How to Scale an Online Business: The 7 Stages

During the first few years in my business, I was making a good living doing one-on-one coaching, but I always knew that I needed to scale my business if I wanted to bring it to the next level. 

From my days as a CEO I knew that the way to grow a business was to hire more people. However, I didn’t want to make the growth of my own business dependent on the number of people I employed. I wanted the business itself to be scalable. 

Back then, I had no idea my business would make multiple 7 figures one day. My goal was to get to 6 figures. And in March 2015, 12 months after my first sale, I reached that goal. It was a huge milestone, but I was already looking to take the next step. 

Constantly raising my prices or taking on more clients wasn’t going to be sustainable in the long run, so I started to scale my business in the way that I now teach my clients. 

Here are the 7 stages I went through in order to bring my online business to 7 figures and beyond. 

Stage 0: Research and testing

Stage 0 is about getting clear on whom your ideal client is, getting ideas on how you can help your ideal client, and what the ideal outcome of your work together is. You’re not earning any money yet in stage zero. You’re getting feedback, asking questions, have a focus group, or one-on-one test clients. The key is to figure out what you’re eventually going to offer as a paid program.

Stage 1: Hourly and Project Stage

Stage 1 is where you take what you did in Stage 0 and charge for it. While it might be scary to start charging for something you’ve offered for free, it’s necessary to actually having a business. Start with charging a price you feel comfortable with. My first offer was one hour of business coaching for $180, and I didn’t raise my price for some time. Continue to document your process and get clearer on who your ideal client is.

Stage 2: First Small Groups

Stage 2 came when I was fully booked with one-on-ones and realised that I couldn’t take on more clients. Continuing with one-on-ones wasn’t scalable, and group coaching had been on my mind for a while. I took what I did with my one-on-one clients and turned it into a group program, created a sales page, did some seeding in my free Facebook group, and ended up selling 6 spots - twice. 

Stage 3: Entry Online Course

In stage 3, I launched more of my group programs. There was no need to create tons of content. The groups were about helping people with whatever was going on in their business at the time, focussing on coaching in the moment. Launching smaller online courses like this helps you practice launching, creating a course, and looking after a big group. It gives you the chance to improve your course before moving on to the course you want to be known for.  

Stage 4: Signature Course

I was getting to stage 4 when I sold out all my group programs. I told my business coach proudly that I just had my biggest launch ever. This is what he said to me: And you have nothing else to sell now? His words made me come up with the idea for SOMBA – Sigrun’s Online MBA, a new one-year program where I teach women (and a few men) everything they need to know about online business. SOMBA has been running for 3 years now, and I’ve increased the price from $1000 to $3000 and my launches have grown from $50k to $575k. A signature program should be the core of your business. It’s your main revenue stream and what you are known for. 

Stage 5: Expand Portfolio

Stage 5 is where you attract more advanced people in business because you’re becoming an authority in your niche. I advise you to start doing mastermind groups. It’s a wonderful way of staying in touch with your ideal clients and connecting on a deep level. Continuing to learn a lot about your clients and not just relying on selling online courses will help you keep in touch with their wants and needs. This stage is also where you get very clear on your niche, tag line and branding.

Stage 6: Scaling Up

Arriving at stage 6, your business should run like a machine. Increase the automation of your sales funnels and be omnipresent. Interviews, speaker engagements or virtual summits are great opportunities for you and your content to be seen. Build a great team to support you and only be involved where your input is really needed. 

No Scaling Without Launching

Nothing has helped scaling my business to multiple 7 figures like learning how to launch properly. Launching is the backbone of my online business. I tried all the possible launch methods in the book until I found the method that today helps me achieve consistent 6-figure launches, and I’ve been teaching my launch method to my clients ever since. It’s the reason why they are so successful with their own online businesses. 

If you want to learn the most powerful way you can launch online, sign up for my upcoming launch workshop at https://www.sigrun.com/live-workshop.