How do you scale your business to multiple six and seven figures and live the IIT Life? Which means creating INFLUENCE, INCOME, & TIME FREEDOM. It all begins with understanding and implementing these Four Evolutionary Phases of Business.
The journey begins with working for a company and coming to the conclusion that trading hours for dollars isn’t going to create the life you really want. You see how much the company is making from YOUR hard work. You wonder why your boss does not see the problems that you see. You also hate feeling like a rat in a maze by being obligated to show up at a certain time, go home at a certain time,and eat lunch when he tells you to. The thought of answering to someone else your entire life gives you anxiety. You even begin to feel the dreadful pain of Monday, coming over you on a Saturday night.
During this time two things start to grow inside of you. The fear of working for someone else while feeling completely trapped and second the love of working for yourself while creating your own world. They continue to grow… until one of two things happen. The first one, your boss decides to fire you and now you’re pushed to go into business for yourself. The choice you couldn’t make on your own is suddenly made for you or you decide today is a gift, and you need to open that present by giving your boss your two week notice.
You then celebrate the start of the new business and into the “First Evolutionary Stage of Business” where you are now..
THE EMPLOYEE.
You believe in your product and service. Even though you have some areas of improvement at your craft you still know you can help people in a big way. Deep down you know it will work, if you work it because you’ve seen how much the company made off of you during your employment. You start becoming a TUGBOAT calling past clients, friends, and family trying to get any referrals you can to begin making money. It starts out rough at first not seeing money in your bank account. The people close to you put some doubt in your head about the choices you make. The frustration and doubt continues to grow until you reach this breaking point that either breaks you down to the point where you re-treat back to corporate or re-builds you to go all in and make it work. The moment you make the choice to go all in, you begin to see the fruits from the seeds you’ve been watering begin to grow. The money starts to come in, yet you’re terrified to invest any of it back into your business because you’re afraid that it will take you back to where you started…The small thought of not having money in your bank account terrifies you. The butterflies of having your own business are eaten by the maggots of anxiety in your gut. The awakening of the next phase happens when you realize you do not have a business, you still have a job and you are still not the boss.
This phase grows when the person begins to experience humility from the judgement they placed on their past bosses and companies of how they ran things. Instead of thinking they know the answers they start asking questions. What are my next steps? How do I build a website? Where do I get contracts from, taxes? Do I have to pay taxes? What is branding? Do I need a logo? You start to see that maybe your boss and the company weren’t so stupid after all. The evolution into the next phase begins when you realize the value of processes, systems, and technology working together instead of them having to run the entire business by themself all the time.
This is the stage is where the EMPLOYEE steps into “Second Evolutionary Phase of Business”
The TECHNICIAN
This phase is the information overload phase. You become a sponge of everything around you oftentimes becoming confused because of the contradiction of ideas. You know you need to understand technology better. You need to look like a real business instead of a college kid just trying to make a buck. You understand that you can’t hit a million dollar business with little to no investment. You start getting serious about posting on social media to get leads. You find a person on Fiverr to put together a logo for five dollars. You print one hundred dollars worth of business cards, because printing one thousand business cards gets you a discount. You learn about funnels and the importance of taking people through a sales process online. You start to get active on social media. You spend the entire week putting it together and making it look good. You’ve added your services and set-up your credit card system that goes directly into your business account you set-up at the bank. When you wake up the next morning you find out you didn’t get any sales let alone any visits except from mom because mom will support you in anything you’re doing. You realize real fast that just putting up the ‘Click to Buy’ button on your website is not going to work. You hire some of the cheapest people you can find to help you grow your marketing, sales, and referrals only to be disappointed each time you do it. You’re doing lot’s of busy work with re-search, building programs, videos, and web development which never really ever gets completed. You’re jumping from project to project based upon whatever expert you happen to be listening to at the time with no real movement in your business. The evolution into the next phase of business begins the moment you realize that becoming more diligent in your efforts needs to happen and putting action behind your knowledge is more important than knowledge itself.
This stage is where you step into the “Third Evolutionary Phase of Business”
The ENTREPRENEUR.
You get serious in your business. You ARE NOT going to work for the man. It’s now or never. You understand that business isn’t to be approached lightly if you really want to grow your business. You see other people with less talent and intellect crushing it in business and know it’s possible for you. You start waking up with more energy and drive. You go out and start networking face-to-face and looking for referrals. You become more confident in closing sales and booking consultations. The technical skills have been simplified to execute efficiently. Your hard work starts to actually pay off. You start seeing the nest egg of money grow each month. The confidence inside of you begins to grow. As time goes on the warrior inside of you starts to get tired. The hard work is working but how long can you continue to fight like this? Each client that comes on, continues to add weight to your back. The idea of going on a trip or taking a vacation is out of the question because you know it will add more weight when you get back. The idea of investing into business is still scary because past investments didn’t work out. Still you pull out the checkbook and throw some cash at the problem. You hope paying other people to market and get leads for you will take a huge weight off your back. It ends up being a “hail mary” pass where you get sacked. The problem is the Entrepreneur has been investing into every investment outside of themselves and expecting someone else to do it for them. The evolution into the next phase begins when the Entrepreneur looks up instead of what’s in front of them and sees a bigger vision, bigger purpose, and they need to invest into a team, beginning with themselves.
This stage is where you step into the “Fourth Evolutionary Phase of Business”
The CEO
The CEO starts to see the bigger picture and the power of looking at the macro instead of the micro that leads nowhere. They look at their business as a real being with its own heartbeat and life of its own. It is no longer about them and they understand the gift comes from the giving. They trust the mentorship of other Kings & Queens to help them build an empire that can stand the test of time through any ups and downs of the economy. They start to build the foundation of the business with their brand. They create strategies in their marketing that can be scaled. You automate their services and delivery to take on unlimited clients. Their sales process. You attract loyal team members who see their vision and empire that’s being built. They learn how to work with team members to get things done rather than take it on their own. For the first time in their life they feel this overwhelming confidence that whatever battle lay ahead they can win. Money is no longer needed for just surviving. It starts to become this fun game in which you play for the thrill and fulfillment of influencing the masses. You build strategic partnerships, joint ventures, and other business connections that creates an alliance of people who support each other. Going out of town becomes fun and enjoyable. You don’t worry about everything crumbling while you’re gone. The automation in your business is flawless and you feel even more confident in what you’re doing. The idea of scaling to multiple 7-figures becomes not only doable but it becomes fun! Your mind is constantly expanding and creating other avenues to build.
And that CEO… is living the IIT Life!
Going to the next level of your business starts with understanding the different phases and giving the body of your business more blood… which is your Marketing.
At the Next Gen Marketing Workshop we’ll be diving deeper into these phases and how to scale your business through building powerful marketing strategies.