Stop Being Broke. Get Busy.

Summary

• Scaling the unscalable can make you a ton of money.
• Many are leaving money on the table by not leveraging their competitive advantage.
• Just because something seems impossible to scale doesn't make it unscalable.
• People often think they can't scale personal, hands-on efforts like handwritten cards or one-on-one calls, but with time and systems, you can.
• I learned sales by doing 4,101 closes in my gym business, not through formal training.
• Your first aim should be to get busy—don't be broke and not busy.
• When starting out, doing the hard work, including low-ticket sales calls, teaches you more than it earns you.
• Engage with your customers directly to understand their pain points and what features they value most.
• By starting with the most expensive, personalized service, you can later scale down to more automated, do-it-yourself options.
• Successful scaling involves first solving the most difficult customer needs and then systematizing these solutions for more mass-market approaches.
• Small businesses have an advantage by being able to do what's "unscalable" for large corporations.
• Pursue the hardest solutions first because they'll teach you the most and establish a strong market position.
• Use direct feedback from customers to refine your product and messaging continually.
• Take the time to do personal, unscalable efforts initially to build loyalty and gather critical insights.
• Once you find what works, create systems and frameworks to scale your business efficiently.
• Always use what you have as your first rule of entrepreneurship; don't waste your current advantages.
• Move from one-on-one to group interactions as you grow to maintain high levels of engagement while scaling your output.
• Be prepared for hard work and management debt until you can afford to hire the right people.
• Look at scaling as a gradual process where you continuously learn, adapt, and implement better systems.

Video

How To Take Action

I would suggest implementing the following strategies to grow your business and personal development effectively.

1. Get Busy With Hands-On Work:
   Start by engaging directly with your clients or customers. If you’re offering a service, don’t hesitate to do the unscalable things like personalized messages or one-on-one calls.

   • For example, make 1-on-1 calls or send handwritten thank-you notes to learn about their needs and preferences.

2. Learn Through Doing:
   Practice makes perfect. Dive into sales or customer service yourself to learn and understand what works and what doesn’t.

   • Like I did in my gym business, close a lot of sales personally to get good at it.

3. Ask Your Customers the Right Questions:
   Use direct feedback to refine your product or service offerings.

   • Ask them what single feature they value most and which one they wouldn’t miss if it went away.

4. Start With High-Touch, High-Value Services:
   Start by offering the most personalized, hands-on version of your service. This will help you understand the intricacies of your business.

   • Once you perfect it, you can streamline and create more automated, scalable versions.

5. Create Systems After Learning:
   After you understand what works, start building systems to replicate and scale those actions.

   • For example, if you start with personalized onboarding calls, move to group onboarding sessions when feasible.

6. Utilize Your Competitive Advantage:
   As a small business, your ability to offer personalized, high-touch services is your edge over larger companies.

   • Utilize this to build customer loyalty and gather valuable insights.

7. Incremental Scaling:
   Don’t worry about scaling right off the bat. Focus on delivering exceptional service first and scaling step by step.

   • Move from one-on-one to group interactions and then to fully automated systems gradually.

8. Use What You Have:
   Always leverage your current resources and advantages effectively before looking for new ones.

   • If you have time, invest it; if you have money, look for the best ways to use it to buy more time or skill.

By following these steps, you'll gather valuable customer insights, build stronger relationships, and gradually create systems that allow you to scale effectively.