This one is for all the business people, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, creators, makers, and dreamers, who are figuring out how to start a business, build an agency, or just what to do next in their business development. 

How have we been around for seven years but you’re likely just hearing about our work, our mission, and our message? It’s because when many people start, they spend years working in their business and not working on it.

But it’s difficult to work on your business when you are responsible for the tactical work (products, goods, and services are being produced by you). 

You put blood, sweat, and tears into creating a “thing” and yep, then you are the only one who knows how to do it that special way. 

Originally, this first blog was supposed to be about the greatest lessons learned in entrepreneurship over the past seven years. 

But, I believe every lesson I’ve learned has brought us to this moment, where we’ve been able to scale Thrive over the past two years and the many tips, tricks, and “wish I had known that” moments that have come along with that. 

So my tips for scaling could be for an agency, an author, an earring designer, a new restaurateur, or just about anyone who has already taken the leap and wants to grow.

Here are my 7 Tips To Scale Your Marketing Agency:

Develop a trusted circle of advisors.

Here is the real deal that every successful entrepreneur needs to know: your friends and family cannot be your sole sounding board and source of advice.

Oftentimes, they are too emotionally tied to your business and its success. Find people who have experience in: 

• Your Industry 

• An area where you have a weakness

• An area where you have a strength 

• The lifestyle that you aspire to live (for me it’s work-life balance while still having optimal career success)

I always say, ask not – have not! You’d be surprised how many people are willing to sit with you, meet with you monthly, and support your vision with their real-life experience. 

Document your systems!

If anyone, even an intern, was to come in and work with your digital marketing agency – do they have a point of reference, not only in the “what,” but also in the “how.” Take some time and write down all of your “how-to’s.”

I took time and leaned on resources to start documenting our operating procedures and how we function and operate on a day-to-day basis. 

Documenting processes like client engagement, email communication, and even email signatures can be the key to making or breaking your team’s success. 

There are plenty of free tools like App Tango that can help you get started.

Understand money.

More often than not, scaling and growing an operation will increase overhead and require more of an investment in the business.

So do some work to more deeply understand your business finances, get them organized (if they aren’t), hire a CPA or accountant (this will be worth every single dollar), and understand the landscape of grants, loans, and what makes sense for your business.

You have to spend money to make money. Commit yourself to this area. It will be critical to sustainability and success. 

Sometimes you have to step back to scale a business.

Our team is the tightest it’s ever been. Be open to adopting a new business or team model. You may have to cut back in order to make strategic investments or hires.

For us, we transitioned from a team primarily led by part-time employees to a team led by full-time employees, but we produce more work. Again, tap, tap, tap into resources! I didn’t do this alone . . . I credit so many voices and think tanks to where we’ve been, where we are, and where we are going. 

Be picky & purposeful with people.

When they say “you’re only as strong as your team,” it’s true. Be intentional with who you train and trust. A business in its beginning years has a lot to gain and a lot to lose.

Consider your hires and collaborators as recruits to build a winning team of people with the necessary skills but more importantly, values and core principles. I’m telling you, the latter – values and core principles are make or break! There are many types of entrepreneurial journeys, so make sure you have intention behind yours. 

Let perfectionism pressure go.

Kick it out of the window. If you have never scaled or expanded an organization, just accept that there’s no real handbook, no real map, and no real guarantees. Give yourself the grace, space, and pace to continue to re-write the rule book! 

Be the boss & teammate you always wanted:

Embracing new systems, processes, partners, and people can transform the day-to-day dynamic of your organization, business, or agency.

Therefore, before you start, get clear about what your core values are and what kind of experiences you want to create for all of those who collaborate and/or work with you.