8 STEPS I USED TO SCALE MY BUSINESS FROM A HOME OFFICE TO A BRAND NEW 25,000 SF OFFICE WITH 50+ EMPLOYEES!
Written by Chris Record, CEO & Co-Founder of Tecademics I was checked my mail and i got this mail from a Internet Marketer/Entrepreneur who i respect so much. It really motivated me, challenged me and taught me how to do better as an entrepreneur. I think this will challenge and help you too
I started my first agency when I was 21 years old. No computer (used the public library for that) and no car (used the bus as my public transportation).
I went door to door (business to business) selling them websites and search engine ranking services. I carried a briefcase I bought for $5 from Goodwill, and I wore a $30 used suit I bought at the Salvation Army thrift shop. I called it my "Salvation Armani"!
Here were my first agency price listings that I kept for a full year:
Website Design = $300
Site Listed in 10 Search Engines = $100
Top 10 Rankings for 1 of 10 keywords = $100
Search Engine Optimization Platinum Campaign = $1,000
I charged half up front and half upon completion.
My unique marketing angle was that I could charge them "college student pricing" and compete with sites they would pay $5,000+ for, so why not at least give me a shot.
My first year I struggled to get many sales, but I managed to make just enough to stay in business.
My second year I focused more on search engine optimization since most everyone already had a site but wasn't ranked well. Keep in mind I had to teach myself how to rank sites in Google, which took me a few hundred hours to master, so I was very dedicated to learning and taking action.
My 3rd year I had it dialed and chose to work for myself instead of taking on more clients. By the time I was 24 years old I was making $10,000-$20,000/mo consistently from my internet marketing abilities.
I make 6 figures per year from 2004-2014, for 10 years straight, without any employees, mostly just working from home out of a little home office, and doing some traveling for sales as well.
I was comfortable. Six Figures paid all my bills and gave my family a comfortable lifestyle. But in 2014 everything changed.
I listened to an AudioBook called the 10X Rule by Grant Cardone and somehow it struck a nerve in me that made me realize I was very complacent in my marketing and I had a lot more potential if I applied myself.
That year I set a goal to 10X my earnings and generate 7-Figures in revenues with my business and I did!
Then I set another goal to 10X my earnings again and the following year generated 8-figures with my business inside of 14 months!
Then in 2016 I set the biggest goal I've ever set in my life. I decided why not go BIG and 10X my earnings again! My goal was to generate 9-figures in revenue in a 12 month time frame starting in 2017. CRAZY RIGHT!
9-Figures means that I want my business to generate over $100,000,000 in sales in a 12 month time frame. These can be gross sales, not pure profit, as long as I somehow cross that number, as impossible as it seems.
So here are 8 steps I'm using to scale to do my best to achieve this goal:
1) FIND A PARTNER WHO HAS DONE IT BEFORE
I knew a business man that had run a company that did over $100million in sales a decade earlier, so I pitched my business idea to him and it was the sale of a lifetime as he agreed to be my business partner! Jim Piccolo has been an amazing partner, friend, and mentor, and his knowledge was what I was missing to take things to the next level. I'm forever grateful.
2) FIND MARKETING PARTNERS WHO CAN SELL LIKE CRAZY
I put together a pitch to attract the best quality sales team that I possibly could, including marketers with huge email lists that could get my company vision out to the masses quickly, without up front advertising dollars. I just pay them a commission for every deal I close that they refer.
3) SCALE ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS FOR SALES & BRANDING
People do business with people they know, like, and trust. You have to become relevant. The more people know you, like you, and trust you, the more they are willing to pay you or partner with you or work with you. Run advertising campaigns to get your name in front of as many people in your target market as possible, then it will be much easier to close big deals.
4) LEVERAGE, LEVERAGE, LEVERAGE!
You can't go that BIG by yourself. Instead of spending my profits on luxury items that will depreciate, I'm reinvesting it back into the company to build infrastructure, bigger offices, more employees, more tools, more advertising, etc. If you aren't all-in then you don't believe enough in your vision and everyone around you will sense that.
5) OUTWORK ALL YOUR COMPETITION AND BELIEVE YOU CAN DO IT!
There will be many obstacles in your path when you 10X your business, but you need to BELIEVE that you can do it, and then you need to ACT on that belief and work harder than all your competition. Your work ethic will inspire your team and your partners and your friends and your family, and you will be so busy producing that you won't have time to listen to the haters who try to tell you it's impossible.
6) HAVE FUN AND BE PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO!
Hard work is great, but it will wear you out. Make sure that you LOVE what you do, and if you don't love it, then get someone else to do it. Fill your day with tasks that you LOVE and that you are passionate about and you will suddenly find yourself inspired to wake up every day to crush out your goals!
7) SUCCESS LEAVES CLUES - MODEL AFTER SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE!
Don't model after your co-workers, or friends, or family or anyone that isn't where you are trying to go. Instead, choose a few role models that are at the next level and model after their daily behaviors. What time do they wake up? What books do they read? What activities do they do for their business? What activities do they pay others to do for their business? Don't just choose one person, get a handful because it's likely that your personality type will be a combination of a few people. One person won't have all the answers for you.
 TAKE BIG RISKS AND EXPERIMENT OFTEN!
Finally, you can't be afraid of failure if you want to go BIG FAST. You need to be willing to take risks. You need to be willing to fail. You need to be willing to experiment as often as you can. Every month you should experiment with something NEW until you find something that works like crazy and fits your style. The key to explosive growth is to take big gambles and give it everything you've got!
I've been applying these 8 steps above and in just one year I was able to move to a new city and grow a brand new company into a 25,000 square foot office with over 50 full time salaried employees (US based) and we are already looking at bigger offices to expand into.
-Tecademics Team
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