November 11, 2021

11: How to Scale Your Business as a Solopreneur

Episode #11 : Build The Business Podcast
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Think solopreneurs can’t scale? Think again.

Where are my mighty teams of one? I’m here raising my hand with you, girlfriends. And I understand the unique challenges (and rewards) of building and scaling your business as a solopreneur. I’m here to bust the age old myth that solopreneurs can’t scale.

Maybe you’ve hit a cap in your business and don’t think you have any room to scale.
Maybe you’re a service based creative entrepreneur and think it’s just physically impossible to scale your business.
OR Maybe you have no doubt you could scale your business to multi-6 figures, but you believe you would never have time for your family so you’re not interested.

… I’ve heard it all, I’ve thought it all. I’m here to call BS on all of it. You can absolutely scale your business to 6 figures and beyond AND have freedom in your life and business (infact, the steps I’m going to share today will give you MORE freedom).

I said all of these things and guess what? I scaled from $30k in year one, to $300k in yearly revenue (without burnout).

TODAY, I’m sharing the exact steps I took to simplify and scale my business. We’ll talk about what you need to focus on, eliminate, and streamline to get you to multi 6-figures while still maintaining the freedom in your life.

Before we start, I want to mention that I’ve created a free guide and workbook to go along with this training. You can grab it here to follow along!

Let’s dive in….

#1 Let tools be your team

I may not have a team of people on the payroll, but I have a team of tools and they’ve helped save me time and kept me organized so that I could scale this baby to heights I never thought possible.

Lean in for a second and listen here (if you’re multitasking come back to me) – The key to scaling is simplifying. And the key to simplifying is streamlining.

I want you to think of tools as your team. Let these help you plan, automate, and organize your business so that your business can keep running, while you focus on other things like serving your clients and growing your business.

You can automate so much in your business. From sending proposals and invoices, to planning your social media, to scheduling automated emails. It’s all at your fingertips.

Just because you’re a solopreneur, doesn’t mean you have to do this all solo. Let’s work smarter here, girlfriends!

#2 Lean on mentors and resources

The two biggest mistakes I made in the early years in my business were these,

#1. I was afraid to ask for help. I thought others in the industry would think I was “snooping” if I asked for advice.
#2. I was so overwhelmed drowning in “doing,” I did not step back to learn.

Tony Robbins said, “If you ever want to do something big in your business, go find someone who’s already doing it and model the way they’re doing it. And, if there is someone who has gotten big results and they’re willing to show you how they got those results, double down on that person.” I can be that person for you. Stick with me, girlfriends. I got you!

And another point here, your “mentor” does not need to be someone you know in real life. Almost ALL of my mentors have no idea I exist! I follow their podcasts, I read their books, I invest in their resources and they have helped me tremendously.

Here are some tips on how to choose a mentor or resource to follow:

# 1. Who is willing to share the good stuff?

One of the most valuable assets you have as a solopreneur is your time. You want to find a mentor or podcast that really gives you the goods! None of this playing around with the, “I’ll show you the what and not the how.” We need the good stuff so that we can take what we’re learning and actually implement.

#2. Who “gets you”?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve followed someone who just doesn’t understand the specific challenges when it comes to solopreneurship. For example, I’m all for hiring a team of people when you are ready, but I also understand that hiring a team comes with a payroll. For every business owner, there are unique challenges and circumstances. If you find someone who understands yours, lean into their content.

#3. When to invest in paid vs. free content:

You can absolutely do this on your own. I know because I’ve built this business on my own and for the first three years, I did not invest in self education. I pieced through podcasts and books and free guides – but hear me out for a second. If I could do this differently, I would have invested in paid courses or resources from the get go so I could’ve gotten there faster.

So now, I’m willing to invest if it means shortening the amount of time it takes for me to learn something. When you’re able to learn from a proven roadmap and then you implement, that’s when your business (and profits) start to grow.

#3 Simplify, simplify, simplify

Steve Jobs said, “Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.

The absolute KEY to scaling your business is simplifying. If you can simplify your systems, processes, offerings, communication – everything in your business gets quicker, easier and less expensive to do. The key to this, especially as a solopreneur, is simplifying so that you can free up your time to work on your business. That’s the only way you’re going to grow (and keep your sanity).

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So there you have it, those are my tips:

#1. Let tools be your team
#2. Lean into mentors and resources
#3 and most important: Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

I’m here to tell you that YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN scale as a solopreneur. If you’re overwhelmed and maxed out and your doubting that it’s possible let me give it to you straight:

Sure, you can’t scale with your current systems and processes right now… but it is possible. It takes some damn good planning, time management and automation. It takes a creative mind to figure it out… and this puzzle of scaling is so much fun if you let it be. I know you all have it in you to make it happen. Let’s do this!