Building to Scale

02/09/2023

As a small business owner, do your "vacations" typically involve a laptop, a cell phone, and a fair amount of stress regarding what is going on back in the office?

They shouldn't!

Check out the latest article in our weekly newsletter for a system to help you take a "real" vacation!

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-last-time-you-went-real-vacation-jeff-chastain/

02/08/2023

So many bits of wisdom in one sentence ... do you have a plan? do you have accountability for achieving your goals?

02/07/2023

02/06/2023

Can you describe your small business in terms that a 5 year old would understand? Tell us in the comments!

02/06/2023

This is an interesting question by Moolah Marketer and the answers are intriguing as well.

Check the comments below for my take ... and let me know your thoughts.

02/01/2023

Picture going out to eat, and you are presented with two choices.

On one corner of an intersection is a brand new craft burger joint. On the other corner is a McDonald's.

Which one do you choose? Which one will last longer?

Have you ever thought about why? Are you making the same mistakes in your small business?

Find out @ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/latest-greatest-vs-old-reliable-who-comes-out-top-jeff-chastain

01/26/2023

If you needed a hammer, would you go to the big blue box store or the orange box store?

What's the difference, right?

If you are a small business owner, you don't want to be 'just another' business selling widgets.

So what's your purpose? Why do you exist? What makes you stand apart?

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-do-you-exist-jeff-chastain

01/20/2023

When is the last time you took a vacation from your small business?

The problem is when you are a one-person band, taking a vacation means the business either comes to a screeching halt, or worse comes with you on vacation.

When it comes to scaling your small business, having people is a must.

If you are not careful, hiring can make an already stressful situation even worse. But not if you take a systematic approach ...



https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/you-have-people-scale-jeff-chastain

01/11/2023

Is your goal for 2023 to scale your small business? What does that really mean?

Most small business owners get the "cart before the horse" and end up burned out trying to hold all of the pieces together instead of being able to strategically and smoothly grow their business.

Having a system for scaling in place will make your life as an entrepreneur much more enjoyable.

Check out the latest edition of the Building to Scale newsletter - An Argument for Systems Before Scale

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/argument-systems-before-scale-jeff-chastain

For many small business owners, the end objective is to grow and scale their business. In a previous article, I spoke about the differences between a "job" and a scalable business.

05/16/2022

If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail ...

Benjamin Franklin is widely credited with this quote even though there is no substantive evidence that he actually said it.

Either way, there are actual, accredited statistics that say less than 20% of business owners have a plan for their business.

If that was not enough, only one in three business owners who have a plan regularly leverage and update it.

What is the point of creating a plan just to shove it in a drawer?

The bottom line is while dumb luck and sheer willpower might get you somewhere without a plan, you will better utilize your limited resources with a roadmap laid out before you.

A dream written down with a date becomes a goal.

A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan.

A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.

The internet is great for finding quotes like this with no visible attribute, but we all went into business with dreams.

Have you ever taken a balloon, blow it up, and then let it go?

The odds are that it did not travel a straight path.

It probably exerted lots of energy, flew in a crazy path, then dropped to the ground.

This is what I see so many entrepreneurs doing.

They have great dreams and potential.

But when "released," they exert all kinds of energy and resources going in lots of directions, before ...

And those dreams are never realized.

Have you broken your dreams down into actionable plans?

A roadmap for your business should start big and then get small, showing exactly what should be done and when.

It should start with ...
- Your mission and purpose
- Your big (really big) goals and dreams

It should define a strategy to reach those goals ...
- By laying out defined milestones

It should define an ex*****on plan to accomplish those milestones ...
- With annual and quarterly objectives
- With specific measurables to determine progress

Do you have a plan to reach your dreams?

Join us today in the Building to Scale community, where we will help build your plan.

https://group.buildingtoscale.com

04/29/2022

Have you ever wondered why some businesses "make it" (and make it look easy) while others struggle endlessly?

You know what I am talking about ...

Take Chick-fil-A, for example.

When was the last time you saw one where the drive-through line did not wrap around the building?

At the same time, the local craft burger place that opened up with great fanfare a year ago now has a closed sign on the door.

What is the difference?

It is the same reason that as an accountant, you quickly realize that being great with numbers does not guarantee a successful accounting firm.

Or, for the digital marketer, why being a great copyrighter does not automatically equate to a great marketing firm.

Or, in my case, why knowing technology inside and out did not lead to a successful managed IT services firm.

Every successful business has ONE THING in common.

It is about having SYSTEMS.

A great business has a system that ensures the right people are doing the right things at the right time.

A great business has a system that ensures everybody involved has a clear direction and a shared drive and energy.

A great business has a system that ensures that the client/customer experience is delivered perfectly and efficiently.

A great business has a system that ensures that the owner has actual freedom, can step away from the business for a while, AND still have the business grow without them.

This system comprises four key pillars, which I share in the "Bridge the Chasm" mini-course.

You can access this course for free by joining our Facebook community of micro-business owners looking to profitably build a scalable and ultimately salable business while obtaining the entrepreneurial freedom they desire.

JOIN US @ https://group.buildingtoscale.com