative endeavours that fuel your biz? Or enjoying your job instead of waking up dreading that 6 foot walk from your bed to your laptop? How about becoming excited with different services you’re dreaming up for all your potential new clients? This can all happen with smart business scaling!

If any of these sound good to you (I’m going to be honest, they ALL should sound good) then it might be time you think about how to scale your business. Today, I’m recapping my recent podcast eppie on scaling your business, with a few extra juicy tidbits on scaling. (And a Taylor Swift reference or two because her Fearless re-recorded album might have ripped my heart out of my chest). 

So, what’s the difference between scaling and growing? Simple: it all comes down to revenue. By this, I don’t mean totally reinventing the wheel here, but when you’re growing your business you’re just adding revenue while also increasing your average expenses across the board. But when you’re SCALING, you’re finding new ways to create different avenues to decrease your spending and make your product/service available in numerous ways at different price points. 

I’m getting ahead of myself here though – so how DO you know when you’re truly ready to start scaling? Briefly, these signs look like the following: 

 

You feel like you’re giving away every minute of your time for money. 

Basically, if you don’t work, you don’t make money. Everything you do is tied to how much ‘time it takes’ to do it. This makes taking time off a literal nightmare because there’s always something to be done with projects. When you’re on your way to scaling and passive income streams, this becomes null and void as you focus more on selling ‘products’ or packaging your services with higher profit margins.

 

You absolutely hate that 6 feet walk from your bed to your desk every morning, and dread even the work that used to make you excited (hint: burnout mode) 

This is the worst place to be as an entrepreneur – whether you’re all-in and 100% self-employed OR working this as a side hustle. It can make you feel like a failure to yourself and your clients who rely on you and love the work that you do. Burning out means it’s time for a change, and I love to help clients avoid even this and know when it’s time to scale. Because when it comes to smart business scaling, YOU are the main component at play and you most certainly don’t want to be burnt out.

 

You have to start turning AWAY business either because you yourself are at capacity, or the prospective client doesn’t have the budget for your services.

Two sides to the coin here – let’s first talk about being at capacity. A lot of entrepreneurs get here and end up OVER working, taking on the project and falling behind. OR, you simply turn away or let them know that they can book for future months which isn’t always ideal, either.

On the flip side, clients may not have the budget for what you have to offer but are willing to either a) break up payments or b) involve themselves in a little DIY in which case you can also help them on their journey to becoming more of a 1:1 client and experiencing success, ultimately, building trust in you.

Even if you identify with a small part of these ready-to-scale warning signs, you should start to rethink how you’re creating revenue for your business.

Starting off easy, my personal favorite way to begin scaling is by sitting down and brainstorming out every type of work experience or knowledge you have. Cause guess what? Someone out there is willing to pay for YOUR expertise that you have spent your life time or your entire career cultivating. EVERYONE has valuable experience, and if you’re creative enough, you can monetize it. I’m talking seminars, webinars, hosting a talk, being hired to speak at events, group education on specific topics – you name it. 

If you aren’t comfortable on the talking side of things, but want to dip your toe into the education pool, maybe try hosting a clubhouse talk and asking your audience what they want to know (we call this market research). 

 

Monetizing your experience is only one part of smart business scaling – in fact, it encompasses a broader scope of services. This is what I call the “value ladder,” but basically your high ticket services lay at the top, and the lowest ones at the bottom. The ladder is there to help your clients climb up – you attract them with your services or products at the different points of their entrepreneurial journey, and eventually they may or may not make it to the top. 

If you’re interested in learning more about how you can SCALE your business, and receive a support community alongside it as you embark on that journey, you’ll 100% want to check out the Smooth Scaling Club – an exclusive resource membership we created for entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and small businesses alike. Learn more by clicking here.