Ready to Scale Your Small Business? Ask Yourself These Vital Questions First

I had no idea what they were talking about.

It bugged me but I had to admit it: there was something I did not know.

Let’s be honest, no matter how long you have been doing what you do, there is always going to be a moment when you are out of your depth.

Business can be that way, especially when you are talking about growing or expanding what you do.

Scaling up. Those were the words that threw me into the deep end of the pool.

What does that mean exactly?

I searched for a definition for scaling that applied just to business and found long paragraphs without a concise explanation in there somewhere.

This is the best I found: “To increase the size or number of something.” Thank you Oxford Learner’s Dictionary for that one.

Please note that definition did not come with a how-to or a video of anyone explaining how to apply that to your business.

Dang it.

Once again, a business owner has got to figure something out on their own. Shocker.

However, this does need to stay some murky mystery to learn the things you need to know to grow your business.

You can start by asking yourself what is working in your business and what isn’t.

This check in can be surprising. We need to know what is good about our business, which part of our service or product do people really like and will buy again.

Give yourself credit for this! You need to know what you are bringing to the world is valuable.

Now, are there ways to build on that goodness? A separate course? One-on-one coaching? Partnering with other businesses to expand your reach?

Get creative! You already know you have a good foundation to work with.

And then, we need to know what isn’t working. Gotta be honest: sometimes the things that are not working in our business are our darlings of one type or another. Just because those favorite things of yours are not working now may not mean they cannot have value elsewhere. Just put those away for now.

We are focusing on the “WHAT” for growing/scaling your business.

Next, get out and dust off those goals! Seriously. The goals you began with may not be where you now can see yourself heading with more experience under your belt.

This is what is going to get you off this set of starting blocks; it’s going to let you see what targets you need to work toward.

Do you need to raise your rates? How many clients will you need to make the money you want to make each month? Is it time for a virtual assistant? Do you need to consider hiring someone to work your business alongside you?

That’s where a lot of your clarity for next steps can come from.

Now onto the “HOW.” How = tools and technology you use.

Are those working well? Or, could they use a refresh or even someone who has more expertise with them helping you? Is it time to outsource some of your more time-consuming tasks?

If you have some resistance to this, I get it. But it’s really difficult to manage a growing client base and still do all the things yourself that provide great service to your customers.

That’s the point of this part of the check-in. There are cool and more efficient tools that can make you look good and streamline your operations better out there.

And it’s everything: your website, product delivery, course software, quality of your graphics, how your marketing communicates to a wider audience, and any other component that contributes to the products or services you provide.

Spending time on these items is what gets your business ready for more customers, more money, and more growth.

Finally, scaling has everything to do with telling even more people about your business. Can you see yourself using more marketing tools than you are now?

Is it time for paid ads? Are you going to partner with some good podcasters to be featured on one of their episodes? How about investing in a really good video about your business?

The expansion of your marketing can mean promoting your business on platforms you have not used yet. If your people are hanging out there online, shouldn’t you be there too?

The visibility of your business is central to your growth. The more places you show up are more places your business can be contacted and with you gaining more leads to engage with.

That may not be too far from what you are doing now to promote your business; it’s just more options that can increase your reach and build a stronger brand.

So just close your eyes for a second and let your creativity show you where you can go. Then, create a plan for how to get there and hit the gas.

To chat with me about creating messaging that can really connect with your audience, just DM me. I am here to serve you and help you scale your business to where you want it to be.

I look forward to working with you!

Laura “Your Undercover Copywriter” Scott

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