4 Steps to Quintuple Your Business in the Next 12 Months

Here's how you can scale from $20,000 to $100,000.

learn more about Scott Oldford

By Scott Oldford

ipopba | Getty Images

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

If you want to scale from $20,000 per month to $100,000, there's a four-step process you need to take.

Which may sound too simple, because the thought of quintupling business growth in under 12 months may sound impossible. I'm here to tell you it isn't because I have done it myself (as well as helped clients do the same).

Related: 10 Insanely Clever Ways These Companies Grew Their Business

In fact, you may find it's easier to scale from $20,000 per month to $100,000 than it is to build your initial $20,000, so if you've yet to reach this stage, this process might not be what you need (yet).

You see, this 4-step process only works once you already have a validated product and business model. Up to this point you've grown through pure hustle, which is fine. But, what got you to here won't get you "there," and I imagine you've already started to realize this.

You're tired of the "hustle" and you can't imagine you will keep up this pace for much longer. You want to scale and grow and extend your impact, but the thought of working this hard and long for the next five years ... no thank you.

Good news. You don't have to. This four-step process won't only help you quintuple your growth, but help you finally escape "hustle mode" forever. Here's how it works:

Step 1: Create one-to-many relationships (intimately).

When "hustling" and validating your business, you build most of your momentum through one-on-one relationships. Everything runs through you. This is great. This is how you build trust and authority.

But, you cannot keep this up as you continue to scale and grow.

You need to transform your one-to-one approach into one-to-many, but all the while maintain intimacy and connection (otherwise you become just another online marketer with a list).

You can do this through marketing funnels, email and social media, but the point is to ensure you automate as much of the process as you can so it no longer relies on you (and so it works 24/7). The trick here is to not overcomplicate this process.

Related: 15 Ways to Grow Your Business Fast

Step 2: Effectively qualify your audience.

The way to create intimate relationships with one-to-many people is to only focus on the "right" people. This begins by appreciating who your audience is and building a specific profile so you know who they are, where they are and what their problem/pain is.

But, as well as understanding who your audience is, it's vital you know who isn't.

You can only help certain people. If you try to help everybody you will ultimately help nobody, and if you try to be everything to everyone, you won't become the "go-to" expert of your industry.

Your superpower surrounds your ability to help a certain type of person in a big way. Once you know who these people are, you can build their trust and create an intimate relationship with them (even if it is one-to-many). At this stage you're ready to optimize your ability to sell to them.

Related: 5 Companies That Grew Too Quickly (and What You Can Learn From Them)

Step 3: Automate your sales process.

If you're the only person who does the selling in your business, you have a problem (now and in the future). Those who spend their days selling are those caught in "hustle mode," and no matter how amazing your lead generation is, it won't matter because you will remain the bottleneck.

The only way to scale your business is to automate your sales process so it doesn't rely on you jumping on the phone with each new lead. There are many ways to do this:

  • Evergreen webinar
  • Marketing / sales funnel
  • Video sales letter
  • Hiring a specific salesperson

Depending on your product and offer will depend on how to best automate your sales process. Sometimes you need a human element, whereas often you don't.

The point is you need to automate your sales process so it isn't only your lead generation that works for you while you sleep, but your sales too. The key to this is to remove you from the process. Because so long as you're working "in" your business, you cannot work "on" the business.

Related: 15 Ways to Scale Your Business and Make More Money

Step 4: Optimize your operations.

This is the most important part of the process, and is the period when you finally start to own your business (so it no longer owns you).

This centers around you building a team so you can finally become the person who works "on" the business and ensure it continues to scale and grow. So long as you're in the business doing the sales, doing the marketing and doing the delivering, you will never focus on the bigger picture.

This is also the biggest obstacle most entrepreneurs face because most entrepreneurs struggle with the idea of delegating. But, if you want to scale your business from $20,000 per month to $100,000, you cannot be an entrepreneur -- you have to evolve into a CEO.

Once you do this you reclaim a lot of time and freedom, but more importantly you bring fresh people into your business who can do a better job than you. This allows you to escape the hustle and dedicate your time to what you do best, as well as focusing on the bigger picture and strategy.

This is how you scale from $20,000 per month to $100,000, and you can achieve it in as little as six months. So, if business is going well and you're ready to step out of "hustle mode," dive into these four steps so you can scale the right way.

Scott Oldford

Entrepreneur Leadership Network Contributor

Mentor, Advisor & Investor for Online Entrepreneurs

Scott Oldford has helped build and scale countless 6, 7 & 8-figure online businesses in the education, certification, coaching, consulting and courses niche.

Related Topics

Editor's Pick

The Dark Side of Pay Transparency — And What to Do If You Find Out You're Being Underpaid
Thinking of a Career Change? Here Are 4 Steps You Can Take to Get There.
A Founder Who Bootstrapped Her Jewelry Business With Just $1,000 Now Sees 7-Figure Revenue Because She Knew Something About Her Customers Nobody Else Did
Everything You Need to Know About Franchise Law
Business News

A Mississippi News Anchor Is Under Fire for Quoting Snoop Dogg

WLBT's Barbara Bassett used the rapper's "fo shizzle" phrase during a live broadcast, causing the station to let her go.

Growing a Business

Scaling Made Easy: How to Scale Your Business like a Fortune 500 Company

Once you have the night-vision skills of Fortune 500 restaurants, scaling becomes effortless. Here are 3 ways to scale, hidden in plain sight.

Marketing

Streaming TV Is the Future of Advertising — Without Breaking the Bank

Today's consumers expect personal, impactful ads. There's an advertising method that can get you there for half the price, making it the next frontier in digital advertising.

Business Ideas

55 Small Business Ideas To Start Right Now

To start one of these home-based businesses, you don't need a lot of funding -- just energy, passion and the drive to succeed.

Growing a Business

How I Built a Sales Funnel That Generates Over $80 Million

Improve your sales funnels for more conversions with these marketing tactics.