Editor’s note: This 9 part series is specifically designed for coaches, consultants, strategists, and service-based business owners who are in the scaling phase of their business. The JoyFueled™ Journey success path graphic will serve as your visual anchor and teaching tool for this content series. The EXPAND™ Method is our unique process we use to help our clients expand their already-working-business without burning out or imploding. All 9 parts of this series are linked at the end of this post.
Service-based business owners are total pros at hitting financial ceilings.
You start out struggling to find that first foot-in-the-door client who will legitimize your business, and once you do, it feels like the floodgates open. Money starts rolling in, and life is good… for a little while.
Then suddenly, something changes.
You hit another financial ceiling, only this time it’s not so easy to break through. You start to feel stuck and frustrated…basically, your business growth stalls out. And if the only solution seems to be working harder and longer than you already are, it’s no wonder you feel trapped.
Luckily, there is a way out of this cycle of feast or famine – and it doesn’t involve working yourself to the bone.
The answer lies in what I call The EXPAND™ Method: a proven framework that allows you to break through financial ceilings without burning yourself out in the process. I’ve used it to take my brand from $220K to $440K in one year, then $440k to nearly $1 million one year later.
This framework is how we help businesses who are earning between $200K to $300K annually, 1.5X and even 2X their revenue over the course of 365 days.
It’s about making small shifts in how you show up and run your business. When these small shifts compound, they create powerful results that last.
What The EXPAND™ Method Stands For
The EXPAND Method™ is an acronym designed to help you re-envision your business one area at a time:
- E — Energetic Capacity: Understanding the Energetic Capacity of Your Business
- X — X-Ray Vision: Why Small Goals Do NOT Inspire Visionary Leaders and CEOs
- P — Plan: How could your revenue drastically improve with leveraged marketing and sales events?
- A —Alignment: Have you identified WHO your brand wants to be when it grows up?
- N — Numbers: Forget the vanity metrics: the likes, the comments, the open rates, the shares—and instead dial into PROFIT, baby.
- D — Delegate: When you learn to SCALE THE THINKING (not the to-dos) of your team, your brand is going to reach heights you’ve only dreamed about!
When you take the time to focus on each area of your business using The EXPAND™ Method, you create a comprehensive, strategic plan for how to increase your revenue without working harder or sacrificing your quality of life.
Let’s take a closer look at what each letter in the acronym stands for:
Energetic Capacity
How often are you biting off more than you can chew?
If you’re like most business owners, the answer is probably “all the time.” But when you try to take on too much at once, you quickly reach your energetic limit. This is the root cause of burnout, and it’s something you need to be aware of if you want to scale your business without sacrificing your health or well-being.
X-Ray Vision
Playing small doesn’t serve anyone – least of all you.
If you want to create a business that supports your desired lifestyle, you need to get clear on what that looks like. What are your long-term goals? What does your ideal day look like? How much money do you want to make?
Getting clear on the answers to these questions is essential if you want to create a business that meets your financial needs and feels aligned with your values and who you are as a person.
Plan
You need a road map if you want to get where you’re going.
Creating a plan is the first step in making your vision a reality. Without a plan, you’ll only ever be able to achieve so much. But with a solid plan in place, you’ll have a clear roadmap for how to get from Point A to Point B – and beyond.
Alignment
Often, we start our business with a dream (or a wish) and hope that it works…and when it does, we find purpose is supporting our clients…but what does your BRAND want to be when it grows up? What legacy do you want to leave? What impact do you want to have?
Once you have answered these important questions, you can start to use those core concepts everywhere: in the marketing, the strategic positioning, the internal structure, and day to day happenings of the business.
Numbers
It’s time to forget the vanity metrics. The likes, the comments, the open rates, the shares—and instead, dial into PROFIT.
In the world of Joyful Business Revolution™, we track revenue, expenses and celebrate profit.
Delegate
Many service-based business owners are thinking about the NOW of what is going on when they are drowning in work, and so the questions they are asking when it comes time to partner with a team are low-quality questions. And we all know what happens when we spend time with low-quality questions: You get low-quality answers that don’t actually move the business forward at all.
The great news is that when you understand that DELEGATE actually means EMPOWER and OWNERSHIP for each and every team member, things can shift here rather quickly.
Use The EXPAND™ Method To 2X Your Revenue
If you’re ready to stop hitting financial ceilings and start seeing real, sustainable growth in your business, it’s time to put The EXPAND™ Method to work. You will not see overnight results, but if you stick with it, and get the mentorship and support you need, I promise you will start to see a real difference in your business—and your life.
Remember, the goal is to focus on one area at a time. I’ve designed a tool that will help you determine which part of your business needs your focus now, so you don’t burnout trying #allthethings at once. This tool will help you score what’s working well – as well as help you identify your current blindspots.
Part 1: How to Double Your Revenue Over The Next 12 Months as a Coach, Consultant, and Service-Based Business Owner
Part 2: E is for Energy in The EXPAND™ Method: Understanding the Energetic Capacity of Your Business
Part 5: A is for Alignment in The EXPAND™ Method: Who does your brand want to be when it grows up?