Ep. 055: The 3 Pillars of Scaling

Yay! You've cracked the code of bringing in consistent revenue and now you're looking to scale. But what does that look like and how can you do it without going nuts trying to juggle your current business? That's where my 2 Pillars of Scaling come in. First you have to stabilize your current business. Then it's time to strategize next steps on new offers. Lastly, it's essential to create a sales & marketing plan to launch that new offer. I break it all down for you in this episode so you can keep growing your revenue without growing your working hours.


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  Erika Tebbens: If you've cracked the code on bringing in consistent revenue to your business, and now you're ready to keep growing that revenue without trading more time for those dollars. Then this is the episode for you.

  Today. I'm going to share with you my three pillars of scaling, also known as my three S's of scaling.

  So first things first scaling is, you know, when you figured out how to make money with the thing that you are selling or things that you are selling and now you want to leverage what you've already built to grow even more. And this is really, uh, mostly like what I'm going to be talking about today is mostly directed to people who are service-based business owners, who are typically doing some type of one-to-one service offering and you have clients and you get booked in with clients. And if you feel like you are fully booked and you cannot take on any more clients or your relatively close to being fully booked, and you could probably push and get another, you know, few clients, if you really wanted to, but you actually just don't want to work more hours, right?

  So you're not, you're not pushing for that. But you still want to figure out how to keep growing. So this is one of my favorite things to talk about because we really like, we grow up with this, this notion that we always have to be trading our time for our money and to a degree that is true, but we don't have to do it in the, you know, how much do you make per hour way that we have been conditioned to for the remainder of our lives.

  Right? So. The the issue is, is when thinking about like, okay, passive income and, and all of these other things is that there's a lot of options. There's a lot of things to choose from. First of all, and you have the other issue of like, well, how do I, like, I, I already feel very busy in my business. I already like I'm spending a lot of time with the clients who've already paid me.

  So how do I make this shift? How do I create this new offer? And then sell it and deliver on it when I'm pretty busy? Like how do I do that without having to burn my whole current business to the ground and start fresh with something new or our other alternative is. You know, if you're already putting in 40 hours of work a week and you're like, well, am I going to have to put in 50 hours of work a week just to like launch this thing?

  And the good news is, is that usually no, the answer is no on that. And today you're going to learn how and why it is entirely possible. To figure out how to get to that next level without working more or destroying what you've already created. And that is with these three things I'm going to be teaching you about.

  So this is my system. This is my process that I take my clients through, who are experienced entrepreneurs now looking to scale. And the very first thing we do have to do the thing that gets. Overlooked, unfortunately, far too often is we need to stabilize what is already happening in their business.

  So usually what happens with scaling is people jump right ahead to what that next offer is that they are going to create. Right? So it's, I'm going to do the course. I'm going to do the membership. I'm gonna do the group program, the digital downloads, whatever it is. And. They haven't fully looked at, like, how can I, how can I stabilize what is already going on so that I don't have to stress out so much about losing any, uh, current revenue, current clients, anything like that?

  So the first thing I do with my clients is figure out, and I'm just going to say, like, For the purposes of this, I'm just going to use a 40-hour work week. I very rarely work 40 hours a week. Um, because I, the way that I've intentionally structured my business, I don't have to. So, um, I, I do not believe that you need to be working 40 hours a week for this to be successful, but it's what we are, again, conditioned to.

  So I'm just gonna use that for the sake of this, of this example. So say you're working. 40 hours a week and 10 of that is like admin and marketing. And 30 of that is client work. Right. So if you're now going to create a course, it like you have to figure out how to get some things off of your plate.

  Right. So we have to, uh, maybe look at your systems, look at, do you already have a VA or other support team? Is there somebody that we can have you bring on that can take some of this off your plate. And, and I really want to emphasize, I, the people I work with run pretty lean in their business, meaning it's only me and a VA or them, and have a VA and then like a copywriter or a social media manager. So they're not people who have a ton of people working with them and that is very intentional.

  So my goal isn't to make it so that now you have to be the boss of a whole bunch of people, but let's really take a good look at what can get off your plate. Is there something in that client process that you can actually outsource that you can subcontract. Is there something on the admin side or the marketing side that you can hand off to somebody else who is an expert? And also it's important to think about, you know, I know the people I work with, they don't want to just make more money by overnight tripling their rates and making it so that a lot more people can no longer afford them.

  So that's not what I'm going to suggest here, but this is also a good time to really look at your rates and your packages. And often we have people who maybe like maybe somebody he was grandfathered in at a lower rate, like you're doing social media strategy and they've been with you for a while and they're paying significantly less than the more recent clients you've brought on board.

  And now you need to think about, is it time for me to raise their rate? This doesn't mean you necessarily have to bring them all the way up to whatever your new client pricing is, but is there room to raise the rates there a bit? And so let's say you have three people who have been on this much, much lower rate for a very long time.

  And you're like, I've figured out, you know, we figured out what the new price point is. We want to move them to, and you reach out to them and maybe you get two who say, okay, yeah, I'll, I'll keep working with you at the, at the new rate. And then one is like, nope, I'm, I'm out,right? Don't feel bad about. That, because now you're making more money off of those other two, and now you have freed up time from that other person. So again, this is not like going to the people who just signed on contracts or anything, and being like, Oh, surprise, you suddenly have to pay me more. This is really like, you know, a lot of us have those, those instances where, um, we just, we've never raised prices for, for long-term client.

  And now there's a huge disconnect between what your new people are coming on it and what they're paying you. So, now you have more revenue coming in, so you can actually use some of that revenue to help to offload some of your work with, you know, through a VA or whatever. Uh, other support person that.

  You're going to bring on, even if it's just super, super part-time like five hours a month, even that is going to be very, very helpful. And then now you free up this other time from the client that didn't continue. So right here, you can see your work already, like shifting things over, right? We're already finding a way to get you revenue, to pay the people who are going to take some of the work off your plate and give you more time.

  And you have more time because you have that client that's no longer there. So in this time now we can start to strategize what that new offer will be and how we're going to make the plan to help you create it in. The time that you have available to you without working more so that, so first S is stabilized, we stabilize everything. So that stuff doesn't get interrupted as you grow, and you're not super stressed out and your revenue isn't hurting and all of that, then we strategize. So this, again, like I said, is where a lot of people often start, uh, because it's where we think, you know, we need to start, like, what is that next big thing that we're going to do?

  So when you get to the strategize portion of it, the thing that I like to do with my clients is really assess what they want their weeks to look like, how they enjoy. Working with others who are the other people that they are trying to reach with this new offer, what is the goal they want to accomplish by having this new offer?

  And we go through all of these things so that we can find the right offer for them and their people. And it's not just the same old, same old, like, Oh, I'm going to have you make a course now I've helped people. Who've made courses, but that is not always the best way to do it, even though it's kind of the way that I think gets talked about the most.

  Right? So I had a client who is an amazing social media manager and strategist, and she was thinking of creating a course. And we talked and we actually figured out she could do this simple one off service, a slightly lower priced service, more emerging entrepreneurs to help with help them with their social media stuff, gene content, it would work on like a rolling 90 days.

  So she would eat as when she would get somebody new for that service. She knew she would have consistent revenue from them. Uh, you know, for the next 90 days and it wasn't going to take up much more of her time and she was going to get to work in a way that was fun and easy for her and was super valuable for the clients and also allowed her to help those newer entrepreneurs who really needed the help, but couldn't afford her done for you services.

  So she felt really good about the offer and in term, It meant that she didn't have to waste a ton of time creating and then launching a course. So when we were talking about this, she was like, Oh my gosh, I thought I was going to have to make this course. And now, like, I literally have a list of people I could reach out to today without any fancy sales page or anything.

  And just say, Hey, this is my offer. Here's a little bit of info about it. I only have 10 spots. Are you interested? Easy peasy, right? And then I have another client who's a social media manager. Who's creating a course with a membership site. So we are going about it in a different way and this is the thing she's really excited to create, and she will be able to serve her people well in this way.

  So we have to strategize not only the new offer, but what is the right new offer for you and your goals. So we figure that out. We figure out the plan of how we are going to help you like to actually create it, right? What, what are your weeks gonna look like? What are you gonna, what do you need to create first, next, last, when are you going to do it?

  When are you going to launch this thing? We do all of that. We get you all, you know, do all the strategy. So if you're doing this on your own, this is where you want to strategize all of those, you know, different types of things you could do and think about what is really exciting for you, if you're not sure, I'll tell you right now, next week's episode is going to be all about different types of offers that you could put out there.

  So make sure subscribed and then listen next week as well.

  So then you, so you figured it out, right? You're like, okay, I am going to do, uh, a membership, right? I I've decided I'm going to do a membership. Well, now you need to figure out the final S, the final pillar of scaling, and that is selling it. So this is when you figure out your sales and marketing plan for that offer.

  And this can be anything from it's going to be open, you know, on a start date of like 30 days from now, we open it up and then it's sort of evergreen and people can join whenever or the doors are only open for two weeks and then they won't open again until the next quarter, or however you have chosen to structure that membership.

  Then you're going to figure out how am I going to pitch it to people? And this can be really challenging because if you are used to, as a service space provider, those like referral connections or just personal connections, and then like, you know, people you have like the discovery call and then. You explain your process to somebody and then they say yes, and you send them a contract and invoice and you get to work.

  Right, you've probably gotten more comfortable with that because that's what you've been doing. That's been getting you. The revenue you're already getting. And then now you're going to do something totally outside your comfort zone and it can feel hard and challenging and different and scary to now market that thing.

  Right? So if you're used to hopping on a discovery call to close a sale, but now you have a $29 a month membership. Like, you're probably not going to be doing sales calls for that. Right? So what do you have to put into place? How long is your launch going to be? Where are you going to post about it? What are you going to say about it?

  Are you going to do any direct, reach out to people? Are you going to put up a wait list? Like there's, the possibilities are kind of endless here, right? But, there has to be some plan in place for you to now have this offer out there in the world and available so that people can take advantage of it. And sometimes this is actually easier than you think.

  Honestly, I've done it. Where a lot of times I just emailed my list and said, Hey, I'm doing this thing. Here's all the details. Are you in? Or I've done it on Insta stories? Uh, I, you know, I try to keep things as simple as possible for myself, so there's all different ways to do it, but you do need to plan.

  Your launch strategy or you're selling strategy. So just to recap, those are stabilized. So get everything squared away, look at your systems, look what you can offload, uh, figure out if there are people you need to raise your rates on, uh, clients that maybe, you know, are no longer perfect fit clients for you.

  And maybe they're not meant to continue on with you at this point in time. Um, maybe you can, you know, maybe, you know, somebody else you can direct them to that is has, you know, a lower price point offer the you so that they can be taken care of. And then once you have that, once you are very clear on the time, you have available, strategize what that next offer will be like, which thing is going to serve you and your people the best and then figure out how to sell it.

  So I know this can be really, really, really daunting. Some people know exactly what they want their offer to be. Sometimes people think they know, but maybe they're wavering back and forth between two things or. They're worried that there's something they're actually overlooking or they come to me and literally have no idea, but they're like, I gotta do something because I like, I'm just gonna be plateaued forever.

  If, if I don't figure something out or I'm going to have to just suck it up and work more hours and I don't want to do that. So if that's you, if you're like, yeah, I just, I don't even know. I feel totally overwhelmed. Absolutely reach out to me. I hang out mostly on Instagram at @erikatebbensconsulting. So pop on over, say hi.

  Uh, send me a message, even if you're not in a position to scale. I love hearing from my listeners over there. So, you know, screenshot this episode, put it in your stories and tag me and I'll say hi to you. And, uh, I'm, I'm such a total extrovert. I have genuinely loved meeting new people on social media. And, uh, of course you can learn more about the work that I do with my clients over at Erica dot com.

  But, uh, yeah, I would, I would love to know, um, if you have an offer that you have been cooking up that you're thinking about, uh, definitely tell me I super geek out over this. So I would love to hear what you are thinking about offering. And if you have a friend who, you know, is stuck in this same position, make sure you send them this episode to her as well.

  All right, everyone. There you go. Thank you so much. Uh, remember next week, I'm going to be talking about different offer types, so be sure you are subscribed so you can listen to that episode. As well, and as always happy selling.

  Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of the, Sell It Sister! Podcast.

  If you loved it and you want more, be sure to subscribe so that you never miss an episode and then head on over to sellitsisterhood.com to join my free Facebook community group. And as your mama said, sharing is caring. So if you got a lot of value out of this episode, be sure to share it with your biz besties too.

  Okay. Now, get out there and Sell It, sister!