What would happen to your business if you couldn’t show up tomorrow?

In this episode, Tara discusses the hidden fragility inside most expert-driven businesses - the kind that looks “successful” on the outside but collapses the moment the founder stops showing up. You’ll learn how to identify the weak spots that make your business vulnerable, and how to replace them with scalable systems, signature frameworks, and a delivery model that keeps growing even when you’re not in the room.

This isn’t about putting your business on autopilot or walking away from your customers. It’s about building a business that thrives without depending on you. Tara walks you through the mindset shifts and structural changes that turn fragile service models into scalable, resilient, and customer-centered businesses.

If your calendar feels maxed out and your revenue depends on how many hours you can personally work - this episode is your wake-up call.

🎯 In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to spot hidden fragility in your business model
• The difference between a fragile service model and a scalable framework
• Why being “busy” can hide instability and risk
• The first steps to replace custom work with systems and automation
• How the Infinite Scale Method™ helps you create a business that runs, delivers, and grows - even when you’re not there

Chapters

00:00 – Imagine if you couldn’t show up tomorrow

01:00 – What business fragility really looks like

02:00 – Why dependence on your time creates hidden risk

03:00 – The myth of “autopilot” businesses and what real scalability means

04:00 – Where to start adding systems and consistency

05:00 – From custom chaos to orchestrated customer experiences

06:00 – The scalable model: leading with your signature framework

07:00 – Taking baby steps to replace ad-hoc work with scalable systems

08:00 – The shift from service provider to Scalable Expert™

09:00 – How to start your journey toward scalable freedom

Mentioned in this episode:

👉 The Infinite Scale Method™ - A proven framework for creating scalable delivery systems

👉 The Scalable Business Academy™ - Learn how to build a business that grows beyond your time

🎧 Take the free Scalable Expert Quiz to find out how scalable your business really is - and what’s keeping you stuck.

👉 https://bit.ly/scalablebusinessexpertassessment

Mentioned in this episode:

https://taralbryan.com/step/15-learn-to-scale-call

Hey everybody.

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Welcome to season three of the

Scalable Expert™ Podcast, the show

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for established expert business owners

who are maxed out on time and ready to

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find the scalable impact of their work.

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I'm your host, Tara Bryan, founder

of The Scalable Expert™, and creator

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of the Infinite Scale Method™.

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If you've built a business around

your expertise, but feel stuck

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in the time-for-money trap, this

podcast is your path forward.

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Each week, I'll share stories and

strategies and shifts to help you

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step into a new, scalable business

model by declaring your authority,

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packaging your expert framework, and

streamlining your offers and systems

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to ultimately become a scalable

expert, because it's not about working

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harder, it's about building smarter.

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All you need is one signature

expert framework and you can

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deliver an infinite amount of ways

to be able to scale your business.

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Alright, let's get started.

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Hey everybody, welcome to

the Scalable Expert Podcast.

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I am thrilled that you're here today.

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Hey, I'm gonna do a quick

episode today, and this is

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gonna be a little bit different.

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So I want you to just imagine, close

your eyes, if you're listening to this

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podcast, if you're watching on YouTube,

you can do it too, but close your eyes

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and just imagine what would happen to your

business if you could not work tomorrow?

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Just think about that.

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What would happen to your business?

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Would you be able to continue

to have sales coming in?

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Would you be able to continue to

deliver on your services or whatever

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it is that you've sold to your

customers when you can't show up?

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Would they still get results?

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Would they still feel supported?

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Would they still feel like

you are present to them?

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Or would your business completely implode

if you weren't able to show up tomorrow?

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I really want you to think about that,

and think about how you would handle that.

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Would your business be okay if you

couldn't show up, or you couldn't show

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up 'cause you had to help someone else?

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What would happen?

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And I wanna challenge you to really

think through that as you think

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about the rest of this episode.

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Because here's the reality is until

you have your business in a proprietary

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framework into systems that can be

delivered even if you aren't showing

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up, that you can still get people

results, your business is fragile.

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Your business is not gonna

survive if you aren't showing up

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feeding it all the time, right?

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So if your calendar is maxed out,

because you have client meetings, if

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everything that you're doing, every

single new client needs a custom proposal

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or they need a custom project or it's

really just relying on you to be able

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to deliver the result that you've

promised your business is at risk.

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And when we start looking at

becoming a Scalable Expert, it's

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really about changing that equation.

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It's changing from how do I show up

and fulfill, to how do I create systems

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and, essentially a signature framework

that allows you to deliver, even if

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you're not showing up in person, right?

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So it's not dependent on your time at all.

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And so when you start building your

business based on, not depending on

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your time, the way you show up in

your business completely changes.

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And it's not like I, I so often

people are like, whoa, you put your

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business on autopilot so then you

can take an extended vacation and

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just not show up and not help people.

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That's not what I'm talking about.

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And there are a lot of people who create

businesses like that and I would argue

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that, those aren't, people like us, right?

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They're not service based providers

who want to create an amazing

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experience for their customers.

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It tends to be more lopsided in terms

of, they show up when they want to,

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but it's not about the customer, right?

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So we deliver to our customers.

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But there's a way to do that and

have a business that will survive

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and thrive when you're not showing

up, in person all of the time.

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So start to kind of pull that

question out for yourself.

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Where in your business do you

need to start adding systems?

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Where do you need to add some

consistency and predictability

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in how you're delivering?

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And that's when you start looking at

how to apply the Scalable Expert, and

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Infinite Scale Method into your business?

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How do you start thinking as a

Scalable Expert and not as a service

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provider or a coach or a consultant?

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You are thinking about how are you solving

a consistent problem for people who, who

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really are looking for a different result?

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And then how do you show up in

the best way, just like we've been

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talking about in prior episodes.

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But really start with that question,

start thinking about how to move in the

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direction to go from everything custom,

everything requiring you and your time

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to building in some automations and

systems and customer journey mapping

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that allow you to start to pull away,

but still provide an awesome experience.

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So one of the things that we

do in the Skillable Business

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Academy is really focus on that.

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How do we solve that problem?

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How do we start moving from people

being dependent, our clients being

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dependent on us showing up and making

stuff up each time, to how do we create

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an orchestrated experience for our

customers, and then we show up and help

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them overcome obstacles and hurdles, but

they can still get results without us

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showing up live every single time because

of how we've created the experience.

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There are a number of different

ways that we do that as we go

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through the Infinite Scale Method.

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So, you know, when you think about

the model you may be operating in

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right now, or the traditional model

of you build everything from scratch,

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your revenue is tied directly into

hours that you're working, right?

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If you are working long hours,

if you are like, oh, I'm, it's 11

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o'clock at night, I'm still working.

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You may be operating under

that old model, right?

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You are managing clients, you're managing

projects, everything is dependent on

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you delivering something, each and every

time, then you're probably, I probably

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know your answer to that, the question

that I asked at the beginning, right?

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If you are looking at it and you're

like, I've built my signature framework

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and that is what I'm leading from,

so then I can deliver it, and you can

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show up and deliver it however you

want to once you have your signature

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framework, because all your clients are

consistently moving through your business.

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Revenue is tied to assets or things

that you have created not to your time.

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Your clients, again, they're

moving through a consistent

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and guided experience.

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They're not like all making stuff up

and taking you in a million different

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directions where you are able to

then start looking at how do you add

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another way to deliver your framework.

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Whether it be an online

experience, a live event, a book,

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a certification program, a licensed

product, and anything else, right?

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Anything you can dream up.

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There are a million different examples.

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But all of that is tied to

creating something that you can

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do consistently without making

stuff up each and every time.

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So that is where you start, is start

thinking about the answer to that

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question, and then you can start moving

to, taking baby steps to stop, the ad hoc

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custom, project work each and every time.

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So if that is where you find

yourself, you, my friend, are a

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perfect candidate to come in and

start shifting your business model.

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Because it's not about, it's not that

you're doing it wrong, it's just you're

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just in the wrong business model, right?

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You're in a service-based

business model that's not scalable

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beyond your time and attention.

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So if you are thinking about, if you

can't show up tomorrow, or you wanna

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be doing other things, or you wanna

maximize your ability to leverage

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your expertise, all of the hard work

and training and learning time that

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you've put in, it's time to think about

moving into the scalable version of

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yourself and what that looks like, so.

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I would love to hear if you are on this

journey and what answering that question

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meant to you as you start looking forward

into working on a scalable business model,

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that allows you to grow and leverage your

time and attention totally differently.

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I'd love to hear about.

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It in the show notes is my information,

so feel free to reach out to me.

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If you love this episode, give it a

rating, send it off to someone else who

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could benefit from thinking about this

question, and we will go from there.

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All right.

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In the meantime, make sure that you

are looking at how to leverage your

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time and attention using your signature

framework to develop your authority,

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strategy, and scalable business systems.

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All right, until next time.