In this kickoff episode of Scale Your Vision, Adriane maps the plain-English difference between building, growing, and scaling — and why chasing scale too soon quietly slows you down. You’ll learn the five phases (Development, Startup, Growth, Expansion, Maturity), the Four S’s (Starting, Scaling, Skating, Structuring), and a simple input/output lens that tells you exactly what to prioritize at each revenue level.
🌟 Have a specific question you want me to workshop on the show?
I set up this voice-note line so you can send context-rich questions I can answer for everyone’s benefit — and I can’t wait to hear what you’re building!
Welcome to the brand new
Scale Your Vision podcast.
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:I am delighted to finally be
doing this and to get this
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:project out into the world.
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:So what I sort of wanna start with is kind
of a foundational episode that explains,
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:like when I talk about build versus
growth versus scale, what do I mean?
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:What are the different phases that you
go through as you start your business and
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:then continue on and what it means to be
at different revenue levels as far as like
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:what that means operationally for you.
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:So yeah, I just want this to sort of be
an episode that I can point people back
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:to so that you always have a foundational
understanding of what growth means based
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:on where you're actually at, because
something that I have seen over and
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:over and over and over again, like over
and over and over and over and over and
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:over again is, I cannot overstate that
enough, is that it is really common
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:for business owners to want to take on
things in their business that they're
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:really not ready for, that are, you
know, it's just a little too soon.
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:So I will often say to people
like, you're not wrong.
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:You're just not ready because it sounds
great to go after these big, lofty things.
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:And sometimes there is a, there
is a reason to go after something
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:that feels really big, but from an
operational standpoint, and I love
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:operational strategy from an operational
standpoint, it does not make sense
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:for most people to try and go after
things that are going to stretch their
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:operational capacity in such a way that
is actually going to slow them down.
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:So, there's that, so very quickly.
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:Why I started this show.
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:Uh, I wanted a place.
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:I have another podcast.
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:I am in the process of
starting a third podcast.
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:I'm a multiple podcast host.
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:I love podcasting.
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:I love the medium of podcasting.
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:It is my favorite medium in,
in which to create and consume.
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:And so my first podcast that I have,
the visionary files where we have.
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:More than 120 episodes at this point.
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:It's globally ranked in the top 10.
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:I'm really, really proud of it.
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:We've taken a little bit of a, the
last year or so has been weird, like
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:I got through the first 100 episodes
and published so consistently, and
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:then I took, intentionally took time
off because I was thinking about
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:going into business with someone else.
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:That completely fell apart.
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:That person was a really big
part of the podcast and I
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:was like, what am I gonna do?
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:What am I gonna do next?
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:Where am I at?
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:Where am I going?
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:Um, because a lot of what I
was doing was like, I'm gonna
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:do my stuff behind the scenes.
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:And then a lot of what I was publicly,
publicly building involved a different
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:person and it completely fell apart.
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:And when I say completely fell apart,
like nothing bad happened, just sort of.
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:It drifted.
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:Drifted away and just like went away and
then was like, oh, this is not happening.
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:This is definitely not
gonna happen anymore.
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:Now what do we do?
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:So anyhow, it's been very inconsistent
for the last two years probably, and part
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:of the reason that that's happened, just
for full disclosure, I think that part
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:of the reason that I wanted to start this
podcast is because I wanted a place to be
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:able to talk about things that happened
to us in our business and normalize them.
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:And you know, I think what happened
with that podcast was I sort of lost
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:sight of where I was going with it.
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:And I knew that I wanted it to
be a podcast for case studies.
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:It's called The Visionary Files.
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:And that's the whole idea.
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:Like I'm asking people questions
about how they did really cool
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:stuff within their business and.
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:You know, like the whole, the tagline
of it is, you know, did you ever see
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:a, a business owner or a business
that did something really incredible?
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:And you were like, how do they do that?
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:Me too.
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:And I'm gonna ask them the questions
so that you have the answers on
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:like, how that actually happened.
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:And the more I started down that
road, the more I was like, I don't
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:like the format because I have so
many other things that I wanna talk
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:about, but it doesn't make sense.
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:I don't wanna lose this as a format.
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:And so the fix for me.
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:That's the really long-winded way of
saying why I wanted to start this is
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:because I wanted a place to be able to
put all of the other things that I wanted
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:to talk about, which is predominantly
through the lens of solo episodes of me
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:just getting, you know, hitting record and
sharing my thoughts and sharing strategy.
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:I wanted a completely free and
completely accessible place
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:for people to get strategy.
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:I'm finding I'm getting
more and more people who are
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:asking for strategic advice.
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:And for me, it doesn't feel great to
offer strategic advice when people
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:are paying me for strategic advice.
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:You know what I mean?
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:And so it used to be where I was like.
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:You get one, I'll answer
one question for you.
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:And then after that, like, it just
doesn't make sense for me to, you
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:know, it's, it's not honoring the
agreement that I have with other people.
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:It doesn't feel good in that
way, but also like I don't
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:have the time to do it anymore.
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:So this podcast also serves that purpose
because you can, you can literally write
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:me a voice note or send me a voice,
not write, you don't write voice notes.
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:You can send me a voice note and
I will play it on the podcast.
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:You can shout your business out so you
get a little bit of a plug, and I will
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:play your voice note and I will develop
an entire strategy for you on this
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:podcast that's linked in the show notes
if you want to submit a voice note to me.
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:And if you do that, I would just
ask that you give a lot of context.
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:Because the more that I understand about
your specific situation, the more I can
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:tailor it to your specific situation
because re realistically, like there for
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:any given question that someone could ask,
there are probably a thousand different
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:ways that I could answer that question.
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:So anyway, I can give strategic
advice, I can give more.
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:Specific strategic advice, the more you
gimme context, and then I can sort of
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:weave in ways as we go on, you know, how
to think if this is not really applicable
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:to your business, like this is how
you might wanna be thinking about it.
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:So anyway, that's why I started this show.
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:You can expect more, you
know, solo based episodes.
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:I don't have any expect, I don't have any
plans to have guests on at this point.
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:And the show really is designed more for
people who are already generating revenue.
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:It's called.
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:Scale your vision.
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:It is not called build your vision.
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:And that is a perfect segue into
what I actually want to talk about
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:today because I have found that.
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:So many people, I, when I,
I'll ask them the question of
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:like, well, what do you want?
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:What's your goal in your business?
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:And they'll say, I
wanna scale my business.
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:And I'll say, great, what are you doing?
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:And they're like, well, I'm trying to
figure out how to make my first sale.
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:And I'm like, well, that's definitely not,
you're not scaling your business then.
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:You know what I mean?
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:Um, they don't know what I mean, which
is the whole point of why I wanted to, to
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:develop this episode as a foundation for.
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:What it means to build versus grow versus
scale, and to go through like all of
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:the different phases of growth to get to
the point where you actually can scale.
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:So let's get to that.
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:Yeah.
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:Everybody wants more growth, right?
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:Every, every once in a while I'll,
I'll meet someone who's like,
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:no, I don't want more growth.
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:But I, I think for the, by and
large, most people are like,
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:yes, I want more business growth.
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:So what does that actually mean?
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:For you.
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:So as I said, this is not build your
vision, this is scale your vision.
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:Those two words mean two different things.
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:So I want you to understand
what scaling actually means.
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:You cannot scale what does not exist first
and foremost, like let's understand that
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:anything times zero is still zero and.
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:Really even anything, times
one doesn't get you any further
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:than where you're already at.
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:So if you haven't made money yet, or if
you're still at that place, that's like
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:you would consider yourself sort of that
entry level, level one business owner.
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:Scale is not your goal.
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:Even if you think it is, your
goal is just building So.
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:You know, where if you were looking
at really proper business terms
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:according to like F funding and if you
were going after capital and things
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:like that, they classify funding,
uh, funding rounds as pre-seed, seed
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:series A, series B, series C, and
then you can continue on and whatever.
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:But those rounds are
like, they're really big.
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:So pre-seed is where your pre-revenue,
essentially seed is your, you have
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:proof of concept for whatever it is.
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:Like there's no hard line for
like, you're making this much
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:per month or this much per year.
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:Once you get into series A and series B,
it's pretty, um, it's not like solidly
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:defined, but in general, a series A
raise is going to typically happen when
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:a business has a million or two per year
in annual revenue and a series B raise is
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:gonna happen when a business has more like
five to 10 million per year in revenue.
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:So that's for a lot of you listening, I
know you're like, well, that's far away.
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:Like, I'm not at a million a year.
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:I know that my list does have,
um, probably three or 4% of
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:my email list because I track.
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:So many things.
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:Um, I track a lot of data.
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:Probably three or 4% of my email list
is over a million dollars per year.
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:So that means by and large,
my audience is going, hang on.
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:Like I'm not anywhere near that.
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:So when you look at pre-seed
and seed, like what?
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:What does that mean in terms
of where I'm at revenue wise?
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:So I've developed and like, does that
mean I'm building, growing or scaling?
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:So I've developed my own system because
I have worked with so many people who
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:are under the million dollar per year.
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:Mark my consulting, the people that I've
worked with one-on-one have almost all
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:either been over a million dollars per
year or we've worked together to get
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:them over a million dollars per year,
but the vast majority of people that
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:I've worked with in this coaching program
or that program, or the people who are
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:in the collective, in the Visionaries
Collective, things like that, like
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:they're not, at that point, they're
not over a million dollars per year.
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:So I've developed a assist.
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:I've developed two different systems that
I wanna talk about first, the difference
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:between building, growing and scaling,
which I talk about through phases.
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:And that is going to,
um, I've staged this in.
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:Five different, five different
stages that your business can be in.
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:So development, startup growth,
expansion, and maturity.
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:These are.
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:Okay.
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:They're my concepts, but
they're not my concepts.
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:Like this is not one of
my proprietary frameworks.
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:This is, I went out into the world
and looked at what would make the
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:most sense, but there's no harder
or fast answer for like, oh, if I'm
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:making this much per month, what
does that or this much per year?
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:What does, what phase
am I in in my business?
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:There's not like one.
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:One defined consensus.
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:Maybe if you look in one specific
textbook, it's gonna say this thing, if
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:you look on this specific article, it's
gonna say a different different thing.
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:So the terms are loosely what would
be out in the world in use, but I've
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:developed a system where I'm like, this
is the way that I talk about it so that
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:I have a streamlined approach to it.
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:And then I will talk about also my
four, uh, my four C's of growth.
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:Or my four S's of growth rather.
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:I have so many C's, I have four C's
according to people where you've got like
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:CEO, you've got CEO, uh, culture, clients,
community, like that's one four C's.
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:My four C's are my four C.
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:Operational structure
is a different thing.
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:I have so many different
acronyms for different things.
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:I've also got four S's of
growth, which is starting.
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:Um, starting scaling,
skating and structuring.
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:So I'm gonna talk about these things
sort of an intertwined way between
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:the different phases, development,
startup growth, expansion and
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:maturity, and interweaving that
with the four S's around starting,
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:scaling, skating, and structuring.
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:If you wanna take notes for this, you
can, but this is not intended to be
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:anything particularly academic, just.
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:I think that it will be insightful
on like where you're at and what
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:this means for you and your business
and what you're ready for and what
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:you might wanna be focusing on.
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:So when you are starting those
four S's, when you are starting
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:that really correlates in as
far as the stages of growth.
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:It correlates with
development and startup.
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:So when you are in a more development
stage of your business, your
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:revenue is either non-existent
or it's really inconsistent.
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:And really the only thing that
you are going after here is
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:consistency and proof of concept.
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:So development, you can be pre-revenue
or you can be, you can be revenue
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:generating, but not to the point
with any, any level of consistency.
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:And really that's all you're trying to go
for here, when people are at this place.
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:When people are in this sort of starting
place in their business, the thing that
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:I cannot stress enough is that your
only job is to figure out how to market,
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:how to sell, and how to get your brain
on board with your ability to do both.
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:That like how many times I
have said that in my life?
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:Learn to market, learn to sell,
and get your brain on board
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:with your ability to do both.
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:Because if it's not something that you've
ever done before, and even if you have
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:done it before, if you've never done it
for your own business, it's a different,
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:it's a different ballgame to like sell
your own product, especially if you're
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:something like a coach or a consultant
where you're kind of selling yourself.
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:It feels really different than selling.
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:Uh, what else?
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:What could you be selling, uh,
selling cars at a dealership?
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:Let's just say it's, it's very different.
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:It feels really personal.
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:And so like you want to get your braid
on board with your ability to do those
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:things simultaneously, to like getting
out there and proverbially pounding
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:the pave, you know what I mean?
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:So, and I also tell people that it doesn't
really matter where your business is at.
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:You are probably going to direct
70% of all of your business' overall
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:energy toward marketing and sales.
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:And in the beginning that means
you're spending 70% of your
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:time, energy, resources, et
cetera, on marketing and selling.
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:So like, stop making another Google Doc.
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:Stop playing around in Canva.
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:Stop whatever.
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:Like we, we distract ourselves with
so many things of like, this feels
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:productive, but there's a difference
between being productive and just like.
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:Staying busy, you know what I mean?
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:And so you really wanna direct 70%
of your efforts toward marketing
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:and selling once you get bigger.
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:Then you have more money that you can
hire people and other people can help
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:with it, and it's no longer you one human
being directing 70% of your time, energy,
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:and efforts into marketing and sales.
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:But realistically, if you're working
40 hours a week and you are not, you
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:don't have a team and you don't have
any other type of support out of those
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:40 hours a week that you're working,
let's just say, 'cause that is.
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:A nice round average number.
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:Like that means 30 hours of those
40 hours per week should be on
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:marketing and sales activities.
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:You know what I mean?
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:So that's development where you are
just looking for proof of concept
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:and everything that you are doing is
going into figuring out what people
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:want and how to get them to make a
purchase because you have been able to
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:identify and articulate in such a way
what it is that you have to offer them
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:such that they will make a purchase.
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:So your market presence objectives
in the development stage is really
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:pretty simply like, how does
my concept fill a market need?
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:Whether that's, you know, I am developing
some type of, um, consumer good if I'm
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:developing some type of food product,
if I'm developing a coaching program,
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:if I'm developing, uh, a service of some
sort, like it doesn't matter what it
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:is, you have to figure out how does my
concept fill a market need from there.
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:And you go into the startup phase, and
according to my four Ss, this would
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:still be starting is your revenue is
no longer consistent, but you're still
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:probably below like $8,000 per month.
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:I say eight th $8,000 per month because
that is what puts you 83, 8,333, and 33.3,
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:3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 3 cents per
month would get you to a hundred
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:thousand dollars per year.
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:So that, you know, it's,
it's consistent now.
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:Thankfully that's helpful when
you have consistent revenue, but
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:you're under that $8,000 per month.
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:You, um, are around a thousand dollars.
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:You're, you are just under a
hundred thousand dollars per year.
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:So you're working toward getting
to that six figure mark, and
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:you're really working on getting a.
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:Cash and client base.
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:So you are trying to
build a solid foundation.
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:Your revenue is more consistent now,
but you are now working on really
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:solidifying your foundation for
receiving cash and generating clients.
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:So lead acquisition.
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:Uh, lead acquisition, turning into
client acquisition, establishing your
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:visibility channels, and that's really
your market presence Objective here
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:is how can I establish market presence
because I don't, I personally don't
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:think you need any kind of established
market presence when you are.
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:Still trying to figure out how to
generate sales and and revenue.
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:And you could say like, well, what
comes first, the chicken or the egg?
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:Like how can I make sales if I don't
have some type of market presence?
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:I mean like really
established market presence.
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:Like I'm a firm believer you don't
really need a website and that might.
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:Set some of the, the web designers
off hearing that, but like
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:realistically, it's more important
for you to figure out how to make
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:sales than to have a pretty website.
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:And you might be in a, now if
you're a website designer, yeah,
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:you probably need a website in order
to sell websites to other people.
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:That is no argument for me there.
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:But realistically, unless
you are in a market where.
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:People are just going to be extremely
distrusting of what it is that you
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:have to offer because you do not
have a website, I'm gonna go ahead
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:and argue that you don't need one.
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:There are so many, so many, or you at
least don't need a super pretty one.
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:You know what I mean?
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:Like it might look nice, but
that's probably not gonna
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:get you consistent revenue.
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:You have other stuff to figure out.
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:You have to figure out your messaging.
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:You have to figure out all these things.
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:So once you're making that consistent
revenue, you are in a much better place,
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:and I would argue a much more logical
place to figure out where am I starting
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:to establish market presence, building out
the website, building out more consistent
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:social media presence, like wherever
you choose to build market presence.
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:We're gonna talk about this
in a, in a later episode.
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:Market presence really
comes down to visibility.
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:And there are, I've got all the
acronyms for all the things.
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:There are four Bs of visibility.
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:I've got four S's, I've got four C's, I've
got four B's, I've got all the things.
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:So the four B's of visibility are, you
can, you can borrow it, you can buy it,
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:you can build it, and you can, this is
where it becomes a very me framework.
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:You can also bedazzle it, which is
where you have returning clients.
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:So you get, um, you get.
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:Retention, uh, and referrals from
those clients that you've already had.
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:So those are the only four
ways to generate visibility,
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:like the only four ways.
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:Stay tuned.
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:We're gonna talk about that in
a future episode, but that's
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:really what you're trying to do.
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:And once you get to that point where
you can get yourself to a recurring.
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:You know, somewhere between six, seven
and $10,000 per month in revenue, and
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:you've got a pretty consistent base for
cash and for generating clients, and
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:you've got a handle on like, how are
you putting yourself out into the world?
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:What does your market presence look like?
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:Whether it's, it's mostly
online, not really online at all.
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:Mostly in person.
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:Not really in person at all.
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:Like what?
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:Whatever the mix of that looks like,
however that exists on a spectrum.
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:That's the startup phase.
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:And when you are looking at my four
S's, starting scaling, skating,
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:structuring, that's the starting place.
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:So you are not even remotely
thinking about starting.
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:Or you are remotely not, you
are not even remotely thinking
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:about scaling at that point.
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:Once you move out of startup and you
go into a growth phase, and this is
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:really fun, personally for me, this is
really fun to work with people at this
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:place because it's like, this is working
now what do I do to make this bigger?
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:And this is where people really
get into, okay, I'm ready to
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:scale and I don't wanna burst your
bubble, but you are in fact not.
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:So the difference between
growth and scale is.
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:So I want you to think about things
in terms of input and output.
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:Input into your business means revenue.
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:You are getting more leads,
you are getting more dollars,
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:you are generating more sales.
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:That's input you are receiving.
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:More output means you
are expending resources.
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:So you are spending time, you are
spending energy, you are paying your team.
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:Your team is spending hours.
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:They are.
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:They're expending their resources
within, you know, through the lens
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:of, of your business operations.
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:So input output, the, the most simple way
that I can talk about growth versus scale
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:is that growth is where you are increasing
both your input and your output.
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:And realistically, when you are.
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:Between in the, so I, I classify
as the growth phase, as you're
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:probably gonna be somewhere between
eight and $10,000 per month up to
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:like maybe 25, $30,000 per month.
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:Um, this really goes, but this
is like you're at a hundred
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:thousand to $300,000 per year.
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:And this is where these are where your
bottlenecks tend to happen when you
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:get close, when your service providers,
this can happen earlier because when
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:you are, like in a true freelance
model, you can start to, things can
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:start to break before you get to a
hundred thousand dollars, but typically
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:it's where you're somewhere between, I
don't know, 70 and a hundred thousand.
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:Everything starts to
feel like it's breaking.
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:It happens again around 300,000.
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:It can happen depending on your model.
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:Again, around 500,000 happens again,
around a million, happens again around 3
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:million, and then it can go from there.
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:Not really like they're good sort
of benchmarks or goalposts for
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:understanding which phase that you're in.
400
:So that growth phase, if you're around a
hundred to $300,000, uh, per month in, in
401
:revenue or per year in revenue, rather, a
hundred to a hundred to 300,000 per year
402
:in revenue, that's totally different.
403
:A hundred to 300,000 per year in revenue
is totally different per month is you
404
:are really at a place where you are
probably not looking to start decreasing
405
:your output in order to increase more.
406
:And if you try to do that,
things are gonna start to break.
407
:That does not mean that you can't have
more, uh, more robust profit margins,
408
:but the rest of it is probably you
are going to need to expend more in
409
:order to receive more at this point.
410
:So that's to get to my point
of growth versus scale.
411
:Growth is where you are increasing
both input and output at the same time.
412
:So to get more money, to get more clients,
to get a larger audience, those things,
413
:you are also going to have to expend
more of your resources to make it happen.
414
:Versus scale is you are increasing
your input, so you're making more
415
:money, generating more leads, building
LA, larger audience, et cetera,
416
:while also decreasing your output.
417
:So you are having to expend
less of your resources.
418
:Things are starting to take less time.
419
:Things are starting to take less money.
420
:You are looking at profit margins a little
bit more closely, et cetera, et cetera.
421
:So that growth stage, while you
absolutely can be looking at like,
422
:how do I, how do I make my, my
profit margin a little juicier?
423
:It's like you are still expending
resources in other areas of your business.
424
:If you want to make more, now
it is different, and here's
425
:where you start to get into.
426
:Okay, so there's scaling,
skating and structuring.
427
:Scaling I talk about as
one, as the same thing.
428
:Because that's the way the rest
of the world is sort of thinking
429
:about it for the most part.
430
:But that can be scale or growth, whether
you're ready for scale or growth, like
431
:we're gonna call that scaling skating
though, is if you're like, I don't
432
:necessarily want to make more, but I
want to expend less of my resources,
433
:so I don't need to increase my input,
but I do want to decrease my output.
434
:You can start to do this in the growth
phase if this is where, if you're like,
435
:I'm not trying to scale to the moon,
I'm really happy with, I mean, making
436
:a hundred thousand dollars per year is
pretty solid, especially when you have
437
:a partner who's potentially making, you
know, close to the same or more than that.
438
:Like that's a, that's a pretty decent
little revenue for most households.
439
:So you might say, I'm completely okay with
this, but I would love to work less hours
440
:in my business, or I would love to do it
with much more robust profit margins, or
441
:whatever that looks like that is skating.
442
:Yeah, that is the of the four S's, that's
the skating, because it's really like
443
:everything's kind of gravy right now.
444
:I'm skating along, things are great, but
like how can I do this in a more effective
445
:and efficient way where I can get my time
back, where I can, et cetera, et cetera.
446
:So.
447
:That skating structuring is where you've
pushed, pushed, pushed, pushed, pushed,
448
:and you've maybe ignored the signs and
maybe things are not going the way that
449
:they, you really would like them to go.
450
:And things are maybe feeling
a little bit clunky and tense.
451
:And this can definitely happen in
the growth phase if you tried to grow
452
:too far too fast, too soon and you
maybe did things that like had you
453
:thought about them a little bit longer.
454
:You maybe wouldn't have done them.
455
:I typically see this happen
beyond the growth phase.
456
:I see this more in like expansion or
maturity, but it can start to happen
457
:in the growth phase where you're
like, this doesn't really feel like
458
:the business I was really wanting to
build, or like, based on where I'm
459
:at, you know, like I'm really swamped
with one-on-one work, or I'm really
460
:swamped with done, done for you work.
461
:Or I'm really swamped with like, I'm, I'm
the manual system for like, I'm creating
462
:every t-shirt in the press myself.
463
:And like this is no longer sustainable.
464
:You have to structure, that's the
structuring part of the four S's where
465
:you, where you almost say, okay, I'm
okay with decreasing my input and
466
:potentially increasing my output.
467
:So I'm going to maybe make less,
maybe slow things down and also
468
:increase, um, the amount of time I'm
spending and increase the resources
469
:that, that I'm using in this.
470
:So that's scaling,
skating and structuring.
471
:So in growth phase, wherever you're
at with this, typically you are either
472
:wanting to stay where you're at or you
are building toward having a more like
473
:robust mid six figure per year revenue.
474
:And this is really about developing.
475
:Um, a, a more solid understanding
of cash flow and getting your profit
476
:margins a little bit more under control.
477
:Now, if you are really looking at where,
in the beginning when I talked about,
478
:or not in the beginning beginning,
but earlier when I talked about the
479
:different rounds of funding, if you're
looking for funding rounds, like
480
:profit is probably not even gonna
be like necessarily on your radar.
481
:A lot of people who are going
after funding rounds of like.
482
:Series A funding.
483
:It's not necessarily that you're going to
have a profit margin when you get further
484
:along, they wanna see more profit margin,
but realistically, if like that's not
485
:what you're working toward and you're more
of, you know, more of a mom and pop shop.
486
:And that doesn't mean that you
can't have, you know, multiple seven
487
:figures in revenue, but you're more
of like an independently owned, you're
488
:not really looking to be acquired.
489
:You're not necessarily looking to,
well, if you're looking to be acquired,
490
:you definitely want some good profit
margins, but you're not necessarily
491
:looking to, you know, bring in
venture capital or anything like that.
492
:You're really looking at like, how
can I increase my profit margins?
493
:How can I streamline my.
494
:My systems for revenue
and for all these things.
495
:And at this point for market
presence, you're really looking at
496
:how do I start to establish market
differentiation, and this is one of
497
:my favorite things to talk about.
498
:Or for someone who's at that like
two or $300,000 per year mark of what
499
:is market differentiation for you?
500
:How can you start to poke holes
in what you're doing in order
501
:to establish a more known brand.
502
:So how can you start to establish.
503
:You know, what is the
identity behind your brand?
504
:Where are you starting to acquire
a larger share of the market?
505
:And typically, when you are acquiring
a larger share of the market, if you
506
:don't differentiate yourself, like
you're never gonna be able to do that
507
:because you are like, I've heard this
so many times from people who are
508
:doing like a hundred, $200,000 per
year in revenue where they're like.
509
:Everywhere that I look, everyone is saying
the exact same thing as me and like I
510
:just feel like I'm screaming into a void.
511
:And I feel like the people that
are my ideal customers, my ideal
512
:clients are, they're probably
getting hit with all this noise too.
513
:Now that's a story that you're
telling yourself if you have
514
:told yourself that story.
515
:Like it really just is a story.
516
:And it's probably, it's one of
those things where like if you are
517
:thinking about going and buying a
blue, um, a blue, a blue Explorer.
518
:Blue Ford Explorer, you are probably
going to start seeing Blue Ford
519
:explorers literally everywhere.
520
:It's one of those things where like,
because you're thinking about it,
521
:your brain is subconsciously looking
for it and you start to see it more.
522
:So it's really just a story, but
also you do want to differentiate.
523
:What is your message?
524
:What makes what you do so
unique, et cetera, et cetera.
525
:So that's, that's growth and that's
really, you know, like I said in the
526
:earlier is like 70% of your resources are
going to go toward marketing and sales.
527
:So when you're looking at marketing
presence, that's really the thing
528
:that's going to get you to the next
level is how you're thinking about
529
:the way in which you're marketing and
selling at the same time, starting
530
:to really build systems in for.
531
:Cash and building in systems for
your operational capacity, because
532
:as you grow, as every level that you
go through, you know where I said
533
:earlier, you know, like this is where
your bottlenecks tend to happen.
534
:You're gonna have a, you're gonna
hit a bottleneck around a hundred
535
:thousand dollars a year, another
one around $300,000 per year.
536
:I want you to think of each of those,
like your building a house and.
537
:I know I sort of am skipping around all
here, there and yonder, but like, think
538
:about it like you're building a house
and there is 0% possibility that you
539
:would have built a one story house and
then at some point gone, you know what?
540
:My family's gotten bigger.
541
:Um, we've our, our.
542
:What are the what?
543
:What?
544
:Why can't I think of the
words like our furniture?
545
:I could not think of the word furniture.
546
:We've gotten so much furniture and our
stuff has accumulated to the point where
547
:we now want to have a two story home.
548
:There's no way you would add
on a second story to your house
549
:without reinforcing the foundation.
550
:Right?
551
:Like at least not if you wanted
your kids to sleep upstairs or your
552
:mom and dad to sleep upstairs or
whatever, like you would never do it.
553
:And likewise, if you then.
554
:Turned around later on and wanted to
build a third story or a fourth story.
555
:Like every time you added a story
to your house, you would need
556
:to reinforce the foundation.
557
:Like, that's just basic, sort
of a logical concept, right?
558
:It's the same thing with your business
and that's your operational structure.
559
:So when you are in a growth phase
and you're, you know, a hundred to
560
:$300,000 per year-ish, and you're really
looking at how can I establish market
561
:differentiation, how can I really start
to establish like what makes me more
562
:unique within my market and how can
I start to acquire a larger portion
563
:of the market based on, you know,
having a bit more of a differentiated
564
:message and having something that's
a little bit more unique to offer.
565
:And really like establishing who I am
and what I do within the marketplace.
566
:You are at the same time starting to build
out, you know, you're reestablishing your
567
:foundation so that you have the internal
capacity and the internal supports so
568
:that your operations don't come like
crashing down, like you built a house
569
:on a pile of sand sort of a thing.
570
:And then from there.
571
:You go into an expansion phase, so this
is where you're more around the like
572
:300,000 to a million $300,000 per year
to about a million dollars per year.
573
:So at this point, while you're in
the expansion phase, you are building
574
:toward seven figures per year.
575
:Now, you might not be building
towards seven figures per year because
576
:this is an extraordinary business.
577
:You can.
578
:Make a nice little living without
ever having a seven figure business.
579
:So you can be like, no, I wanna skate,
or No, I wanna restructure the way
580
:that things are and then go from there.
581
:Or, I'm really looking for more.
582
:I would also argue that when you
are in the expansion phase, this is
583
:probably your first opportunity when
you get closer to seven figures.
584
:So if you are like.
585
:Over $500,000 per year.
586
:This is probably the first time
where I would say we are ready to
587
:talk about scale, not just growth.
588
:So this concept where we go, oh, the thing
that I really want, I just wanna scale.
589
:We've gotten all the way through all
these different phases, all of that
590
:to say until you hit about, give or
take, it's not a hard or fast rule,
591
:about $500,000 per year in revenue.
592
:I'm gonna say we're really not
even thinking about scaling yet.
593
:Like if you are thinking
about the word scale, I wanna
594
:scale, it's probably growth.
595
:You're looking for growth.
596
:You're either looking for growth or you're
looking for the skate that's, that's
597
:skate phase or restructuring things.
598
:So anyhow, that was, that
was my side note there.
599
:So you're working toward, it's,
again, it's that operational capacity.
600
:Like there are, I have
frameworks for everything.
601
:There are seven pillars of scaling.
602
:I don't have these in front of
me, so I'm gonna see if I can
603
:like really rattle these off.
604
:The seven pillars of scaling
are marketing, sales, mindset,
605
:team operations, finance.
606
:Oh, what's the last one?
607
:I'm like counting them off.
608
:Marketing, marketing, selling
mindset, team operations.
609
:Finance.
610
:Oh, it's delivery.
611
:The seventh pillar is delivery.
612
:So marketing, sales, mindset, team,
operations, finance, and delivery.
613
:Anyhow.
614
:So really like that's what
you, to get two, seven figures.
615
:That's when you're really
paying attention to all seven.
616
:Like you don't really need, even though
very, very early on when you're at the
617
:very early stages of your business, when
you start, you know, you're shipping
618
:your product to people's homes, you
are delivering your website services
619
:or your copywriting services, or you
are working with clients, whatever that
620
:looks like for you, you could argue,
well, that's delivery, but I meet,
621
:like, when you get closer to seven
figures, delivery at scale is a totally,
622
:totally, totally 100% different animal.
623
:So really focusing on delivery
systems, uh, so that you're
624
:operational infrastructure.
625
:I've seen this so many times where
people are like, oh, I really
626
:want to scale my business fast,
and they have a huge launch.
627
:I, I ran an operations agency.
628
:It was, it was a marketing agency.
629
:It was really an operations agency,
but I'd called it a marketing agency
630
:because people understood it better.
631
:I was doing, you know, doing
Done for You work, and I saw so
632
:many people who were like, oh, I
wanna have a much bigger launch.
633
:And someone actually went, this is just
one example that I can pull off the
634
:top of my head, where someone had done
a a hundred thousand dollars launch.
635
:The last time, and then this next
time they wound up doing a $700,000
636
:launch, which sounds really attractive
and like, ooh, I'd want that.
637
:How can I, how can I go from, uh, a
hundred thousand dollars to $700,000 in
638
:the span of like one launch to the next?
639
:But so many things broke because then this
person had to figure out, well, how do
640
:I now deliver this product to that many
people where I'm now needing to rely on,
641
:like, I need to bring other people in.
642
:Are they going to do as good
of a job as I was doing?
643
:And if I bring other people in, are my
my clients, my students going to feel as
644
:supported as they had been, et cetera.
645
:There's just a lot to think about.
646
:So the delivery systems are.
647
:Once you get to a certain point, your
delivery systems drastically start to
648
:change because you want to figure out
how to replicate a client experience that
649
:feels like you're only delivering to a
very small number of people, but you're
650
:actually delivering it to a large number
of people, and that's where your client
651
:experience becomes really phenomenal
when you can do it at scale in that way.
652
:So anyhow.
653
:At this point, you are also really
primarily looking at market expansion
654
:and you know, you've already figured
out how to differentiate your message
655
:and now you're really looking at how can
I take what I'm doing and start to do
656
:this on with more visibility mechanisms?
657
:How can I increase the,
the channels that I am?
658
:You know, on, on which I am producing
content and things like that.
659
:So you're really looking at like, how can
I start to do a multichannel approach?
660
:How can I start to develop
omnipresence, et cetera, et cetera.
661
:And I think that that is really important
for people to hear who are not yet
662
:doing, you know, this level of revenue
in their, in their business that.
663
:You know, you really don't need to
be in all the places doing all the
664
:things I'm a firm believer in: you just
learned to do one thing really well.
665
:Like pick one social channel
and do your email list.
666
:And if you want, then you can
have, again, this is a different
667
:subject for a different day.
668
:We're gonna talk about this in a future
episode, but like you can start looking
669
:at how can I start to develop some type
of market presence that maybe is going
670
:to work a little bit more passively For
me, I talk about visibility channels
671
:as being either active or passive.
672
:And so if you want.
673
:Of visibility channel that's going to
work for you longer term without you
674
:having to continue to put work into it.
675
:You know, something like Pinterest
or SEO or you can do blogging and
676
:you know, you wind up seeing return
on that for a really long time, but
677
:you only have to do the thing once.
678
:And so it's a lot more work
upfront, but then you have longer
679
:returns for it in the long run.
680
:Like you can start to look at that sort
of thing, but you don't need to be in
681
:all the places doing all the things, and
you certainly do not need omnipresence.
682
:But as your business gets bigger
and you start to get closer to the
683
:seven figure mark and you now want
to, you know, you're in that sort of
684
:expansion place in your business, you
really can start looking at how can
685
:I start to develop more omnipresence?
686
:Maybe not, maybe you're not
fully omnipresence, but where
687
:you, where you start to develop.
688
:More of a market presence.
689
:And then last but not least is when
you go into maturity, and this is
690
:where your business is doing more
than a million dollars per year, and
691
:of course this differentiates as you
continue to get bigger and bigger.
692
:Doing, doing seven figures versus
doing multi seven figures is a
693
:different thing, and what you've
got in place and all those things.
694
:But when you get into a more maturity
phase, without getting too far into the
695
:details around this, it really starts
to become about like, what are you
696
:exiting versus what are you replicating?
697
:So on a very macro level, are
you looking at continuing to
698
:grow and or scale your business?
699
:Or are you going to start
looking at exiting your business?
700
:So you're looking for someone to
acquire it and make a sale and you
701
:are going to continue on within
your business differently at this
702
:point if you are looking to hold
control of it versus if you are
703
:going to look at starting to exit it.
704
:Also, you're gonna look at that more on a
micro level of where are you doing things
705
:that are no longer worth your time, so
you are going to exit them essentially.
706
:Versus where are you going
to start to replicate your
707
:efforts and make things better?
708
:Where are you going to start to
pick up even more market share?
709
:Where are you going to pick up even more?
710
:Market market expansion where you are
going to develop more omnipresence,
711
:where you are going to initiate,
you know, a larger structure for
712
:relationships and being able to grow out
your lead space and all those things.
713
:And so that's the general idea of
all of the different stages and
714
:phases and where you could be and
what you're really thinking about.
715
:And I know I didn't talk very long on
like, once you get to the million dollar
716
:per year mark, I would love it if.
717
:If anyone listening to this is like,
I'm already over a million dollars per
718
:year and I have specific questions, I
would love it if you send sent them in.
719
:I would love to answer those questions
because I feel like that's part of
720
:where I'm the most useful to people is
when you get to $500,000 per year, a
721
:million dollars per year, $2 million
per year, and you're trying to figure
722
:out like, okay, where am I going next?
723
:So I'd love to answer those questions for
you, but given how much of my audience is.
724
:Under the $1 million mark.
725
:I'm not gonna spend a whole lot,
whole lot more time there right now.
726
:So to sort of wrap this all up,
I hope it was helpful for you.
727
:I would love it if you wanted to
use, it's linked in the show notes
728
:if you wanted to use the little voice
note tool and send me your specific
729
:questions about your unique scenario
or your unique situation in business.
730
:Give me as much context
as humanly possible.
731
:I would love to answer your questions.
732
:If this was helpful for you.
733
:I would love it if you took a minute
to do one really quick thing and
734
:one maybe slightly longer thing.
735
:If you only have time to
do one, do the quick thing.
736
:So the one very quick thing is please,
please, please with cherry on top please.
737
:Uh, hit the, the follow or the subscribe
button in whatever podcast player of
738
:your choice, whatever your podcast
player of choice is, wherever you're
739
:listening to this, so that you get
all of our latest episodes immediately
740
:downloaded when they become available.
741
:That also helps us drastically
to have the more, um, the more
742
:subscribers that you have to a
podcast is helpful to its overall.
743
:Like how it gets distributed
and especially on Apple.
744
:So that's really helpful.
745
:And if you have a little bit of
extra time, if you also would not
746
:mind leaving a written review.
747
:So not just the, well, depending on
where you're listening to this, I know
748
:there are certain platforms that don't
allow written reviews, but if you could
749
:le, if it was very helpful, a five
star written review would be fantastic.
750
:Just so that other, this is a brand
new show, so to let other people
751
:know that this is worth listening to.
752
:So again, I hope this was
really helpful for you.
753
:Leave me any questions that you have.
754
:I cannot wait to hear from you.
755
:I would love to hear your biggest
takeaways or anything like that, and
756
:I will catch you in the next one.