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Scalability = leverage
Boomers are skeptical of my one-man action.
I doubt you need to hire 10+ people to build a $1m+ solopreneur business.
They keep asking me:
How do you grow a one-person business?
These are the seven simple solutions I came up with.
I hired my first virtual assistant through an ethical outsourcing company.
My VA can work from home while taking care of her new family and is well paid. I pay her for Christmas vacation.
Win, win.
Through my VA, I have outsourced:
- Email Management
- Content creation
- Social media management
- Design and Marketing
- Calendar planning
Essentially any tasks Important but don’t add value.
This frees up my time to add value by:
- Opportunity for more customers
- Network with people in my field
- Attend events
- Make time for strategic thinking
- Relax and unwind
Outsource and liberate.
Most boomers I know still do it manually.
They leave free, leveraged leverage on the table.
Here’s my tech stack for automating mundane tasks.
- Calendly = Book meetings
- Zapier = Integrating apps together
- Canva = Creating beautiful graphic design
- Copy.ai = Writing words with little effort
- Then = Scheduling LinkedIn posts
- Trello = Project Management
- ConvertKit = Email Marketing
- Type Format = Newsletter Management
Most of these tools can be used for free or at low cost.
And learn how to use them with Google and YouTube.
Don’t know how to do it? Maybe entrepreneurship isn’t for you.
A freelancer is a reputable employee.
With less benefits and protection.
My biggest challenge in 2022 is getting clients to consider my business as a freelance business. They saw my profession as similar to mine.
So, when they engage with my company, they demand my time and expect me to be in their office.
I am currently doing a course and have hired a business coach to help me transition my business from a freelancer to an agency model.
An agency model gives me 3 things:
- Freedom of time
- Freedom of space
- Financial freedom
I can ‘work’ anywhere and with anyone. And get paid well.
Here are the biggest changes the agency model offers:
- Packaging: Bundling unique services into a monthly subscription offering.
- Price: This packaging creates consistent monthly profitability and scalability.
- Delivery: and can be provided by Promoting contractor neutrality. A fancy way of saying that I outsource most of the work to others.
Agency Model > Freelancing.
Content and data are the new oil.
The most valuable thing a business can do is build an engaged audience.
This doesn’t mean you have to dance half-naked to Tik Tok (unless you want to, of course).
I plan to build my audience through Hub and spoke content model.
I create weekly long-form content and then repurpose that ‘hub’ content into separate ‘spokes’ or short-form content that can be absorbed very quickly.
It is a “Make one, cut many” Mood
Justin Welsh Made over $100k using this method.
Here is his diagram:
My Long Form Content (Hub):
- Weekly newsletter
- A fortnightly podcast
My short form content (speeches):
- 5-6 posts per week on LinkedIn
- 5-6 posts per week on Instagram
You build your audience first, then your audience builds your business.
Digital assets make money while you sleep.
Although this requires time and money, the current cost is minimal.
Here are some of the digital assets I’ve got in the pipeline:
- An e-book that solves a specific problem in my niche.
- A scorecard application that generates leads and provides value for prospects.
- Creating a list of blogs and thought leadership articles.
- A course on building a six-person consulting business.
The biggest mindset shift I’ve made this year:
Now every release I make is a potential digital asset that I can sell later.
Nothing great can be achieved alone.
Even as an individual, surround yourself with people smarter than you
- I have subcontractors who help me film and photograph the events I attend. Then they design some cool content.
- I have subject matter experts who advise on project quality and best practices. Their advice saves me from making silly mistakes.
- I’ve got a team of coaches to help with business development, mindset and strategic planning.
It takes a village to build a business.
Invest in building a community of supporters.
I audit my business using the 80/20 principle.
Exposed Model:
- 20% of my clients bring in 80% of my revenue.
- 20% of my clients create 80% of my problems.
What does this tell me?
- I must humbly say 20% of my clients cause most of my problems to go away.
- I need to find clients who do meaningful work and bring in revenue.
Lose 20% to make room for 80%.
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