The pandemic has forced many businesses into substantial online business acceleration with little support. If you’re starting with a new online offer and need to get momentum, if you’re shifting to an online mode of delivery or if you’ve a sellable offer but want to scale – you want to do it well and you want to do it fast, right? This article is all about creating leveraged online business acceleration plans from starting up to scaling up.
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Businesses, large and small, are entering a period of rapid digital transformation, notably the rapid shift by customers to online channels. These preferred ways of consuming content, communicating and interacting are unlikely to shift back again, which means meeting customer demand and getting a fair share of digital customers is increasingly driving strategy.
A recent McKinsey report suggests strongly that a crisis demands boldness and learning to make changes at the scale and speed required of us. Success requires investment in new offerings, value creation, innovation and evaluation, and the support that enables the necessary pace and progress.
If you’re reinventing your business model or even just starting with a new online offer and need to get momentum, or if you’ve a sellable offer but want to scale – it can never go fast enough, right?
Whatever stage of business you are at, from starting up to scaling up, getting to the next level can feel like a whole new ball game – new challenges, new obstacles, new skills to get your head around. This article (and podcast episode) outlines a program of support for creating and implementing effective online business acceleration plans.
After two decades supporting business planning, process improvement and strategic marketing, what I know for fact is this. The normal pace of change isn’t cutting it.
Solo entrepreneurs and solo professionals who are building a business around their expertise, creating their own personal brand if you like, feel the need to build a solid runway before they can hope to succeed getting off the ground and flying fast to get to their desired destination – or goal. And that’s all very true.
However, in today’s climate we need results to happen fast. That means we need to build the plane as we fly it, to simplify and focus on getting up in the air, to review data and plan quickly, to test and learn rapidly, to transition to scaling efficiently.
The advice for large companies is to build functional teams and collaborative networks to drive rapid change. The equivalent advice for small businesses is simply this. Don’t go it alone.
Yet I see people spending way too long at this foundation stage of their business planning and feeling overwhelmed, confused and demotivated. They’re spinning around, researching, learning, talking to people, creating marketing materials, struggling with copy, setting up platforms before you know anyone gets what you do or what you offer or even says they want it.
It’s frustrating, I get it. You’re smart, driven to succeed, and you’re passionate about what you do. And yet, somehow, you’re stuck in first gear. You’re working super hard yet not getting the traction you want to raise your business to the next level of income, influence and impact. The things you are doing, and that you see other people doing, they just don’t seem to be working for you.
So, you work harder. You invest time, energy and probably money too, working on your mindset, without realising that the model or mechanics of your business isn’t right for where you’re at. And that’s not something you can fix with more inner work.
Motivation gets you nowhere if you’re going in the wrong direction. Even if you’re on the right track, if you’re not executing things very well, you won’t see the success you want.
And right now, all that outer work: all the ideas, all that marketing, all that social media, all that trial and error – it’s probably all down to you. It’s exhausting, it’s confusing, it’s overwhelming and it’s stressful. Trust me, I’ve been there too.
What I’ve observed mentoring hundreds of entrepreneurs, consultants and other coaches, lot of people spend a good deal of their time perfecting and procrastinating so they can never really succeed taking off. Is that you?
When you have all the components of a great business acceleration plan come together – you can really take off and fly. These are strategy, expertise, accountability, support and coaching. You can find these anywhere, but not always in the same place or wrapped around you as an individual.
Success piece by piece, step by step, is entirely do-able, and I know because I’ve done it. The questions are how hard do you want to make it and how long do you want it to take.
If you’ve been in my proximity for even a short time, you’ll know I’m big on strategy. I’m a huge advocate of getting clear on your strategy, because then everything feels so much easier and you progress so much faster.
With clarity comes confidence and cohesion. And if you’re clear, chances are way higher your ideal client is clear too and your offer becomes a more obvious fit. When you’re clear AND confident, then your offer and working with you is more compelling to them.
With a focused business acceleration plan and support and accountability to execute it, it means you don’t spend too much time on the runway or taxi-ing back and forth or spinning around mid-air!
Ground control level stuff shouldn’t take you more than a month or two, then you’ll want to get up in the air for a flight test. In business terms, that means getting to offer-market fit fast and then refining all the marketing machinery and sales conversion processes to improve things later.
For those of you building a business around your expertise, make an impact, and at the same time earn what you’re worth, there are several stages you go through. Whatever stage of business you are at right now, getting to the next level means there’s more new stuff to get your head around.
My strengths are in strategic planning, strategic marketing, digital strategies, process improvement. I know what works and I understand why.
As I talk about in my book, the dimensions of success are fairly similar for every business, but context, sequence and application vary. We’re all at different stages of our business journey, so not every approach will work for you.
Danny Iny, who I coach with on his top tier ACES business acceleration program is brilliant, and he’s brilliant at metaphors. He uses a simple analogy of origami. Origami always involves folding paper – but depending on the order and direction of the folds you make, you could turn a piece of paper into a boat, a bird or a monkey.
When I’m working with a client, we always start each business plan conversation by talking about the vision they have for their business. That’s like asking what you want your origami to result in. Then we create a strategy that’s provides the execution plan – the steps you take or folds you make – and we make sure we take the most direct and fastest route.
That’s where your customised business acceleration plans come from – the income and impact you want in the long term to live your life on your own terms, that’s your aligning, targeting and positioning. Plus, the short term results you need, that comes from having an offer that’s clear, obvious and compelling for your ideal client.
The areas we often work on are crafting your messaging, honing your skills in the sales conversation, packaging your program and designing how it’s delivered to ensure your clients get the outcomes they want and that you promise. And in some cases, helping you work out how to work with a client in a flexible, agile and blended way.
So you want to be working with someone who’s able to mentor you from offer creation to growth and scaling. There’s little point working on one small piece of the puzzle if it doesn’t fit together properly or take you to the promised destination.
To discover your best strategy for business growth, scalability and sustainability, we need to map out the landscape – your landscape and your ideal clients’ landscape – we’re talking tribes and territories!
You can start by writing down your strengths, your assets and your options, then plan out your strategy from there – that’s your business sweet spot. I talked about this in an early episode, episode 9 I think. (My brain has a head for numbers, so I remember pretty well what episode focused on what topic! Call it a quirk, but it is pretty handy.)
How would it feel to have a 90-day business acceleration plan customized just for your business?
Do you need help to get to a point of clarity on your strategy, your offer and your delivery, and work towards a fully leveraged approach to how you can reach, work with and impact more people?
And then work collaboratively to create an action plan and support with all the mindset and the mechanics of implementing it? Would that be of interest?
I’ve spent almost two decades in the trenches, in e-learning and in education generally, in business development and strategic planning, in corporate consulting and in the network marketing AND internet marketing arenas.
And I’ve been working intensely with entrepreneurs and business owners across a crazy wide range of industries, sectors, niches and with people who are at many different stages of business.
And that’s important because as you start a business, and as it grows, you need new powerful, up-to-date strategies, and you come up against different bottlenecks and barriers – be it mindset, marketing or your underlying money model.
You accelerate fastest when you’re able to brainstorm new ideas, plan out a course of action, and quickly break through barriers and overcome setbacks.
Having a mentor right there beside you is a good strategic decision. When you have accountability, support, and guidance from an experienced mentor and coach, you have someone in your court who believes in you, has your back and fights your corner with you.
You want someone who will also push back, who gets what you’re all about, gets what you want, and helps you create and implement the best business plan for you.
What I help people with is to get off the runway, get your feet out of the sticky tar, to set off in the right direction and fly with the wind instead of against it.
With this in mind, I’m opening up a special door for you to access my Leveraged Business Accelerator. I’m not able to offer a whole group program right now, so I’m giving those who are in my inner circle the chance to go through the program working with me one-to-one.
A few focused hours per week spent creating and then implementing a solid strategy makes ALL the difference.
That investment has a FAR greater impact on your business success than 40 hours per week (or even 80 hours per week) spent grinding away at a bunch of tasks, going through a bunch of courses or resources without strategic purpose, guidance and prioritisation.
Imagine what you could accomplish in the next 90 days if you were clear on all the steps and getting help to execute them effectively. In just one 90-day accelerator, you’ll get more done this next quarter than most people will get done in a year.
Instead of buying more courses, spending time in FB groups, or spending money on high ticket trainings, trying to figure it out yourself, you can join a structured program that gives you a way to create your unique success strategy and get the support to implement it effectively and efficiently.
I’m currently working with individuals in another year-long acceleration program, and people are getting really amazing results. So offering my group program as a 1:1 is what makes sense for my business right now.
It’s a great opportunity for you to get the personalised support you need – whether that’s coaching, mentoring, consulting or implementation help even a bit of tech support at crucial times – all at a group program price.
However, I’ll say this upfront, I genuinely only have 6 places – that’s not some scarcity tactic, it’s just that’s the time I have and any more it would compromise the work I do with each person. And I’m only offering it for December and January starts. I may do it again in April, or I may not.
So, I’m going to share here a quick run through what the program is, who it’s for, what it will do for you. But you can’t just ‘buy’ this.
There’s an application process – don’t worry, it’s not onerous – there’s a short form and we’ll have a conversation, so together we can decide if working with me in this way is a good fit for you, personally, for your situation and your goals. And to do that, we first need to talk about where you’re at with your business, and where you’re trying to get to.
If this is something you want to do, we can get that arranged and I’ll give you the details in a little while. But just to say there’s no sales page or buy now button for this.
And of course, I know I have to say something about why work with me as opposed to anyone else. Because I know there are a LOT of programs you could join and a LOT of business coaches out there. Many of them are truly very good – some focus on mindset, some on marketing, some give you a useful set of templates, some are awesome at this thing or that thing. And there’s a little bit of strategy in each of those for sure. But how do you know what you should focus on? It seems to me, people go chasing after what looks like a prayer and a promise without having that strategic conversation.
BECAUSE of the limit we all have on our time, workload and energy, I want to show you the strategic solution to your productivity and progress challenges!
I remember joining a podcast membership – and it was really brilliant. It did what I needed it to do. I could have read a book or done this training. But at no point did anyone have – or even offer to have – a one-to-one conversation with me about whether starting a podcast was a good idea, whether it would suit me, whether it would attract the right kind of clients to me, whether it was the right strategy for my business, and to grow and scale my business.
And I have to say, I’m really very good on strategy. A little trickier when it comes to our own business though, isn’t it! We all have blind spots as far as seeing what’s holding back our own success or what awesome opportunities are staring us right in the face.
Now just by way of warning, I’m going to toot my own horn here for a moment – you deserve that!
If you’ve followed me for a while or read my book, you’ll know that I’ve been working in education, specifically e-learning for close to three decades, and in marketing and business development, specifically internet marketing and digital transformation) for nearly two decades. I’ve seen all kinds of things come and go, strategies that worked until they didn’t work, and a bunch of stuff that just would never work for a lot of people (who don’t realise why).
So yes, as I said I’m very good on strategy. I’m really proud to say that. And I really care about the entrepreneurs that I work with, which means of course I want to give everyone a strategy that makes good business sense and makes sense for you as an individual.
And that’s probably why I’ve run a very successful consulting practice for over 14 years. Our work is all about strategy: strategic review, strategic innovation, operational improvement and process planning, coupled with strategic marketing and consultative sales.
Most people who are designing online courses don’t have a business strategy for it.
Anyway, what I want to say with all of that is – whatever you need, I can help you with it.
That’s not to say I’m a generalist, I’m not. I specialise in strategy and help people implement great strategies. We work out your goals, your skills, your strengths, your bottlenecks and create a cunning plan to get you the success you desire and deserve.
The leveraged business accelerator program is built upon the same 7-dimensions of success framework I write about in my book and that I’ve been using for many years with my consulting clients, small to medium sized businesses. It’s based on 5 key points of leverage for growing a business.
The 1st is strategy because that gives you the overarching flightpath for where and how you fly. The 2nd is you as the expert, and the other three are marketing, sales and delivery as the fuel, ignition and engine – it’s a flywheel.
The important thing is to understand what your specific flywheel should look like, what you’re best to lean into.
So knowing you can draw on all the different facets of my knowledge, skills and experience, how would it feel to have me working right there beside you.
We spend some time really getting to the heart and soul of what you’re all about, to understand what you want and why it’s important to you, to draw out the challenges and help you move past them, to help you take the fast track in the right direction so you can finally move to that next level income.
And of course, we want progress, growth and success to happen sooner rather than later. A lot of people give up, moments before the breakthrough, because they’re exhausted, feel very alone and don’t know what to do to change the trajectory, move the needle, gain momentum, scale what’s working.
If that sounds like you – then maybe this is your big break, the chance to write a different story. If you decided for whatever reason, that you want your own business, you want to be your own boss, you want that freedom, then I totally get how frustrating it is, to feel like you tried and it didn’t work out. I don’t want that for you.
Let’s change your story to a success story.
Let’s identify your unique success strategy and get to work implementing it, fast.
That means you have to stop with the half-baked ideas, half-in-half-out plans, bootstrapping your business, trying this and that, stretching yourself so thin. Stop trying to do it on your own and you can stop feeling like a big fat failure.
I’m 100% sure you’re great at your areas of expertise but not so great at marketing or sales. Right? If you’re hitting some stumbling blocks on finding leads, making sales to grow your business and want some help with strategy and planning, marketing or sales calls, scaling and growth, then that’s exactly what LBA was designed to help you with.
A business acceleration program needs to be super adaptable to where you’re at and what you need. We work together to understand your goals, your journey so far, where you’re stuck and break through what’s standing in the way.
And we create a 90-day business plan that’s going to accelerate you to the next stage.
You’ll have access to the iSuccess curriculum modules that support your strategy along with weekly coaching/mentoring calls to keep you on track. That way you will have support as you implement the action plan to review how it’s going and work through any sticking points.
You won’t be on your own doing this, you’ll have someone walking alongside you every step of the way.
The program runs in 90-day rounds – you can book just one round, or you can keep going, with a reduction for returning clients. Before the kick off, we start with an in-depth strategy call, take in the long-term vision, agree on the one-year roadmap and then planning out each accelerator plan of action with tightly defined goals that will be the focus for your work.
I work with you every step of the way to review pace, progress, outcomes – looking both generally how you’re feeling it’s going, and tactically how it’s working out, so you won’t get stuck and make good progress.
At the end of the 90-days, we do a review and decide how you want to move forward. Either you’ll be on the way to flying solo or you decide to book another 90-day accelerator to ensure you keep momentum, keep progressing and keep growing.
As I say, we offer reduced pricing for returning clients. You also have the option to join ACES, which is a year-long program we partner with, where you have the added support of a whole coach team, experts, training, resources, courses, masterminds and our thriving community of ambitious, inspiring entrepreneurs – from those starting out to those with multiple six-figure businesses. Either way, you’ll be in great company.
So that’s the opportunity. And it’s important to understand it’s all about …
Meeting You Where You’re At
Which of the following most fits where you’re at? (If you’re kind of in between choose the one that most feels right for now.)
- You’re at the start of a new business venture and need help to clarify your offer (because you’re spinning around with too many ideas and can’t figure out what’s best)?
- You’ve researched and tested your idea, but need help to package the offer and get it out to market (because you’re not good at marketing or copywriting or funnels etc)?
- You already have a sellable offer and clients, but have reached an income plateau and can’t work out how to move beyond it (because you’re already working too many hours)?
Here’s a rough outline of how the Leveraged Business Accelerator works
For each stage, we focus on getting to the next stage. (That may take one or more rounds depending on your starting point.)
CLARIFY What You Do, for Whom and Why
– align your purpose with your target audience and what they need and position yourself to meet them where they’re at with your CORE CONCEPT.
(People don’t generally stay in this accelerator for more than one round, but sometimes there can be mindset issues to work through that take a little while longer.)
PACKAGE What You Do, and How
– turn what you do into an irresistible offer and promote it as a branded ‘signature’ high-price program that delivers results through your EXPERT SYSTEM.
(Some people may stay in this accelerator more than one round, because they need time to build an audience or do outreach or improve their sales skills.)
SCALE What You Do, and for How many
– identify operational processes you can systematize and scale with a mix of automation, outsourcing and team building to create capacity for SUSTAINABLE GROWTH.
(Some people stay in the accelerator a while, because there’s always the next level of income, influence and impact to work towards.)
The goal is to focus on a 90-day acceleration plan that moves you forward in a tangible way depending on your starting point – increased leads, increased sales, increased leverage, increased performance, increased profitability, increased energy, increased fulfilment.
In other words, together we identify, create and implement a strategy that has a real impact on the growth, scalability and sustainability of your business. You can’t expect to do ALL that in one strategy – but you can do it through good strategic planning and action taking.
When you put strategic clarity, focused activity and accountability together, you get better, faster business growth.
And that’s it, my big announcement and your big opportunity to get your business acceleration plan underway. And you can learn more about the whole iSuccess approach under the Academy menu at the top here.
Happy to answer any questions on a call.Â
I’m extremely excited to be able to offer you this – I’m committed to the success of everyone who is ambitious and hardworking. So hopefully, this feels like the right time to take action and stop going it alone!
Til next time, ciao ciao!Â
