Last week we talked a bit about how to grow a side hustle into your main business and today I want to build off that. Namely how to take a “baby” business, a small fire, and turn it into a mighty inferno business that can feed you and yours hopefully until the end of your days. Or at least give you the leverage to do so.
Now there are some preliminary things you should understand before undertaking all of this. Basic business things that’ll drastically help how fast you go from piddling candle to raging blaze. We’ve talked about them before, namely copywriting, marketing, and sales. I can’t tell you everything you need to know about such things in a short article. One, because there’s always more to know, and two, because even to get to basic competency takes a while.
So do all the research that you can beforehand. I recommend studying guys like Dan Kennedy and the direct marketing guys that came before him on effective methods to get a business off the ground. Study Zig Ziglar and the like for sales, Dale Carnegie also has good stuff in this regard. And then I’d recommend checking out some Ogilvy, Claude C. Hopkins, Sugarman, and the like for copywriting.
And even then there’s more but that’ll help give you a bare bone basic breakdown of making your business successful. But then we have to go through the process of building a fire.
So let’s dive in.
Step 1 – The Kindling
To build a fire you first need kindling, small scraps that’ll catch the flames and nurture them until they can spread to larger things. This is the business in the first stage and here’s the thing. In the first stages the business is going to need sustenance from other places to stay alive and afloat. Much like kindling you have to collect and use a bunch of small things together that can sustain a flame.
Which means working on the business, getting the best product/service possible, and most of all advertising it effectively and efficiently. You’ll have to try this and try that. Essentially at the start you’re going to have to throw mud at the wall and start to see what sticks. You’ll waste money because there’s really no way not too. But this will provide you with the knowledge to not waste money in the future.
Hence why it’s so important to have another income source that provides you with a little “extra” cash so you can spend it on advertising and promoting the just started business. Because you could have the best product/service in the world but if no one has heard about it, it’s not going to matter.
Sounds obvious but it’s one thing to understand a concept and another to actually do it. So you’ll have to buy ads here and there, try this or that marketing campaign, and so on and so forth. And all of that is going to cost money and you’re going to make mistakes, mistakes that are going to cost you.
But you can’t let them get you down because that’s just part of the process. So in the kindling stage spend money and see what little bits you can gather. Every customer is a nugget of gold but nowhere is this more true than in the beginning. If you get someone who likes you product/service then get a review or referral from them.
Step 2 – Small Sticks
One you have a little kindling what you need next is small sticks to transfer that fire too. Also I see that technically this analogy is a little backwards, but bear with me. There’s is where you start weeding out effective methods from ineffective methods. Whereas at the start you were trying this, that, and everything else trying to see what works. Now you have some clients and it’s time to start bringing in the waste.
Now you need to start looking to systematize things that you can, both marketing and how you run your business. You need to carefully weigh costs and see where your ROI is highest. This is where the business will start generating some money but not enough to run itself. You should use profits here to reinvest in the business, again you’ll need another source of income to do this.
Start look for ways to save yourself both time and money. Effectiveness and efficiency become a larger focus here. You’ll still need to experiment and try new things and as always you’re going to keep making mistakes, sometimes costly mistakes. But it is these mistakes that’ll give you the knowledge you need to get to the next level. Remember an ounce of action is worth a pound of deliberation.
Takes chances, see what works and what doesn’t. Don’t get too married to any one process yet. Keep learning, both from your day to day experience as well as books, courses, and the like. This might be the time to save up for professional consultation or to join a group like GKIC. You’re planting seeds now that you’re going to reap later.
Step 3 – Logs
This part comes when you have a process that is working well for you. Now one of the biggest things that you must do is roll out that process and get it to as many people as possible. You’ll typically have a “funnel” or whatever you want to call it, that people go through and you should have some name brand recognition now, even if it’s only in a small niche or locality. You’re known as a player at least. Now you have to not only look at what other effective businesses are doing but what they’re not doing that you can capitalize on.
Now is time to keep squeezing out inefficiency and things that aren’t effective. Maybe look to hire help so you can spend your time with higher ROI tasks. You should have some tried and true advertising and marketing that works for you and now the task is to expand that and stretch it as far as you can go. You should probably write a book, there are few businesses that don’t benefit from having their owner/operator write a book.
Start looking for bigger plays now as well. Could be a community partnership, major ad campaigns, maybe your company does a local event, imagination is going to play a big role in how far you go with this. Start to look at big players, not just in your niche/world, but outside it. What do the successful small business owners in other fields do to be successful?
How much of that can you adapt for yourself?
Step 4 – Add Logs
This stage is when your business is providing you with all your needs and you want to keep it growing little by little. There are two big concerns with this. The first being, stick with what got you to success in the first place and two is being innovative. Now at first those seem like contradictions, do what you’ve done but at the same time do things new…how does that make any sense?
So here’s how. You want to stick with the systems that worked well for you while at the same time learning new things, you have to always keep learning, and bringing them into your successful system and seeing how they work. So you’re bringing new things into an old system. Now obviously your system may change over time and eventually be all parts that were once “new” but the process should be gradual.
And remember if you’re not growing then you’re moving backwards, there is no standing still
The Broad Picture View
This is the broad picture, very broad. If you want specifics then you can sign up for coaching or you can look at others in the same business as you and try to figure out what they’re doing. Investing your time in a business is often a wise investment. You get far more than money out of it when things go right. The process of growing a business is a hard road, a road that teaches many things not learned many other places. But regardless I hope this serves as good waypoints to help you on your way.
If anything I said here interests you I’d highly recommend you check out The Ultimate Alpha Collection which is a compilation of 16 of my books for the price of 5. It covers everything from being a man to making money to getting the right mindset to getting girls to fighting and more and is a resource no man should be without. Pick up your copy today!
-Charles Sledge
