How to Scale Your Business in 2021

In my last blog I shared with you some pros and cons of having a team with no employees…meaning a team of 1099 contractors that work with you as well as having their own business and clients.

Our team is the lifeblood of our business over the past 12 months and the reason for our incredible growth and record breaking revenue in 2020. We grew from 3 copywriters to a team of 15 (and growing) in less than a year.

Seems like the entrepreneur dream right? Start a great business, grow a wait list of clients, hire a team and scale. Simple right?

You know where the REAL work is hidden in this whole thing? There are 3 crucial components I haven’t shared with you yet.

In order to build an organizational culture that can scale with freelancers I believe you’ll need to be willing do put in some really hard work in these areas:

• Be a leader people want to work with

• Create a thorough process for hiring top talent

• Invest the time to properly train and onboard your team

• Commit to growing them professionally and personally

• Make the tough decisions for the good of the team

I think the biggest and most strategic thing you can personally do to scale a business with an amazing team, is to be someone top talent wants to work with.

You should be a master at your craft.

• Trained / certified

• Experience & validation (portfolio)

• Recognized by others

Have an extraordinary vision.

• Show a progression of growth

• Paint a picture that involves others

• Work towards something meaningful

Map out a clear path forward.

• Manage expectations up front

• Be realistic in capabilities and capacity

• Create achievable stages of growth

Embody integrity in every area of your life.

• Well-being in health, relationships, finances

• Demonstrate your own personal growth

• Vulnerable to your mistakes and learning

Generously teach others.

• Natural desire to share with others

• Abundance mindset vs scarcity

• Leave a legacy that empowers others

It starts with you. With me.

I believe the #1 reason my team all chose to work with me was not because of the money, or the opportunity to get more work or even build their portfolio. It was because they respected my business and personal journey and wanted that influence in their own professional and personal growth.

Be the kind leader people aspire to be like. Show them the path they can take to get there. Encourage, challenge and inspire them along their way. Celebrate the wins, and support through the losses. Create an exciting story of growth and transformation and then give them the opportunity to step into it for themselves.

How to Build a Positive Team and Work Environment

I often brag on my team and about my team. They are the lifeblood of my business over the past 12 months and the reason for our incredible growth and record breaking revenue in 2020.

But, none of them work for me.

No employees.

Each one is an independent freelancer who works with me as a 1099 contractor.

I have questioned, debated and tortured myself over the question of switching over to hiring employees versus the uncertainty of building a team and a business with people who could drop off the face of the earth in a moment’s notice.

Yep. Anyone of them could send me a slack message, email or text message that says, “Been nice knowing you, but I’m done. Good luck.” and leave me holding the bag or leave the unfinished client work hanging by a frazzled rope.

Not a single person I work with has any type of contract. Not even an NDA or a non-compete.

They could steal my process, steal my clients, steal my business secrets and much more. Many of them have complete access to our templates, training videos and inside scoop on how we outshine most of our competition.

I give it to them freely. Which also signals a deep level of trust and reciprocity.

Here’s the truth: Having an employee doesn’t protect you from all the big bad worries I just listed above. It just means you get to pay a lawyer to try to defend your so-called contract with a fly-by-night freelancer. Good luck with that.

You’ll lose more time, energy and money dealing with a lawyer than if you set up your company culture in a way that best serves your freelance team and clients.

I positioned my company to put my freelance team first, and my best interests second.

Sounds crazy and counter-intuitive, but so far it works.

Here’s the point: I have created a company where, as the leader, I must create a culture and working relationship that is better than any other they could create for themselves, or find with another company.

I often tell my team that I hold them with open hands. Palms up, holding them, but they are free to go at any point. They owe me nothing and can take everything they learn as well as show off the work they did with our clients in their portfolio.

They could even ramp up their very own freelance agency to compete with mine, using MY OWN PROCESS.

(As I’m writing this I’m second guessing my philosophy on this??!!)

Maybe I am crazy. Or stupid. Or just naive.

One day it could come back to bite me, or haunt me, or put me out of business. But, so far, I haven’t seen it moving in that direction at all. In fact, I seem to be building a powerhouse team that feels valued, trusted and respected.

Are you a business owner looking to grow??

Do you think you have what it takes to create such an amazing opportunity that would attract a talented freelancer to come work with you even though they could work for themselves or possibly be paid more as an employee somewhere else?

What if you actually focused on building that kind of culture within your organization? What would have to happen in your business and what kind of leader would you have to become in order to attract top talent to work for you, with no strings attached?

Here are some pros and cons of having an entirely freelance team:

Pros:

• Expand or reduce your project capacity as needed

• Manage expenses based on revenue rather than as a fixed cost

• Stop working with someone who is not delivering without legal ramifications

• Only pay for work that is delivered rather than just hours agreed in a contract

• Hire the best, even if they only have 5–10 hours availability

• Save money on payroll taxes, benefits, equipment costs

Cons:

• Freelancers can leave at any time, even in the middle of client work

• Processes and systems are vulnerable to copying / stealing

• Freelancers can raise their rates or reduce their hours at any time

• They may want to build their own business

• Less protection than having employees under contracts

• Lots of invoices to process

• Balancing their independence and creativity for your process

Here are my secrets for growing our team 5x in just 12 months:

• Create an irresistible opportunity

• Treat them with respect

• Involve them in decision making

• Be transparent at all times

• Assign meaningful work projects

• Choose amazing clients for them to work with

• Pay them fairly, consistently, on time

• Reward, recognize and celebrate amongst team

• Promote into leadership

• Develop an integrated team culture

• Create friendships within the team

• Offer growth opportunities

• Challenge and hold them accountable

• Care about them and their family on a personal level

• Cheer for them to win in their own business not just yours

• Invest in their professional and personal growth

• Invite feedback on your leadership performance

• Be vulnerable in your own growth journey

I’m finally beginning to see that growing a business doesn’t always mean hiring employees. It doesn’t mean that one day it won’t be the best option, but for now I’m going to stick with what’s working.

Two Myths to Bust When Hiring a Team

In my last post, I talked about how leveraging a team can be one of the best yet most difficult ways to grow your business. You HAVE to be ready for the changes that will come your way by developing rock-solid processes and understanding how your role will change. You will grow from managing projects to managing people.

Now I want to challenge two popular myths about hiring a team:

1. You’ll make more money

Leveraging a team is a great way to increase revenue, but it’s easy to fall into the trap of growing top line numbers (revenue) while net profit remains the same. Or worse…goes backward. It’s a classic and tragic mistake.

When you add people, you’re either adding an expense by hiring support staff (think bookkeeper, virtual assistant, social media manager), or you’re adding to your cost of labor by sharing your project fee or paying a commission or affiliate fee for selling products. All of this affects profit.

I learned this the hard way when I started adding people to my team. For 2 years, all the revenue was mine. My expenses were incredibly low — a laptop, notebook and a few expenses for tech tools. For the most part, I kept what I made.

Now, with 10+ people on the team, top line numbers are almost vanity metrics, and don’t correlate to money in the bank. Growing your business and revenue isn‘t the same as growing your retirement fund. There were a few months that I worked harder and made less money until I started to grasp this concept.

There’s always a cost of doing business, and it’s not something to shy away from. You just need to be aware of how your expenses are affecting your bottom line.

2. You’ll have more time

Before you hire anyone, you need to know that having a team does not mean that you work less. In fact, you’ll work MORE than ever when you have 1, 2, or 10 people you are now responsible for and relying on to work with your customers.

This is because you’re not just overseeing the work, but also the people you are relying on to deliver the work. A team expands your reach and allows you to take on more business. You’ll be spreading the responsibility among more people, but you’re still taking on more work. Don’t fall for the myth that hiring a team will mean an abundance of free time.

That said, the goal of every entrepreneur is to balance work demands and having a personal life. You shouldn’t insist on doing all of the work yourself. You just need to be aware of the realities of managing a team.

So is it worth it?

If leveraging a team is fraught with danger, why do I recommend it as the best way to grow your business revenue? Because it IS…

IF you have grown your business the right way and set up systems along the way.

This year, we will double our revenue from last year because we have double the amount of people working. Last year we helped 52 clients, and this year we are on track to help well over 100. That will bring in more revenue and definitely grow the business.

And, it has grown ME as a business owner, which I believe is a key element to growing your overall business.

Entrepreneurs are a strange breed. Not everyone is ideal for the constant growth and risk that comes with growing a business. And I want you to know that it’s okay to stay where you are.

If business is great and you are happy, please do not assume you have to grow your business and revenue. Too many people chase after something they think they are ‘supposed to do’, which can ultimately end up being their downfall.

You are running your own race. A lot of other business owners and coaches prescribe to the idea that you need to hustle and capitalize on your momentum.

That can be true, but not everyone is meant to grow their business this way.

Sometimes the answer is no, and sometimes it’s not yet. Knowing the facts and being incredibly self-aware are key to determining when it’s time to move forward in your business. Keep your eyes on your own paper, and you’ll find success on your own terms.

How to Grow and Leverage Your Team in 2021

If you really want to grow your business, at some point you’ll want to bring on a team. With only so many hours in a day, you will eventually reach capacity and need to leverage your time in order to grow.

Adding a team is one of the best ways to grow business revenue, but it’s also the most difficult. It will change the way you work and stretch you in ways you cannot imagine. (They don’t call them growing pains for nothing.)

So how do you know if you’re ready?

If you want it, earn it

I coach my clients to “earn their right to bring on a team.” Yep. It’s not an automatic next step.

I see this all the time with clients who are successful. They reach a capacity in their time and work availability and think the next step is to just add people to their team. It makes sense on the surface, but without clear processes this is a disaster waiting to happen.

Before putting up the job posting or asking for help, you must maximize your current capacity on a personal and professional level. The key is to know you’ve actually reached your capacity.

Ask yourself: where can I free up more time? Where can I narrow my niche so that I am not distracted or working inefficiently?

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with success, which is exciting but messy. And the ugly truth is, leveraging a team can mean leveraging a mess. It amplifies what is really happening behind the scenes.

Bringing on another person (or people) without crystal clear processes could end up driving really great customers or employees away — the opposite of what you want to happen.

✔ Pro Tip: Learn to manage yourself before you manage a team.

A team will change the way you work

When you bring on a team, your work shifts from delivering projects to leading and managing people. It’s going to distance you from your customer and the service or product you’ve worked so hard to create.

So, you better REALLY like working with people (rather than directly with clients). Otherwise, no money in the world will be worth adding a team.

You move slower and make more mistakes with a team. There are egos to massage and processes to follow that slows everything down (even with the most streamlined timelines). And every now and then, you have to let someone go.

With that said, I HIGHLY recommend leveraging a team. After 2 years of being solo, I can’t imagine my business and work without our team. I have realized that I much prefer working with and growing my team than the original copywriting work I started out doing.

Growing a team can be deeply rewarding, just in a different way. I look for freelancers or copywriters just getting started who also want mentoring and training. I enjoy the process of building a team of people who want to grow, both professionally and personally.

I think that’s the point of growth — you never stay where you started. And here’s a secret: your business will ONLY grow as far as you’re willing to grow yourself.

Being an entrepreneur is a journey with so many variables and unknowns, which can be difficult for most people. There is a constant demand to be flexible and always willing to step into the next best version of yourself.

Bottom line, you’ll need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

3 Big Leaps That Changed My Business

“So how’d you do it??”

I get that question a lot. 

It’s a great question, and it causes me to pause and reflect on how did I do it? How did I build a 6-figure business in my first year as a freelance copywriter? 

Or, how did I double that my second year? 

When I look back and try to identify the major shifts in my business, they turned out to be more like huge leaps (think bungee jumping) that made the greatest contribution to my growth as a freelancer. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, the daily discipline of showing up, over delivering and delighting my customers is the foundation of any successful business, but these pretty big ‘ah-ha moments’ are the ones I can point back to that made a significant (and really fast) impact on my business and life. 

3 Big Leaps:

• Raising My Rates

• Saying No

• Getting a Coach

Raising My Rates

I can see your eyes rolling already...of course your business would grow if you raised your rates, you make more money. Not always true. You may make more money, but you close less clients at higher prices. 

When you raise your rates many things happen. First, you have an internal shift in identity. You move from a hustling imposter to a seasoned professional. You begin to understand your value and how you support others in their success. 

You set yourself apart from the competition. Your prices are a statement of your experience and expertise. (Note: Before you raise your rates, you better have both experience and expertise to back it up. But, so many freelancers wait too long to realize their value and raise their rates!)

Raising your rates also attracts a better type of client. Clients who value your work, your contribution and allow you to lead the process. THESE are the types of clients and work that will grow your business faster than you ever imagined! 

Saying No

This had an incredible impact on the fast success of my business. Learning to say no, in a polite and professional way allowed me to grow with integrity on my own terms. 

I said no to: 

• Clients that only wanted to haggle and negotiate. 

• Clients who were too demanding.

• Work that I didn’t enjoy doing. 

• Working weekends and late at night. 

• Projects that creeped outside the original scope. 

• And I fired actual paying clients that were not ‘behaving’.

Freeing up your energy from clients and work that drain you will allow you to attract the right type of work and people who fulfill you and increase your creativity and flow. 

Getting the guts to say no was a game changer for this people pleaser...and as quickly as I got comfortable and confident, my business grew at the same pace! 

Getting a Coach

When I started out as a hustling freelancer on Upwork, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know anyone else trying to build a business online. I didn’t know any other copywriters. 

I didn’t know what I didn’t know. 

And...that can work for you and against you. 

Because I had success in previous jobs in my life (this ain’t my first rodeo at 46) I knew the fastest way to find stability and experience growth was to get a coach. 

I needed some fresh perspective from someone who wasn’t related to me, or working with me. I paid for a coach to help me set goals, check in on my mindset and challenge me to try scary things...like requiring a deposit up front from my clients. 

My coach actually dared me to do things in my business I KNEW would fail...which then turned out to be an incredibly eye opening success. #truestory  Everything he challenged me to do (and I actually did) worked. 

In the midst of struggling my first year...and yes, even at 6-figures there is struggle, I invested to have a coach help me through the rollercoaster of emotions. Both the failures and the wins. 

Even to this day, I invest in coaches...multiple coaches and masterminds. As we race towards revenue of $500k in the business this year, I need support and coaching more than ever.  

Do yourself a favor...don’t waste 2 years trying to figure out on your own. Take some notes from what worked from me and ‘steal like an artist’. Follow my steps and watch as you grow by leaps in bounds in your own business.

Raise Your Prices Without Second Guessing: A Really Short Guide

Most business owners work hard to grow their top line revenue which leads to an even bigger bottom line. But here’s the thing — while there are several ways to grow a business, not all of them actually grow your revenue, or more importantly your profits. 

So, what should you do?

If growing your revenues is at the top of your list for 2021, then the best place to start is raising your prices. 

Yes, I know that the thought of raising your prices can evoke anxiety. Having worked with hundreds of growing businesses, and growing my own in a very short period of time, I can tell you that  hiking your prices is always difficult, but it’s important, and not just for your business.  

Raising prices is an essential step for helping you develop the mindset needed to really take your business to the next level.

The Problem With Saying “Yes”

Many people are addicted to getting a yes from every client. Afterall, it’s how they were able to start the business in the first place.  

Addiction to the “yes” makes us hesitant when it comes to raising prices — always hearing yes causes you to undervalue your work. This means that you are not priced correctly in the market and missing business revenue growth. 

As I’ve said, raising your prices can feel scary, there’s fear of losing business and your inner voice questioning if you’re truly worth it. Believe me, I’ve been there and have come out on the other side to help you get beyond these limiting beliefs.

It’s fear and scarcity mindset that hold us back from raising our prices. What if someone says no? What if people say they can’t afford it? They are not your customers. As you grow your business, you’re going to outgrow your customers. And that’s ok!

You’re Not Alone

Most business owners are guilty of underpricing their services. I did for many years, and the truth is that every quarter that goes by, you have gained more experience, perspective, customers, testimonials, and proof of your work. Each of these elements increases the value of your services or how you deliver your product. 

We all like the feeling of clients and customers who say yes quickly. It feels good on both sides right? I had a mentor tell me once that if they say yes too quickly, then it’s time to raise prices. 

And if you’re backed up with a waitlist….well then you really need to raise those prices!

If price-raising makes you feel anxious, then I encourage you to always be raising prices just a little, on every new project. This is obviously more challenging when you have posted prices on your website or ecommerce product page, but the mindset and approach should be the same. 

How you know you hit the sweet spot

Always be reviewing and raising prices until you start hitting the ceiling. 

And what is that ceiling? 

You know that you’ve probably plateaued when the yes’s slow down or become more painful. I know my prices are set correctly when it takes clients a few days, and even a followup call before they say yes. It hurts a little...or sometimes a lot. And they tell me that it does. But here’s what I know, the transformation begins with the transaction and when it hurts, they value the work more and end up being a more focused and collaborative client. 

That’s the kind of business I want to grow. Raising my prices raises the caliber of clients I get to work with. 

There are more customers out there, even better ones that value your service and are willing to pay your prices. 

And guess what? This has a knock on effect...better clients mean that my team is happy, which I’ll talk more about in another post. 

How to raise your prices 

• Make sure the time is right - Make sure your customers are satisfied with your service. Be diligent about providing value always, especially leading up to the raise.

• Add extras - Think of something relevant to throw into your service or product packages that would cost you little or nothing, but would raise the perceived value to the customer. (Free ebook, bonus coaching call, etc.)

• Target a different customer base - Find a more affluent customer base with the budget to support your higher prices. These higher paying clients will offset any you lose from your price increase.

If you want more simple tips to grow your business and raise the bar in 2021, Join our Facebook Group of small business owners and entrepreneurs, just like you. Join the discussion and learn from a Certified Business Made Simple Coach and StoryBrand Team, and the best part... It's FREE.

You’re worth it!

Raising your prices leads to higher revenue and quality of clients, this is a win-win! You may lose clients along the way, but you will come out on the other side with new, epic clients and more profit! 

It’s simple, decide the next proposal you send will be for a higher rate. No if’s, and’s or but’s about it: you are worth it! Don’t hesitate, raise your prices today and thank me later.

It may not be easy, but you didn’t get into business for yourself to take the easy route. Take charge of your financial position, bring in more profit, and create space in your life so you can truly thrive!