Here in the northern hemisphere, we’re heading right into fall. Seriously how did that happen?
This past year has simply flown by for me. My kids are back in school. My oldest just headed off to college. That’s a big change in our family and house, and I’m so excited for her, while still feeling all the feels for my baby growing up. I don’t know about you, but I try and allow my kids the freedom to make their own decisions, even when I see the potential fall involved.
That being said, there are times that I get to share my wisdom with them (whether they choose to take that info is completely up to them.)
I also love to share some of my wisdom with all of you! I’ve gained this wisdom from working with high six and seven-figure coaches (as well as those coaches that are wanting to scale to those high six and seven-figures.)
In a recent blog post, I listed the necessary pieces to have in place in order to scale. Now, I want to share with you the three most common mistakes I see people making when scaling their business. And, these mistakes are stopping them from hitting their six-figure and seven-figure goals!
The Top Three Mistakes That Are Keeping You From Scaling!
I see these same mistakes again and again. They seem almost universal. I wanted to share them with you to help you to see these blind spots in your business. Because when we can see it we can recognize it, and when we recognize it we can do something to fix it!
Shiny object syndrome
Shiny Object Syndrome is so very common! There is always a new marketing technique or platform on the horizon.
Take Clubhouse, for example. It was all the rage for a while there and definitely has the ability to grow your community. However, one thing I know for sure is that when we divide our attention between platforms or attempt to do too many things at once, something is going to suffer.
The reality is that the best way to create success and scale your business is by mastering one strategy, one funnel, one core offer. When you focus on YOUR one thing, you are better able to make the small tweaks necessary to create an amazing business.
Marketing often takes more time than we think. Because we live in such an instant gratification society, we expect results immediately, and that is just not reality. Even when we’re “done” and have “crossed every T” and “dotted every I,” we don’t know if it’s right until we launch it out into the world and gather enough data to assess what is working and what isn’t.
You have to spend a bit of time trying testing, failing, and improving to master any strategy. There are times that the strategy you choose just isn’t the right fit for you, this is VERY different than jumping from one thing to another.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, marketing isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. There are marketing strategies that are better for one business than another. Realizing that what you’ve set up isn’t working for your business model and making a change is smart business. However, moving rapidly from one shiny object to the next is always going to fail.
Treating your business like a hobby and not a business
If you treat your business like a hobby it will always pay you like a hobby. There, I said it.
You have to show up for your business. What I mean by that is you need to step out of your comfort, remove yourself from the Entrepreneur Witness Protection Program, and let people know you have a business!
I think this is often the scariest part of being a business owner. So often we worry about what other people are going to say or think about us. Which causes us to hide OR to not share the amazing opportunities we are creating in our lives.
Additionally, having people in your life that support you will help when times get tough or when work increases and you have to step away to take care of things.
Another way this shows up is when people refuse to invest in their business (which to me is crazy because they’re happy to spend money on their hobbies!)
I recently saw a meme that demonstrates this perfectly. It went a little something like this:
- $100 organic groceries – That’s too much!
- $100 dinner – What a steal!
- $250 personal growth seminar – That’s insane!
- $250 Gucci belt – I had to have it.
- $1000 to start my business – I just can’t justify that.
- $1000 new iPhone – Take my money!
You get the idea! It’s all about priorities.
When we don’t make our business a priority, our business will never pay us in the way we are wanting it to.
Trying to DIY everything.
I get it, in the beginning of our business we often have to DIY to get things up and running. However, if you want to grow, there is a point when this is no longer an option.
A MAJOR piece of scaling is bringing in new leads. Bringing in new leads involves funnels and paid traffic. I’m pretty sure if you’re growing your business you’ve either thought about or tried running paid ads. This is one of the areas you want to avoid DIY’ing. I’m sure you’ve seen the guys out there who will try to convince you that it’s easy.
Listen to me – Paid ads are a full-time endeavor and quite frankly your time is better spent in other areas of your business.
Unless you know how to cut hair, you’re going to go to a hair salon when you need a trim. Unless you are a doctor, you’re (hopefully) going to go and see one when something in your body feels out of whack. So if you aren’t an expert in social advertising, why are you still trying to run campaigns and expect to see expert results?
If you can afford to outsource, you should. Time is money (I know, cliché… but it’s true!) And every minute you spend working outside of your strengths costs you and your business.
Ultimately it comes down to time and expertise. If you don’t have either of those to commit to your advertising efforts on social media, don’t waste any more energy doing it yourself. If you can afford to outsource, please do!
We can’t be all things in our business. Focus on what you do best and that is the primary thing you should be doing in your business. Then, look for experts in the other fields so that they can aid you in your quick growth!