Episode Summary
“Scaling your business is not about speed – it’s about readiness.” Dr. Darnyelle Jervey Harmon
This past week, my company, Incredible One Enterprises, celebrated 16 years generating revenue as a business. I’ve shared that to say – we’ve seen lots of businesses come and go in an attempt to “scale” a business before it’s actually ready. In full transparency, we, too, have tried to scale before we were ready and that caused some of the delay we experienced in our earlier years as well as why we took a step back from 7 figures in 2016 to right the foundation of the business so that as we scaled it would be life-giving instead of soul-sucking.
The fact is Scaling is a buzzword that is misused and causing operational havoc in businesses. The truth is, most businesses are NOT ready to scale. They don’t even truly understand what scaling means. Scaling, is a business operational process that should only be entered into when you business has laid a sold foundation upon which multiplying, duplicating and replicating is actually going to create more of what you desire – income, influence and impact. Scaling has absolutely NOTHING to do with speed or even quantum leaping a business. Scaling requires time, attention and tried and true operational infrastructure that can withstand the economy and industry dynamics. That’s right, when you attempt to scale before you are ready, you create an undesirable business that you will likely burnout from and attempt to burn down.
I know there are many talking about scaling to 6 figures, but they are giving bad advice. There is no need to scale to cross the 6-figure mark. Low six figures in a lot of ways are a trial and error period for a business to validate their framework or methodology and client delivery systems for producing a predictable and sustainable result for their pinnacle clients. Once you have certain keys, which I will share in this episode in place, you can begin the journey to consider the feasibility of scaling.
In this episode, my goal is simple – to let you know what you need to have in place if you desire to scale. As you listen, I want you to determine if you are REALLY scale ready. Grab your Move to Millions Podcast notebook and your favorite beverage and listen in to discover:
- Why attempting to scale too soon can cause business failure
- The key differences between growing and scaling and how to determine which is your next best move
- 5 strategies to master before scaling and why
- The key elements required for scaling
- And so much more
Powerful Quotes During the Episode:
1. “Scaling is about multiplying, duplicating and replicating an operational infrastructure that supports a business making, impacting and creating more.”
2. “Hiring is critical to the scaling process – you’ll need key strategic hires before, during and after you scale.”
3. “When you haven’t crossed the six-figure mark, momentum is your key goal, not scaling.”
4. “You might not be ready to scale yet because you might not have the right infrastructure that will allow you to move up instead of crumple down.”
5. “The first year is really about getting the things in place and setting a foundation. We don’t even really start talking about scale until year three.”
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Darnyelle [00:00:00]:
So we’re going to have to make sure that you don’t break your business. Because if you try to do it too soon without having something worth multiplying, replicating or duplicating, you’ll break your business and you’ll stay in the millions messy middle longer than you have to.
Darnyelle [00:00:17]:
You’re listening to the Move to Millions.
Darnyelle [00:00:19]:
Podcast with Dr Darnyelle Jervey Harmon, the place to be for high level conversations about all things millions. Your mission, mindset, Methodologies, mandates, movement, messaging, marketing metrics and most definitely your money. I am your host, spiritual business growth coach, Dr Darnyelle J. Harmon. Join me each week for inspiring stories, powerful interviews and business growth strategy to help you experience abundance in your life because of your business. If you’re ready to move to your next level, everything let’s get this party started.
Darnyelle [00:01:05]:
Welcome back to the Move to Millions Podcast. I am your host, Dr Darnyelle Jervey Harmon. If this is your very first time joining me, welcome. I am so excited you found us. We have been on this powerful movement for the last few years and I am clear I’m on a mission to turn more of you into entrepreneurs and small business owners who are CEO’s who run companies that make move and will eventually leave millions. I am not brand new to this thing called entrepreneurship. I am true to all that it is that we do. For more than a decade I have been taking six figure service based entrepreneurs to seven figures.
Darnyelle [00:01:49]:
In fact, in just the last few years we’ve helped 45 1st time entrepreneurs cross the million dollar mark and we’ve helped 25 do their next or more millions all through our Move to Millions Method. That’s our proven framework and Methodology that is featured in my best selling book Move to Millions. The proven framework to become a million dollar CEO with grace and ease instead of hustle and grind. I am the absolute best at combining spiritual principles with business growth strategy to turn your business and your life into something that you can be financially and spiritually proud of. I believe you don’t have to choose that you can love God and make millions. And I am on a mission to create more seven figure business owners. That is the work that we do through our Haus of millions which is our suite of coaching and consulting programs. There are four levels in the Haus and there is definitely one to serve and support you regardless of where you are on the Move to Millions Continuum.
Darnyelle [00:02:49]:
If you don’t know what I mean when I say Move to Millions Continuum, there’s an episode right here on this Podcast that will break it down for you as well as there’s an episode that will allow you to understand the Move to Millions Method. I’m excited that you are here with me today as we jump into a topic that, if I’m being honest, it makes my biscuits burn. Every time I say that it just makes me chuckle. But it’s the truth. It really bothers me the way that people do not understand what we’re going to get into into today’s episode. But before we do, can you do me a favor and take a moment and rate and review our Podcast? Doing so is going to help us to get our work deeper into the world. We’re currently in more than 100 countries around the world, and if you leave a review, it will help even more people find out about this powerful, powerful show. I mean, it’s powerful enough for you to come back every single week.
Darnyelle [00:03:43]:
I thank you. I appreciate you. I’m grateful for you. We’ve got so many things set up to serve and support you. If you head on over to movetomillions.com, you can check all, all of those things out. Okay, so back to the reason my biscuits are burning and what we’re going to talk about in this episode. We’re going to talk about scaling. Can I keep it real with you? While I love the word and have helped many position themselves to do it, it bothers me when people, amateurs, talk about scaling a business when you’re not even making six figures.
Darnyelle [00:04:17]:
You do not scale your business to six figures. Just so we’re clear, and I’m going to prove it to you throughout this episode. Scaling, can we just define it first? So scaling is a misused term in the marketplace. People interchange it with growing, but they are not the same. And where you need to be as a business owner is not the same. Preparing to grow your business is one thing. Preparing to scale it is a whole nother ball of wax. And people get it wrong.
Darnyelle [00:04:47]:
Scaling, by definition, is about multiplying, duplicating and replicating an operational infrastructure that supports a business doing more, more volume. People think scaling is about speed, and people think scaling is about time. And there are business advisors out there who will try to tell you that you’re ready to scale. I’m hoping that as you listen to this episode, you might realize that you’re nothing. And this really serves as a checklist for you, for you to become scale ready. So if you are trying to scale your business to seven figures and you listen to the wrong advisors, sometimes they’ll tell you that the answer is to hire more people. Now let me just be clear. They wouldn’t be wrong per se on the surface, but their advice might not actually be the best advice for you yet.
Darnyelle [00:05:40]:
Because there are some things you need to do before the answer is bringing on more team. And for the record, I do believe that there is a time and place for hiring. But before you create that next job description, you want to make sure that you actually have a scale ready business and you’ve put the things in place. So I just want to get one thing straight. Hiring before your business has a firm foundation upon which to scale will actually delay how long it takes you to actually scale. You will elongate what could have taken you minutes. Well, okay, I’m exaggerating when I say minutes. What could have taken you far less time? You will elongate it if the foundation of your business is not right.
Darnyelle [00:06:21]:
Now. To help you to get your foundation firm, you need to have some team members. But you really, if we’re being clear, can do it with a great executive assistant that you’ve groomed to understand the inner workings of your company and your vision and how you desire to grow it along the way, while they’re helping you to get things started, documented, processed, process flowed out and all of those things to the point where you’ll need to make sure that you’re actually ready to scale and your strategic plan is ready to set up. So before I take a moment and go deeper and explain this for you, I want to just address the fact that most people think the answer to next level growth is scale. But again, scaling, by definition, means that you have an operational infrastructure specifically around your strategy, your sales, and your systems that you can multiply, duplicate, and replicate in order to increase your results and your revenue. Bottom line is this. If you have not already shored up your strategy, your sales infrastructure, and created some business growth and automation systems, hiring more people in an effort to scale is not the answer. Now, I’m the first to tell you that scaling can only happen through systems and support.
Darnyelle [00:07:38]:
I’m the first to tell you that. But I want you to keep in mind that before there is support, there has to be infrastructure. So we’re going to have to make sure that you don’t break your business. Because if you try to do it too soon without having something worth multiplying, replicating, or duplicating, you’ll break your business and you’ll stay in the millions messy middle longer than you have to. And I want to be honest with you, because I’ve experienced it myself. More of the mess that is the back end of your business does not create scale or simplification. It creates stress. And trust me when I tell you, you don’t want to get to seven figures with the mess.
Darnyelle [00:08:15]:
Story time. So many of you. If you’ve been following me for a while, then you’ve heard me share the story of how we crossed the million dollar mark for the very first time. The year was 2014, and that was the year of quantum leap growth. For myself personally, I had been doing a lot of personal development work, really shifting my mindset and coming into a space where I understood a lot of things right. I understood money, I understood pricing, I understood value. I understood the implications of having a business that would allow me the opportunity to hire people to support and supplement what it is that we do. I understood that.
Darnyelle [00:08:49]:
And so that was the year we doubled all of our prices. And at our live event, we enrolled something ridiculous like 137 people. We ended up in that whole season enrolling 173 people. But during the live event itself, we had 265 people in the room. Half of them signed up. I mean, it was bananas. It was amazing and crazy and chaotic all at the same time because the business was not prepared to bring on that many clients at one time. It was a literal nightmare.
Darnyelle [00:09:22]:
I literally created a circus and I did not want to be the circus conductor. Do we call the circ the person who leads the circus or conductor, whatever they were called? I didn’t want to do it. I wasn’t equipped to do it. There was no way to do it. It was complete pandemonium.
Darnyelle [00:09:41]:
I created Haus of millions because I wanted to create a safe space and community to support entrepreneurs at every level. After writing my best selling book, Move to Millions, the proven framework to become a million dollar CEO with grace and ease instead of hustling grind, it became increasingly clear that this solution was needed in the marketplace. I knew we needed to help the.
Darnyelle [00:10:05]:
Thousands of entrepreneurs who slid in my.
Darnyelle [00:10:08]:
DM’s navigate getting to and beyond the million dollar mark in a way that served them financially and spiritually and wouldn’t require that they compromise or sacrifice on the journey. Haus of millions is the answer. Through our Move to Millions Continuum, we.
Darnyelle [00:10:26]:
Realize that there are seven levels on.
Darnyelle [00:10:28]:
The Move to Millions. Mapping when you haven’t crossed the six figure mark yet. Momentum when you’re making $100,000 a year. Mastery when you’re making $100,000 a quarter. Millions when you’re making $100,000 a month. Majesty when you know you can make $100,000 in a week. Monumental when you know that you can make $100,000 in a day. And Maverick when you know how to make $100,000 any hour that you decide.
Darnyelle [00:10:55]:
So we decided that we wanted to.
Darnyelle [00:10:57]:
Create a safe space to collapse the.
Darnyelle [00:11:00]:
Amount of time it takes you to make $100,000. And finally, we’ve got the programs and.
Darnyelle [00:11:05]:
Support that you need.
Darnyelle [00:11:07]:
No matter which level you are currently on, when you get in the Haus, you’ll finally get the support you need.
Darnyelle [00:11:13]:
To uplevel every area of your life.
Darnyelle [00:11:16]:
Whether you desire membership, mentorship, a mastermind, or a collective experience to support your journey to building massive wealth. It’s in the Haus. Get in the Haus [email protected].
Darnyelle [00:11:30]:
The reviews are in move two millions. The proven framework to become a million dollar CEO with grace and ease instead.
Darnyelle [00:11:37]:
Of hustle and grind is a best seller.
Darnyelle [00:11:40]:
With thousands of copies sold. We are raising a generation of million dollar CEO’s. You got next. Grab your copy in our bonuses today.
Darnyelle [00:11:50]:
At movetomillions book.com, i made a lot of reactive decisions that impacted my business, which was why two years later, instead of having a multiple, multiple seven figure business, I didn’t have a one seven figure business because I broke my business by trying to scale before I was ready. So that’s why I want you to understand that while scaling sounds exciting and new and fresh, and if you think it’s the answer to your problems, it will create more if you have not done the work to set up an infrastructure that as you scale, you do not lose yourself in the process. Again, I say scaling is not about speed or time. It’s about multiplying, duplicating and replicating the strategies and the sales that are created as a result of a strong and sound operational infrastructure. And for the record, I am an advocate of hiring before you’re ready to scale. But there are a few things that I recommend that you do before hiring becomes a strategy that you employ to get to your next level. And we’re going to walk through all of them. I want you to do yourself a favor and literally take scaling off the table until number one, you have created a sound, streamlined strategy that you can attribute at least 70% of your positioning and marketing success to see.
Darnyelle [00:13:19]:
Once you’ve done this, you’re at the point where you have something that you want to multiply. Now, what is it going to take to be able to get your strategy to the point that you can attribute 70% of your success from it? It’s going to take testing, split testing, poking and prodding. It’s probably going to take putting messaging out that speaks to an ideal client that’s not right at first so that you can tweak your messaging to get in front of a client that it is going to be right for. See, this is why it’s not about time, and this is why you can’t rush it. Because if you do, your business will break and your scale will be delayed. Number two, you don’t want to try to think about scaling until you have a well oiled sales process that turns your prospects into paying clients every single week like clockwork. And 70% of your prospects move through your sales process or funnel in a timely flow without getting caught up or dropping off before you can qualify them and present them with a solution to the problem they have been unsuccessful at solving on their own. See, when you’ve gotten to this point, you now have something you can duplicate.
Darnyelle [00:14:29]:
Is this making sense? The thing about sales is that you want to make sure that the bulk of it happens without you having to be present. And that too is going to take time. It’s going to take data, analyzing the data, determining the KPI’s, testing, poking, prodding. It’s going to take time. See, part of the reason why in our mastermind, our clients work with us for three years on average is because the first year is really about getting the things in place and setting a foundation. We don’t even really start talking about scale until year three. Now, do some people do it sooner? Sure. Depends on what foundation they have walking through the door and what we have to help them to do.
Darnyelle [00:15:12]:
But what we absolutely don’t do is try to scale. From the moment we meet. That’s pandemonium. Number three, you want to make sure that you have an operational management system that is complete with a directory of the procedures and process flows that you and your admin have developed and managed from your CEO dashboard. See, this is where a good executive assistant is worth their weight in gold. And this is the part I want you to get excited about doing. This means you have something to replicate. See, now you have every function in your business documented so that as you hire team, they can come in and follow your sops and perform a task that’s going to create a result for your business.
Darnyelle [00:15:57]:
Is this making sense to you? Number four, that you need, before you start thinking you should scale is you need to have had perfected your Methodology, framework or signature system so that you can predict with 100% certainty how to get multiples of clients, 1020, 5100, 300, 500 all at the same time to get a result that you are known for. See, before you can even get ready to scale, you have got to install leverage in your business. And you can’t install leverage unless you have processes that you can duplicate with multiple people at the same time. See, once you have this Methodology perfected, you now have a process that you can teach and develop your talent team members around so that they can serve your clients while getting them consistent results. What I mean is scaling your core service through systems and support team becomes possible once you’ve taken the time to perfect your Methodology, framework or signature system. See, this is why you’re not ready to scale when you cross the $100,000 mark. Listen, I get it because you know if you making 100, 100 and 2151, hundred and 80, hell, if you making 250,000, you probably already know that’s not enough and you want to get on to bigger money. But you might not be ready to scale yet because you might not have the right infrastructure that will allow you to move up instead of crumple down.
Darnyelle [00:17:28]:
And number five, you need to have a clear vision that is strategic and that is aligned based on your core values and the culture you want to install in your company so that when you start to build your team, you build a team from the place that is going to be sustainable and enjoyable over time.
Darnyelle [00:17:50]:
If you have millions on your mind, then you need to get in the Haus. Haus of Millions is our up leveled suite of business advisory programs for entrepreneurs and small business owners ready for community and connections to accelerate their cash flow. Learn [email protected] want to know what it’s.
Darnyelle [00:18:11]:
Like to work with me and the incredible factor university coaching team? You can get started today with the Move to Millions 90 day business growth planner. 90 days at a time, you’ll be setting your business on a trajectory that will make the Move to Millions happen.
Darnyelle [00:18:26]:
Much faster for you.
Darnyelle [00:18:28]:
It’s got everything that you need to.
Darnyelle [00:18:30]:
Track every strategy, every sale, all of.
Darnyelle [00:18:33]:
Your KPI’s, as well as your self.
Darnyelle [00:18:35]:
Care and life transformational needs. We made sure we left nothing out of this amazing planner. And by accessing the planner, you’ll get a behind the scenes view of what it’s like to work with me and my team. Go grab yours [email protected].
Darnyelle [00:18:51]:
Now I’m going to give you bonus points if you’ve already built an.org chart of your scaled company. And you know that as you add each team member what their KPI’s are going to be so they they can contribute to achieving your growth and scale plan. Now ask yourself a question for real. Do you have all five of these things in place? If you are not voraciously shaking your head yes, boo. You’re not ready to scale. And it’s okay. You’re not ready to scale yet. See, it’s only once each of these things are sound that you will actually set yourself on a trajectory to scale your business.
Darnyelle [00:19:29]:
So, for now, because we know you’re not ready and that’s okay, get to work on having something that is worth scaling by tightening your strategy, tightening your sales infrastructure and creating those operational and growth systems. Now, I want you to remember that if you hustle hard enough, you can get your business to 300,000 to a half a million. You can do it without those things and falsely believe you’re ready to scale, but you’re going to get your feelings hurt. I know this because I’ve worked with thousands of various stage entrepreneurs and we’ve helped 70 make their first or next million in just the last few years. Trust me when I tell you, I have seen it all. Now, if as you listen to this, you are a little perplexed, maybe even a little overwhelmed, and you don’t know where to start and how to get this scale ready train rolling, then I want to invite you to look at our Haus of millions programs. We love to help you to position your business for scale by creating an infrastructure that is solid, strong and significant and setting you up for scaling success. That’s what we’d love to be able to do and we can help to facilitate an environment where you are doing all of the five.
Darnyelle [00:20:42]:
Number one, you’ve created a sound, streamlined strategy that you can attribute 70% of your marketing success to. Number two, you’ve created a well oiled sales process that 70% of your prospects get all the way through and complete. Number three, you have operational management system and CEO dashboard with all of the process flows and policies and procedures required for your company to operate at its optimal height. Number four, you’ve perfected your Methodology, framework and or signature system so that you can bring lots of clients through it in scale without breaking the process or marring their results. And number five, you have a clear strategic vision that is aligned with your core values and culture so that as you build your team, your come from is strong. These are five of the things. There might be more, but these are five that I want you to focus on right now to help position yourself to get scale ready. And when you’re ready, we’d love to welcome you into Haus of millions.
Darnyelle [00:21:42]:
You can learn more about Haus of [email protected]. for now, you know exactly what it is you need to do. Get to work, and I’ll see you guys next time. Take care.
Darnyelle [00:21:53]:
Thank you for joining me for the Move to Millions Podcast. If this episode has impacted you in any way, would you please take a moment and rate and review? Doing so helps us to deepen our impact and expand our reach around the world. And if you are ready to start your very own Move to Millions, I highly recommend that you order your very own copy of my brand new best selling book, move two millions, the proven framework to become a million dollar CEO with grace and ease of instead of hustle and grind. You can get your copy and our bonuses [email protected]. until next time. Remember, millions are your birthright and to access them, you need only move.
Darnyelle [00:22:38]:
I’ll see you next time.
