I remember when I started talking to people about I Need A Michee. After our very quiet and successful beta test, we opened our first official launch to the public. By that, I don’t mean doing ads and what-nots. We just posted on our personal social media accounts and reached out to people to help us spread the word.
From there, good friends reached out wanting to learn more about our services, so they know who they can refer to us or even if we could help them in their own businesses. With every call and chat, I found a common theme or question that they ask me - scaling the business. It would range from -
A quizzical look with, “Hmm.. this is awesome. How do you think it would scale?” or
A subtle hint of This-Is-Such-A-Great-Idea-But-It’s-Limited nodding “What you’re doing is amazing. Have you thought of how big you can scale it? It seems to require a lot of your time.”
I love you all. It’s awesome that you want big things for us. It makes my heart flutter. 💓 I do too. Do I think of scaling? Of course I do! Do I give it a lot of thought right now?
No.
Alla and I have done our goals - long term ones, yearly ones, monthly goals and milestones. I’m a milestones kind of gal. I focus on chunking down big goals into smaller milestones and I achieve those milestones one by one. This way it doesn’t seem so overwhelming.
How does this connect to scaling?
We have a big goal in terms of revenue growth and the like (aka scaling). It’s high up there.
Do I obsess on how quickly I can get there? No. Do I focus on how exactly we can do it? No. Do I rack my brain trying to get answers to the question, how do we scale? No.
What I focus on is our vision, our mission and what foundations we need to build right now. If we get these 3 things plus the milestones right, scaling goes beyond as one of our goals. It becomes an automatic and unforced benefit.
We all build businesses for different reasons and we all desire to scale. We dream big. That’s just how we are. What’s puzzling me is how scaling seem to have become this sole measure on how great you and your business are doing. I get the need to scale but don’t rush it.
Often times, we focus too much on growing bigger that we forget what’s in front of us right now. We’re not even a year old and we are getting questions on scaling. Scaling happens in different times for each company. Some do it faster than others and some don’t.
Ask yourself -
What are the important foundations that you need to build to have a strong business?
Is it all about numbers? Or is it making sure that the current clients you have are more than 100% satisfied & happy?
Is it about being able to have a big budget for marketing? Or is it about making sure that your product delivers more than its expected to and will therefore be its own marketing?
Is it about growing your team right away? Or is it making sure that each team member is learning, growing and taken care of?
Is fast-tracking scaling in line with your vision and mission? Or does it compromise it?
This is what Alla and I made sure was clear between us. Scaling is not the single top goal. If we do things right, it is merely a by-product.
