#327 What It Really Takes to Grow From $100K to $500K
What does it really take to build a $500k+ jewelry business in today’s market?
The Flourish & Thrive Academy community is full of jewelry designers at all different levels of business, from hobbyists who are just starting to sell online to industry vets with 7-figure companies.
All my years working with entrepreneurs have taught me that a lot of jewelry designers get stuck around the $100k mark. If you fall into this category, you can probably relate to this…
You’ve gotten into the groove of things and established a consistent customer base. But even though you’re still doing all the things that propelled your business to where it is today, you can’t seem to hit that next level.
There’s a common adage in business that goes, “What go you here won’t get you there.” And it’s true.
As your business evolves, so do the needs of your business. Business owners who don’t learn to scale become the bottleneck for their company and ultimately hit a plateau.
Today we’ll be talking about scale, which is the third pillar of The Desired Brand Effect Methodology.
Initiation begins in early January, so if you’re interested in getting coached to the next level in your business, don’t miss your chance to apply.
Until then, let’s talk about 5 steps you can take to get out of your own way and strategically scale your business.
Click here to download the show notes
Step 1: Adopt A CVO Mindset
Creative product makers face a unique challenge of getting stuck in what I call a “maker’s mindset.”
When you turn a creative passion into a business, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day production process and avoid the big-picture thinking that’s necessary for your business to grow.
That’s because you’re not stepping into your role as a Chief Visionary Officer (CVO).
You don’t need to remove yourself from production altogether, especially if it’s something you love to do, but you do need to take a more visionary approach to the way your business runs.
You need to be in tune with the less creative aspects of running a business, like finances, marketing, and operations.
A visionary leader is able to think objectively about the future of the company and focus on long-term goals and growth.
I talk about this extensively in my new book, The Desired Brand Effect.
Step 2: Lean Into Your Strengths & Outsource Your Weaknesses
While it’s true that you’ll have to wear many hats in order to succeed at running your own business, it’s a complete myth that business owners have to be good at everything.
Nobody is good at everything.
What successful business owners are good at, however, is recognizing where their strengths and weaknesses are, and structuring their business accordingly.
Take time to reflect on what your true zone of genius is, and be really honest with yourself about what you’re just not good at.
This will allow you to effectively outsource the tasks that are dragging you down and free up more time to do the work you excel at.
Step 3: Prioritize Your Daily Tasks
This is where I struggle the most.
When I have a big to-do list, I tend to complete the small, easy tasks first so I can get that sense of satisfaction that comes from getting things done.
This becomes a problem because I end up procrastinating the more challenging things on my plate, which are usually the tasks that will truly move the needle in my businesses.
An exercise that has helped me a lot is making a list of everything you might do on a given day and assigning a dollar amount to each one. How much revenue would that task bring in?
It should give you a better idea of which tasks you can afford to delegate, outsource, or drop altogether so that you can focus on the tasks that can truly only be done by you as the Chief Visionary Officer.
Step 4: Elevate Your Operations
Operational organization is a huge turning point for the growth of small businesses.
Most businesses start out with the founder (you) doing pretty much everything. But as it grows, it’s vital to have documented systems in place so you can easily hire a team, outsource labor, and automate manual processes.
If you don’t have any systems in place yet, I always recommend starting with your jewelry production process. Document each step so that any skilled jeweler could easily follow along and create a quality product, just the way that you would.
The goal should be to do this in each part of your business: sales, marketing, orders, etc.
Step 5: Focus on Revenue & Profit Margins
The final piece of scaling your business is essentially the reason you’re doing all this work to begin with: revenue.
When you’ve truly stepped into your role as CVO, hired the right people, and systematized your business as much as possible, your company will operate like a well-oiled machine and it will be much easier to adapt as you strategically grow your customer base.
When you don’t get this right, any growth will be stressful, challenging, and put you at a high risk of burning out. That’s why setting yourself up for success is so important.
Listen to the full episode above where I cover each of these five steps in more depth. Next week we’re taking a closer look into the inside operations of 7-figure jewelry company.
Stay tuned,
xo, Tracy
Links:
An Inside Look At A 7-Figure Company
Apply for a FREE Strategy Audit
The Desired Brand Effect: Stand Out In A Saturated Market With A Timeless Jewelry Brand
Flourish & Thrive Academy Coaching Programs
More Resources for Jewelry Designers
