Episode 71: The Reality of 7-Figure Growth

Hey, hey, and welcome back to Scale to Seven®. We are halfway through the year, just a little over halfway, and I know that one thing I've been hearing a lot is this idea of feeling behind or not getting as much done or accomplished or achieved in the first six months than you expected, right? Maybe you had these big ideas, these big goals for the year for growth in your business. And you're just not seeing that result quite yet. And this episode is for you if that's the case because I want to talk about exactly what growth actually looks like inside of a microscope, just because you haven't seen the results that you want in the first six months, actually means that nothing about what's possible for the last six months of the year. And so if you're really in a place where you're second-guessing things or you know, beating yourself up for not achieving what you wanted to achieve, then I want you to know, maybe you're doing exactly what you should be doing. Maybe you're exactly in the right place right where you are. And nothing is wrong. 

In fact, it's probably normal, and a lot of people simply don't talk about this side or show this side. So many people are really talking about big quantum leaps and things like that. But they're not showing you the process along the way, the bigger picture. So we're going to take a look, we're going to not just zoom out and look at the big picture of what it looks and feels like, but zoom weigh in as if we're putting growth under a microscope. And this is the kind of growth that I'm talking about here. We're talking about growth from six to seven figures. 

So, there are a lot of things that are different. When you're going from that first six-figure point to seven figures, it's not quite like it was getting to your first six figures, it's also going to be different later growth and scaling at different levels are very different. And I think what I really often talk about or touch on is the fact that there's a difference in growth and scaling. And when we're really talking about growth to six figures, you're going to experience something far different than growth from six to seven. And if you're scaling from six to seven, that's even different. So let's just let's get into this. What happens, or let's even get into what is your expectation for growth to look like? Many of you hit a goal and you expect to beat that goal the next month, then the following month, you want to beat that record again, and you want to continue to do that you expect growth to look like an exponential curve. And maybe from the outside looking in, growth does look exponential in some cases, not always. Sometimes it's more like a roller coaster. But even those amazing stories that you hear of entrepreneurs who had those massive leaps in their business where it looks like that exponential curve. I want you to know what it looks like when you zoom in. Okay, so let's zoom in, let's have a look. It might not be what you expect. It's definitely not what a lot of people talk about. But here's the reality, when you're going from six to seven figures, it might feel slower in the short term, to speed up long term.

If your business needs to go from the typical strategies that you used to get to six figures, to setting you up to scale to seven, that's gonna look different. We're not talking about the quick, short-term spurts of growth. We're not talking about those quantum leaps that are yes incredible and amazing and make for some awesome stories. 

We're talking about long term, sustainable growth to scale from six to seven figures and so there's a big difference in my mind between growing and scaling, and when we're really talking about bridging that gap to seven figures, we're talking about doing things in a very different way, what got you to six figures won't get you to seven figures. And that means that you're taking time to set up the right systems, to hire team members to treat your business more like a company. And that takes some intentional time upfront, where you have to slow down, but then it's gonna set you up for massive success on the backend, and that's where you'll speed up. So it's gonna feel slower. 

All the people talking about these quick wins, these massive quantum leaps, this overnight, we can, you know, scale your business, double your business, I want you to know, that you can scale and you can scale fast, but one of two things are happening. Either they're not talking about everything it took to get up to that point, or that success isn't actually sustainable. And that brings us into this second point, I believe that the growth that you need, in order to go from six to seven figures, is going to look like a lot of small steps. When you use zoom in to that exponential curve, it's actually going to look like a staircase, your business is going to grow with revenue, but then it needs to catch up, and your team needs to grow on the operation side to not just catch up but to set you up for the next phase of growth. And so it's going to look and feel like a plateau from a revenue standpoint. When you're in that phase of getting the backside of your business, ready for that next phase of growth. This doesn't have to be a long plateau, we're not talking about going months on end without revenue here. But we are talking about just like I said in the last point, slowing down to speed up. And that means potentially seeing fewer results coming through while you handle the backend stuff and then another spurt of growth is really like growth spurts.

So what does that feel like? In your business? What does that look like in your business? It feels like for a visionary CEO, sometimes it feels frustrating, it makes you wonder what's wrong, it makes you think something's wrong with you because everyone else isn't talking about this, right. But really, it's normal, it should be expected. It's actually something that you choose. I know in my business, we took some time, and intentionally chose to not focus on growth, and instead to focus on building up and training a team so that then we're ready for the next phase of growth. And that's not an easy choice for a visionary. It's going to, for a visionary, we're super impatient when it comes to these kinds of things. And so I feel you, if you're right there, and you're ready for the next phase of growth, and you're just waiting for your team to catch up, I hear you, but know that it's necessary.

Alright, so growth is going to feel slower in the short term, and then that's going to set you up for a long term to speed up. So it doesn't mean overall, growth has to be slow. It just means you start slow so that you can speed up after. It's gonna look like many, many small steps, it's not constant, exponential curve, just continuing to perform, perform, perform, you need that time for your business to catch up. And third, it's gonna look like your team getting results versus you being the one getting results. So the CEO's role, your role completely shifts, you're no longer the one who's going out and making it happen. Yes, you're still driving the team. Yes, you're so motivating the team. Yes, you're still providing strategic direction and holding them accountable. But you're not the one implementing everything. And that means that your role looks completely different. And you go from this hunting mode to hunt down these results to really farming and cultivating, developing your team. Again, with all three of these, I know that you're going to feel impatient, and that's normal, and nothing is wrong. So what I want to stress to you is that, your job shifts to coaching your team to help them get results versus focusing on getting result to yourself. Does that mean you have no role in getting results? Of course not. 

You're leading the team to results. But it's a big shift. And it looks very different than what many people talk about. A lot of the CEOs that you see online, brag about their results, or maybe it's not bragging, but they just share their results. And of course, as the CEO, whether they take their credit or not, they're given that credit, but there's a team behind them, this making it happen, some are better than others showing that and I want to make sure that you know that there is a team, no one person can do this alone. And in order to get to seven figures, you're going to need a team. And to me, that's really what scaling, true scaling is all about. 

Growth is to me, more like addition, we've talked about this before, scaling is more like multiplication. And in order to multiply, you can't do this alone, you need a team, you need the operation side of your business set up so that you can grow. Alright? So, this allows your team to focus on what to do, you get to focus on the big vision, where you're headed. And I know it's gonna be tough as you wait to see those results. But this is what growth really looks like going from six to seven figures. Yes, you'll have those moments of big wins. And trust me, I'm not saying that you're not going to accomplish some incredible things, I just want you to know, and to expect that some of this is also the other side of growth that you're going to see and experience. And it's normal.