The Business Millennials Podcast

2.12 - The Hidden Cost of Quick Wins And Why Most $500K Businesses Stay Stuck

• Ashley Dreager • Season 2 • Episode 12

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In this episode, we dive deep into the critical transition phase businesses face when moving from startup hustle to sustainable growth. Through the example of Emily Ley's Simplified Planner journey, we explore how successful businesses evolve from bootstrapped beginnings to luxury brands. Our hosts discuss the crucial differences between quick-win strategies that work in early stages versus the strategic approach needed to scale beyond $500K. 

Key Takeaways: 

  • Quick wins and "throwing spaghetti at the wall" strategies can work up to $500K, but scaling beyond requires intentional, data-driven decisions
  • The importance of documenting and understanding exactly what's working in your business before attempting to scale
  • Success at higher revenue levels requires systematic approaches to marketing, sales, and operations working in harmony
  • External perspective becomes crucial as businesses grow to identify blind spots and maintain objectivity
  • The value of perfecting and refining existing successful strategies rather than constantly seeking new solutions

Timestamps:

  • 28:37 - Introduction to Emily Ley's Simplified Planner success story
  • 31:04 - Discussion on the importance of strategic vision from the beginning
  • 36:05 - Signs that indicate the need to shift from quick wins to strategic planning
  • 41:15 - The trap of investing in courses without implementation capacity
  • 46:27 - Framework for getting strategic: assessing current state and planning future growth
  • 51:01 - Deep dive into sales funnel vs. marketing funnel distinctions
  • 55:08 - The importance of external perspective and objectivity in business growth

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Intro:

Welcome to the business millennials podcast. This show brings you strategic insights through raw and unfiltered real world advice to accelerate your business growth for longterm success. I'm Safa Harris, and I'm Ashley Drager. We're the founders of scale and thrive co a full service marketing and business development firm, helping visionary companies scale sustainably. Expect us to have the uncomfortable conversations that no one else is having. We'll break down what it really takes to grow and scale your business beyond six Seven or even eight figures, as well as inspiring interviews with diverse leaders across marketing, product development, sales, and more via fly on the wall as we conduct strategy sessions with business owners, experiencing issues such as plateaued income, burnout, and generally dropping the ball, giving you the tools and resources to break through your own roadblocks, but also personal development methods to grow you as a balanced conscious leader amidst business growth. Let's jump into this week's episode.

Ashley Dreager:

Okay, so have you been following Before the Mems

Safa Harris:

This is

Ashley Dreager:

drama on TikTok?

Safa Harris:

pajamas, right?

Ashley Dreager:

Yes. Yeah.

Safa Harris:

So, I have not been following it like like you have. I We saw the stuff you sent me and of that, well, let's get into it. And then I'll add my little thing of like, you know what? I'm not too surprised about it. I feel

Ashley Dreager:

So I, for background, I had These creators, um, these accounts were not on my radar at all before they launched this brand. So this is, this is my first impression of for the mums. Um, I think their names are Samantha and Cecily or the, the founders behind it. Um, but I thought it was, uh, I think that it would be a very good conversation from a business perspective versus just like the consumer's perspective, which is a lot of what we're seeing right now. Going out on Tik TOK is from the consumer's perspective, but taking a look at it from a business perspective, from launching, from launching a startup, essentially building a startup is really what they were putting out there on their, uh, Would you consider it an apology video? I don't think it was really like an apology video, but it was like a trying to course correct.

Safa Harris:

apology videos are like those non apologies that people do. This is like, say, Oh, we

Ashley Dreager:

Yeah.

Safa Harris:

Like, no, like. you didn't. You just wanted to, without saying you actually apologize, that you actually, without saying

Ashley Dreager:

Yeah.

Safa Harris:

admitting you were at fault, like

Ashley Dreager:

Yeah, yeah, so. Yeah. Everything but. Um, but from, from establishing a startup business and building it from the ground up It is a lot of work. It is difficult. And there are a lot of factors to consider. And I think that what we're seeing right now with this example is just how much there is to consider and how many different aspects of a business need to be factored in during the building phase, the planning phase, and then the actual launch of the product, because we're seeing it really from. The full cycle right now, all at once, which I don't think most consumers usually get that type of perspective when it comes to startups. Um, so I have a lot of thoughts on this and I've noticed a lot of things. I'm just curious if there's anything that was really like standing out to you that

Safa Harris:

a

Ashley Dreager:

you wanted to touch on before I get into the marketing side of

Safa Harris:

Yes.

Ashley Dreager:

what I would have done different.

Safa Harris:

on like the business building side of it, and I think this actually links really well in my perspective of it to our planned episode. So I don't know the Samantha person. This is not a creator I haven't familiar with at all, but certainly I did know I came across something of hers that was like very mom. uh, and then I followed her for a little while and it was very Normal influencer like get ready with me. This is what's kind of going on and then Uh, there were a couple of times she went viral for eating in the grocery store um before she paid like she was like I'm so hungry I'm getting like sushi and she went viral a couple times over it And she was eating it in the store before she paid for it But then she like paid for it at checkout and a lot of people were like, oh my gosh Uh

Ashley Dreager:

Like when you open a bag of chips or something and then you pay for the bag of chips. Got it. Okay.

Safa Harris:

I'd do it for

Ashley Dreager:

I was like, produce? I don't know. You can't,

Safa Harris:

Yeah, because

Ashley Dreager:

you can't weigh that out. Yeah.

Safa Harris:

Uh,

Ashley Dreager:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Safa Harris:

so she went, uh, viral a couple of times, like, negatively in that way. And then before the launch of this, which I thought was going to stop the launch, that she was going to pull back the launch after this, because she lost it. Huge, a huge amount of followers, um, because she was bragging about going to Disney World in the middle of Hurricane Milton evacuation. She was going to Disney World in Orlando and that was the strip that like Milton was tearing through. Like Orlando was really fine, Disney World just closed, but that's like, it went across the street right there. When you. I was a part of that evacuation. It was like, and just, we evacuated from Tampa to Orlando and even in the hotel room in Orlando. Um, I don't know if I sent you the recording of like, in the middle of the night, how, like, how loud it was even in the hotel room. It was bad. So she got a ton of backlash of being like, people are literally losing their homes and you're bragging about taking your family into the eye of the storm. So just, she got that backlash out of, of being out of touch. And that's kind of what I had noticed myself in her content was she was, Going to be that person that's like super relatable, whatever it may be. And then she ended up in a position where she's like no longer relatable, but she was still kind of talking in like, I am this relatable person. It's like, well, no, you're not. Because now you're talking to like two different, what your business is as an influencer, either like super relatable and people are like, I see me, or they're like, this is fascinating. Like what is up with these?

Ashley Dreager:

Mm hmm.

Safa Harris:

What's going on with like, how do they have this much money? Like, how are they living like this? And she was like transitioning

Ashley Dreager:

Yeah.

Safa Harris:

as she was like building her. and she do a good job of that transition. So you could, so over time she started getting more and more controversy, but that's kind of like the backstory on her. Like I said, I know nothing about the other creator. I am a huge fan of like influencer brands. I think it's a great way for, You to have like a good established audience that knows you, that trust you, you spent that time, like years and years and years of building that up. And it's a great, great, arena to be able to launch a brand into. a lot of influencers are either winging it and they did really great. And they Figure it out. They're rolling, whatever, but then they launch a brand and everything like that. And what works to get them to that point is not going to work for them going into business and actually making sales and then sustaining that business. even if they were making some kind of money or anything like that, it's really small. It's a couple of people. Maybe they have like an editor or whatever like that. And even if they're making big money, they haven't really needed to manage anything. Bigger because they've been smaller. Um, and it's been like simpler and then they bring in a brand and they're adding in all of these big elements and they haven't necessarily gone through. The learning curve, the pains or having to build a foundation. And because they get a huge influx of sales, they have to have that infrastructure ready to go. You, they can't just like build the plane. While it's in the middle of the air, like they don't have the luxury to do that because they get sales immediately because of the audience. so it

Ashley Dreager:

Mm hmm.

Safa Harris:

like, hardcore ready to build a brand and have it ready and have a strong foundational business from the jump, just because they've had that launch pad. And I think in, if we're talking to. A good comparison if we're talking to the service provider coach online space of what that would be It's like someone that's like made it far to multi six figures, high six figures by just like, taking messy action, because I know that's like a, a good little word in the space of like, Oh, take messy action. The messy actions gotten them this far, the influencers, the messy actions got them this far. And then, and now they're in a position where they're launching a big brand. They're getting big sales and they just cannot make it happen the right way because they don't have the foundations in place. And. I think it's even larger of a gap for an influencer than a service provider or a coach because service provider coach have had to go through some kind of delivery, some kind of operations and things like that. And for an influencer to go into

Ashley Dreager:

Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm

Safa Harris:

that's a whole new model that they haven't been able to baby step into. And you got to, you're gonna go in with like, that level of sales, that level of marketing, like, at the get go, and you know it's gonna convert, you better have it on lock.

Ashley Dreager:

hmm. Especially clothing. Clothing is, I hear one of the hardest industries to be successful in. So to launch a clothing brand without all of those foundations and without doing all of that work and just kind of like trying to messy action your way into that industry, I think maybe what we're seeing a lot of in this example, I mean, obviously we don't know all of their backend, their planning. We haven't been part of their conversations, but.

Safa Harris:

Well,

Ashley Dreager:

the front end, the execution from what we've seen.

Safa Harris:

I don't think the planning was there just because someone on Reddit was able to hack all their systems by just using the business name as

Ashley Dreager:

Oh, I heard about that. Yeah.

Safa Harris:

they definitely didn't have, like, a passport vault.

Ashley Dreager:

Two factor authentication. Yikes. Yeah. That's a, that, that was, that was really rough, So when, when I first came across this, I think I sent you a text. I, I sent you the video and I said they needed a marketing team, a PR team. There was a,

Safa Harris:

Like, you

Ashley Dreager:

like two other departments. I was like, they need the whole. Yeah. Operation. They need the whole thing. So just some of the. Pieces that I wanted to touch on. The price point was a really, really big sticking point for a lot of people. That's really what like captured everyone's attention. 98 set of pajamas. But when they said that they were going to lower the price, but they wouldn't make a profit on it, everybody freaked out. And I was like, well, okay, well, hang on, because we don't know. All of the costs of their business, right? Like they could legitimately not be making a profit if they sell these at 75 versus 98. It depends on what their expenses are, right? I mean, given the, the cost of being, I think this came out to like 9 for the actual pajamas, but the cost of goods sold is not the only factor in your profitability. I mean, that's a big. Like portion of it, but your profitability factors in all of your expenses. And we can get into that in more detail. I know we've had past episodes on, on the financials of business and stuff like that, But if we're going to be selling 98 pajamas, the rest of the experience needs to come along with that price point. The price point isn't just about the product itself, and the product being delivered. It's about the experience, the ordering process, the customer service. Literally from start to finish, your price point needs to be in alignment with what you are giving, and what you are being perceived as, too. Your customer.

Safa Harris:

back to where I was talking about her transition from trying to be someone that's super relatable, moving into someone that's like, now she's like more lifestyle and things like that, and she's doing all that. So, even if her perspective, because I 100 percent believe that her perspective is like, oh, 90 a set of pajamas isn't so bad. Like, Because that's what arena she's in. And like, that's where her mindset is. And, but she's hasn't really adjusted her online persona necessarily that way, even though, because it's a personal brand, it's clearly leaking in and her perspective being like, Oh, 98 said Sarah's pajamas is fine of, I think that's normal. Um, but if that's not what your audience. ready for that's not what they're hearing. That's not the messaging, anything like that. And you've switched into this higher realm and there's that disconnect. That's what's going to happen. Um, because they need to, you need to make sure you're aligning all of that. And if that kind of market research was done as part of launch and doing the pricing strategy and things like that. There's absolutely a way to do it at a lower price point and still be profitable, but that means there needs to be other changes. And if you are going to be like, no, I am super, super committed to having XYZ quality. It has to come from XYZ. It has to look like this. It has to be, the business needs to be exactly this way. That's fine. But then you need to make sure that all of that, and if you have to price it at that point, you need to make sure. That your audience is there and it's not, you need to be spending time changing that.

Ashley Dreager:

exactly. So on the quality, that is, in my opinion, not in alignment with the price point that they were. Even at 75, um, I don't think that the quality is there. It's, so people ordered, so I, I did not order anything myself. So this is all.

Safa Harris:

Mm.

Ashley Dreager:

But when people got the, the, their set in the mail, the fabric is very sheer. So you can, you can basically see through it. Like if you're wearing dark undergarments with this basically white with like blueprint on it is, is one video that I saw. You can see through to the undergarments. And if the whole point and the whole purpose of these is for you to take. Pictures with your family. These are for like, for you to create the memories,

Safa Harris:

Oh,

Ashley Dreager:

you have to wear something underneath. Yeah, it's, I had, I had to read, I was like, I don't know. I, I thought it was supposed to be for the moms and they were just had to play on

Safa Harris:

Oh,

Ashley Dreager:

moms. What? They spel it weird.

Safa Harris:

or

Ashley Dreager:

for the memories.

Safa Harris:

That's Okay.

Ashley Dreager:

Yeah.

Safa Harris:

got

Ashley Dreager:

So

Safa Harris:

That was like a huge

Ashley Dreager:

Yeah.

Safa Harris:

been a great campaign.

Ashley Dreager:

Right. So that's what, and I didn't do a lot of like research on their pre launch stuff. I think that there was a very big missed opportunity for that, uh, brand awareness leading up to the launch, building the hype, et cetera. So,

Safa Harris:

else

Ashley Dreager:

um,

Safa Harris:

gone a lot better if they had done all of that, but

Ashley Dreager:

Yes. Well, that's why this needed to really be launched well before. November. Like, this should have been in the, like, Mm

Safa Harris:

I think every a lot of people got their Christmas Like card pictures Done like august.

Ashley Dreager:

hmm.

Safa Harris:

and ordered.

Ashley Dreager:

Yeah. It took me a long time to realize that people did their Christmas pictures, like, here in, in Washington. Like, a lot of photographers do those in, like, September. And I was like, oh, no wonder because I am always miserable doing them in December because I Do everything last minute and then we're all in these like dresses Outside in December and it's like 35 degrees No, yeah, so this was like

Safa Harris:

yeah

Ashley Dreager:

like timelines Four launches are super important, especially when you're launching something for the very first time. There is no established audience. There is no established customer base for the brand, the product, et cetera. You're building all of that. This needs to be factored into your launch timeline. So, but back to the quality, I don't think that it's there. I personally wouldn't want to spend a hundred dollars on a set of pajamas where there's also a tag that says made in China right under like The main tag, like not, I'm not, nothing against products made in China. I'm sure the majority of the stuff that I have in my house was made in China. Like it just, it is what it is, but I don't want that to be in that big tag right there when I'm spending a hundred dollars on it. Um, times now we have five people in our house, so 500, right? I mean, maybe the infant set isn't a hundred dollars, but anyways, um, Then, the, the fulfillment of it. So, this creator ordered a set of pajamas, got them, there was no, sizing guide on the website., To me, that's the basics. Like, you have, if you're going to be selling clothing, you have to give a pricing guide. They also don't accept returns. Or there wasn't a return policy or some, there was going to be an issue with return. So it wasn't like you could just buy it and then like exchange it. Cause you're guessing on the sizing. Um, so she ordered an extra large and her set, she got an extra large top, but a three XL pant even, but you have to, it's a set you can't, you're not buying the top and the bottom separately. Like you're buying an extra large set. But the tops and the bottoms were different sizes, but the bag that the pants came in said they were an extra large. So now there's an issue on their backend for fulfillment in packaging and, all of, all of those operations. So not only do we have marketing issues, We also have fulfillment issues. We now have customer service issues, because if you're going to the website, you're trying to buy this on your own. You can't try these on. There's no store, right? Obviously this is an online business. Your customer experience is your website and any sort of interaction they have with people on the team within the business, right? So, And, the product description said, I don't see your face. The product description said that it came with white pearl buttons, because it was like a button down top. They were, like, blue, like, Circle buttons like, you know, the ones with like the four dots that this they were they were like they match the same blue So I it wasn't like blatantly obvious, but if I'm reading this I'm like, oh my gosh It's so cute. It's gonna come with pearl buttons. And it's like just like plain blue ones. It'd be like, oh, that's not

Safa Harris:

part of a christmas carol, too So it's like, it's, they should have

Ashley Dreager:

Maybe so and that now there's quality control issues with Product descriptions and what you actually have on hand. Maybe there's a different set that has pro buttons versus the blue buttons. Um, so I think I, yeah. So. Well,

Safa Harris:

And we're like, Oh, we're successful online business owners. We can figure this out. And they. The situation between the two of them. I'm sure they worked really hard to put it all together and make it happen, but they did not spend because they weren't in a position to start small. They. Needed to invest up front in expertise, people that had done it before in the strategy and everything like that, because they were going to just be huge the minute they launched and they were like, Oh, we know we're going to make sales. We'll just, let's just like build it and they will come. well, they came and they were not happy. So that did not work. like at that point, if you're that big already, you cannot just like wing it anymore. Literally what it sounds like. It sounds like what if six years ago, when I first got into business and I launched store. Website and like DIY that myself and did all of that on my own and we're just like, okay Let's just get it live get it done. Whatever it is I'm sure that's how it would be and it would have been fine because I would have been Gotten the kinks out in my first like 10 sales to people that know me.

Ashley Dreager:

In the, in the defense of DIYing it, I don't think that that Would have been as detrimental if the price point was aligned with a DIY experience.

Safa Harris:

Yeah.

Ashley Dreager:

I don't know if you got to look at their website, but the, the product photographer, they didn't, there isn't even product photography. Like the products are essentially Photoshop, like the background is Photoshopped out, everything is wrinkled. Like it wasn't laid out straight. It's just like a flat 2d picture. If you are trying to position this as a luxury brand, they need to be on models. They need to be on people demonstrating there needs to, it needs

Safa Harris:

they can afford it. Like we can afford a

Ashley Dreager:

product photography doesn't need to be expensive. Yeah.

Safa Harris:

You can afford it.

Ashley Dreager:

DIYing it there, there's an experience with DIYing it. The price point just needs to be in line with it. Like if the, if the price point was in line with. Uh, more budget friendly brands,

Safa Harris:

I feel like

Ashley Dreager:

like large box retailers.

Safa Harris:

max, 40,

Ashley Dreager:

Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm, mm hmm.

Safa Harris:

have been, I've gone along with like her relatability stuff. If there was like a little bit of snafus, whatever may be like, sounds great. Like it was very much like I'm bootstrapping my business type of situation in a. Place where like, I feel like they weren't aligned with the bootstrapping of business arena, as far as how many sales they were going to make, what they were positioning it as, because I honestly feel like based on, I was like, Oh yeah, we can totally sell it. It's great. Whatever we need to just do it this way, but it's everything really does need to be in alignment, especially when you're playing in larger fields and larger audiences. Because like you said, like DIY is a certain experience and then especially if you're starting out and you have a smaller audience and you're figuring it out and then you like ramp up. And then you get into a higher price point, more luxury, whatever, and your audience grows with you in that way and evolves and you've secured your messaging and you've made that changes and they've seen that evolution and they're still there with you. Like, that's And then it can be like, Oh, I remember 12 years ago when we were like this scrappy little thing. A perfect example of that is, um, Emily lay and her simplified planner. So, she, I actually, I think I started following her in like 2014, and she was still, she was like still a bigger name, her, I think, planner and everything was maybe in like the 45, 50 range. range at that point. Um, and it was like a, it's like a high end. She has like good spirals. She has some like leather bow. It's like heavy paper. It's like a very strong cover. She does, um, the car cover designs. She has like these. Design she does. And then she'll bring in like signature ones for each of her launches. And it's a limited run, very exclusive. And she's like, she prints with gold foil, all of it. And her whole marketing and thing was like, Oh, I'm simplifying the planner with like nice, it's like this is all the things you need and that's kind of what she leaned into and then It was a personal brand where she's like i'm a busy mom because she went Through like IVF and had twins and everything like that. And this care, just all through this online journey with launching the planners. But now her planners are like 90 and have all these accessories and she's in target and all of this stuff. And she has books and all of those kinds of things. And she has like, so now they're simplified like the planner company and it's like running on autopilot. And then she has her personal brand. Where she's like, don't you like this jeans that are and like my skin care type of thing. And then her business is kind of running and it's like a whole separate brand and she's barely face of it except for like product shots and things like that. But when she first, first started, and I want to say it's like 2007, 2008, like way back. Um, she started off as a printable.

Ashley Dreager:

Oh,

Safa Harris:

Yeah. Yeah, and, um, and I think the first one that was like printed and like shipped, um, was like a binder.

Ashley Dreager:

Oh, really? Wow. So look at the stages of that growth. Yeah.

Safa Harris:

she was like, yeah, it was 12 bucks. And she was like, it was me and my husband and we were going through IVF and I was doing all of these things and You were getting, this is what it looked like. And she's like, now look at it. And so she obviously went through the stages of having that very basic, small brand, and then like went through the evolution. And there are people still that are still buying her planners to this day. That started off at those lower price points that are now paying for her pens and her hat and her planners. And they do it every year at 90. And she's still doing the limited runs and all of those things. And she's adding more product lines, but. Outside of like her little bubble, nobody recognizes her logo, but people are still buying her hat and all of those things because she took her audience and grew them and nurture them and brought them from like a ragtag bootstrap to, Hey, yeah, now this is like a luxury high end brand and we do really nice things. She brought in the reasoning and all of those kinds of things and like, she evolving through them. it's definitely possible, but she clearly took the time and the effort and all of the strategy that needed to happen to get her all the way through to that point. And I think that is the biggest part where it did happen. They went wrong of mixing the DIY bootstrap, relatability, marketing, content, business structure, quality, all of that. With where they really want to be is the luxury brand and all of that. So one or two ways you need to either go all in over here with being a lower price point, go that way and then move up to luxury where you want to be. Or if you're going to go in high end over here and want. be a certain way. You, have to like pay to play at that point.

Ashley Dreager:

So I think this is a great segue into the core of what we wanted to talk about with the rest of this episode. Um, but with the planner example, that's where you like, you have to have the strategy and the vision.

Safa Harris:

Mm-Hmm.

Ashley Dreager:

From the beginning, because I think a big difference here was that she knew where she wanted to take this, but she knew what the limitations or what the constraints were at the beginning or in that moment and knew how that step was, what that launch was, what this phase was, how she was going to build on that the next time and the next time versus. Saying, either. I want cash now. I want to get this going and I want this to be successful today. What's the fastest way to get cash today versus what are we doing today? And how is that going to impact me three years from now?

Safa Harris:

Mm-Hmm.

Ashley Dreager:

completely different approaches. And that's where a lot of the quick wins or the fast cash, the quick solutions. That's where the downfall of those can come into play.

Safa Harris:

Yeah.

Ashley Dreager:

that's going to be the approach that you're going to take. Yeah.

Safa Harris:

Because a quick win is gonna get you something very specific in this moment, and it might be. What's causing you pain right now, but it's not actually going to give you a great sustainable long term solution. And what the sustainable option and the long term option is looks different for what stage of business you're in because, like I said, there's a time and place for quick wins. And I think if we're talking, hey, you're. kind of the early stages, you're like 250 to like 500. I think there is much more space for quick wins. There kind of stack and stack and stack and put those tiny wins together and really bootstrap rack tag hustle put it together to get you to 500 and then when you're hitting 500 and you're trying to hit 3, 000, 000. a whole nother ballgame because there's just so many more pieces into play at that point. if you're and you're still doing the win, quick win, quick win, get the momentum, hustle, hustle, hustle, put it all together, like, figuring it out and just being scrappy with it, you're, you're gonna, You might get something, but it's not going to be something that lasts forever, or anything that's going to be able, that you're going to be able to build on to get to that three million, or even million, or past, because what I've often seen is they'll get to 500, and they'll maybe make it to six or seven, and that seven is really where things start to fall apart, where that's where it starts getting busy.

Ashley Dreager:

I think I often hear it as just kind of like throwing everything out there, casting that wide net,

Safa Harris:

Oh,

Ashley Dreager:

seeing what you can bring in this. Yeah, exactly. And because I can't tell you how many clients I have talked to. where, you know, we're, we're, we're building out their strategy and I'm asking them, you know, what have you been doing? What's working for you? And they basically come back saying they don't know. They don't really know what they did that got them there. It just kind of happened, which is awesome, but that's not going to keep You can't build upon that. That's not sustainable. It's not repeatable. So, you know, that's where what you were saying, once you get to that 500, 700 income level, that's not going to get you, that same thing isn't going to get you to 3 million. We have to, you have to be strategic. It's, you have to be paying attention to those small details and be very, very, very intentional with what you are doing to get you past that point.

Safa Harris:

I think maybe we talk a little bit about what that failure looks like and what it feels like. So like what says, hey, oh yeah. I need to like buckle down and be like, Hey, being scrappy, getting to this, to this point got me this far, but this is my signal and my sign that I need to. Stop, pull back, and then go into more of a strategic approach.

Ashley Dreager:

Yeah, so I think Some of the signs that would be a good indication that That's the point that you're at in your business. I think three things really come to mind like three overarching Areas, so looking at financial Transcripts Signs, your time or capacity, and then, um, operational or maybe even opportunity costs.

Safa Harris:

yeah.

Ashley Dreager:

So I guess four. Well,

Safa Harris:

like, is like, I'm busting my butt, I'm doing everything that I've ever done, I'm trying all the things, Yet I can't budge or move this needle forward. Like I'm super frustrated. Like everything sucks. I'm super tired. I'm working all the time. And if you have a team, it's like, a team, but I feel like I'm working more than ever. And that I've done before is not working or it's keeping me where I'm at. Like, why can I not just break this? And why am I? So busy. And I know I only need my business to be busier, to break the 500 and go into that higher level. So, where all of that comes from, like, those emotion and feelings are coming from what you mentioned, like, the financial, the time, and the opportunity and operational costs, um, because I think the time costs really do come from an operational perspective, and then the opportunity is really, like, and like marketing and everything collides and the financial is like, that's like the biggest thing that's going to kill you. So, just breaking it down and looking at just financial costs. It's because if you're throwing your spaghetti at the wall and you're trying everything and you're doing all the strategies and you're doing all the tactics and you don't know which one of those is working, There's going to be Leaky bucket. There's going to be ones where you're spending money, time and effort, and it's costing you money in either lost sales or in effort or in team costs, whatever it may be, you're putting resources behind it's not giving you a return and you don't know where that is, where you could be taking that. And putting it towards what is working and really doubling down there. And then that could possibly take you over the edge, because if you're putting more attention in one focused area that you know works, and then you're spending the time doing the smaller strategies and really tweaking and refining and taking it there, that's what's going to get you there. Because it's, it's. Spaghetti at the wall gets you to zero to 500 because you need to just try it all out. You try the big quick win strategies, you see what works, you double down on that. And then if you want to go 500 to 1 million, whatever it is, you find what works and you perfect it and you tweak it. And another part of that, and we'll get into that is getting everything pointed in the same direction. It's like refining and perfecting and all the efforts in the same place. But far as like the financial costs is like, you're putting money in places that don't necessarily need money going to. And that could be in terms of where you're putting their resources, but that could also be in like, oh, but let me invest in this course. Let me invest in this coach. Let me invest in this. Let me invest in this new strategy. Let me try this. Let me do that. Let me pivot. Let me X, Y, D. Oh, someone told me they need 500, 000 in one launch from doing X, Y, B. Maybe that's the ticket for me. So that's. Wasted, lost money, and also time and effort doing that and trying all that. And then you're confusing your audience and you're doing all of these things, you're losing money doing that. Because if you have a confused audience, they're not going to buy from you. They're not going to understand what's going on. You're going to lose them halfway. You're not actually taking any strategy all the way through you've spent Put again these resources for your team and everything on there and you've lost money on that in that again cost because Put time, effort, money there. Your team is confused. And then they're getting burnt out and annoyed. And they're like, can you stop pulling me in 10 different directions?

Ashley Dreager:

I was, I wanted to add on the, the courses and the programs and the coaching. A lot of people feel like they're doing something. When they invest in those, they feel like it's going to, like it is productive. They are moving things forward when in reality nothing is happening until it's being implemented. And if you don't have the capacity to implement it, if you don't have the foundations to be able to implement whatever you're learning in the course, whatever the program is teaching. Everything still stops with you. It just stays in your brain. It's not going anywhere. It's not moving you forward. It's not moving the business forward. You need to have the foundations. You need to have the strategy. You need to have the systems and the processes. You need to have the implementers, the integrators to be able to do it because at that point at that level of business, it can't just be you anymore. You need to have people supporting you. It is now bigger than solopreneur, freelance, one to one.

Safa Harris:

Because it's scaled. It's huge. It's bigger. It has a bigger

Ashley Dreager:

Mm hmm. Mm

Safa Harris:

even Before you get to that point, it's like, is that what your business even needs? Is that even the solution for you?

Ashley Dreager:

hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm

Safa Harris:

right, that you're listening or anything like that, there has to be, discernment on, is this the one thing that my business needs, because like I said, you can do. Bigger hand wavy solutions at a lower level, but you've done all of that stuff already now. It's time to be smaller and more specific and more and that's why you need to know exactly what you're looking for and what the solution is going to be and where your gaps are and where your strengths are. the gaps to double down on your strength, um, and I think a good example to kind of really understand what I mean with that. If you know your email marketing kills it, you put out launch emails and you convert like, you know, email marketing is like your thing. So now you're like, I know I can do launch emails. know that this works. So how do I make my 3 percent conversion rate a 5 percent conversion rate? What strategies do you do there to get that? Because 3 percent to 5 percent that's going to make a huge difference. In your revenue and pushing you over from three, five, six, seven, right? And you're like, okay, well, it's time to AB test. Let's see what works better. And then we double down there. You test and refine and get better. And it's even smaller increment incremental changes. And I think is a lot, this is the reason why a lot of our content is always, well, it depends if you're feeling these things, it could be this, but All of these other things depends on it. And then it's also like, okay, well, what's the strategy? But like, well, it also depends on where you're at and all of those things, because at that point, past the 500, it needs to be nuanced. It needs to be smaller. It

Ashley Dreager:

hmm. Mm

Safa Harris:

Large movements are just not going to get you the results that you're used to anymore.

Ashley Dreager:

hmm. You've already done the low hanging fruit, and the generally giving tips is gonna be the low hanging fruit. Oh, you want to increase your revenue at email marketing. That's a low hanging fruit. You've already been doing that. Now we need to be more specific within that tactic within that aspect of your strategy.

Safa Harris:

So now, you know, you know that like, okay, I can't just do the basic strategies. The next other strategy. I really need to. Know my business. See what's going on. Identify strengths, weaknesses, and gaps. really close the gaps. strengthen. strength and then either bolster or figure out or like use weaknesses to your advantages Okay, so that's what I need to do. So like, how do I do that? What do I go from here? Like what now? Quick, easy little framework, well, not easy, but a quick, uh, little framework to kind of work through your mind. It's like, okay, what do I need to do from here? So one is going to be get strategic and getting strategic always starts with like, okay, where am I today? What exactly

Ashley Dreager:

Mm hmm.

Safa Harris:

in my business today in all the arenas? operations, marketing, sales, finances, Like, what

Ashley Dreager:

hmm. Mm

Safa Harris:

state of each of those the good, bad, the department, good, bad, and the ugly? Okay, and then where do I want to go, knowing that that's where everything is, and like, what can I do to do that? And that's going to be your strategic plan. And you're going to take that and

Ashley Dreager:

And

Safa Harris:

this is where I'm going and that's how I'm going to get there.

Ashley Dreager:

a note on that. This isn't something that you're just thinking about in your head. Like this, this should be an actual time blocked. You're sitting down, documenting, pulling numbers, referencing actual data. This isn't, uh, you know, let me just think about my strategy on the drive to go pick up my kids. Like, no, this is,

Safa Harris:

Mm hmm.

Ashley Dreager:

this is, this is a task. This is your homework. Do this at home. at the computer that you can go back and reference time and time again, because you're going to have to reflect on it at some point. You're going to have to review the progress or the growth

Safa Harris:

Yeah.

Ashley Dreager:

the next 90 days.

Safa Harris:

so you've assessed your entire business, you know, where you want to go and what opportunities are available to you in your To make that happen, or what you need to bring in, and then you need to start actually integrating all of that together. So, if you see a change in your vision, or your plan, or whatever it is, you are making sure all of the pieces in the different departments are working together. So you're like, because usually when you're at like 500 K at that point, you already kind of have your messaging down, your offer suites pretty locked in. You, you know what your marketing is, um, what's working, um, and what's not working messaging wise. And if you're at that point and you don't, you, You need to figure

Ashley Dreager:

This is your sign.

Safa Harris:

this is your sign. You need to figure out what your what the good stuff is in your offer. What the good stuff is in your marketing and what is the good stuff in your sales that's converting? Like what like the money makers and like what's happening? And the way you're going to do that is you're going to start pulling numbers. And if you're not tracking your numbers, As it is, like, you better, like, get a to go back like three years and pull your numbers if you haven't been doing it, like, and start looking at it and then from there, you're going to start looking at, okay, I need to up my revenue. This is my offer. What is my marketing is bringing in. Those leads for that offer. What can I amplify in my marketing? That's working to bring in more of those leads. Where can I refine perfect? all of that to make sure that that's coming in and bringing it in. And then marketing is getting you leads. You just don't, you got to convert them. How are you converting them? What's your sales process? Do you know what converts your lead? What part of your funnel is doing that? makes them ready to buy? What is it like? You got hot leads. are you actually getting their money? And this is not just like, Oh, make sure your CRM is set up and like people have an easy way to pay. No, this is like, actually, you're getting your leads in top of funnel. And how are you moving them? For another day. Disclaimer. There's two different funnels. There's a marketing funnel that goes then it goes into a sales funnel. It's two different things. If you get them through your marketing funnel, you still have to get them through your sales funnel to conversion. Come back again later for that.

Ashley Dreager:

Cause marketing is not sales. All the marketers are going to be like cheering. It is not the same. They work together.

Safa Harris:

So marketing, bringing your leads and you're getting them through your marketing funnel. What your sales funnel? What is your sales process?

Ashley Dreager:

Mhm.

Safa Harris:

you getting those leads through there? What's working? What's not working? And where are you losing them? And where are you converting them? So again, you start. Amplifying there and you start refining and getting it even better. And you start getting those conversions. Like I was talking about before, from 3 percent to 5%, because that's, what's going to make the difference. And then you start documenting because at some point you can't be doing all the sales calls. You can't be doing all that. So you need to be thinking about scalability because if it's setting on, it's like, oh, well, I convert them when I'm on the call. Sarah, are you going to be getting on 80 sales calls? Because you want to

Ashley Dreager:

Mhm.

Safa Harris:

million a

Ashley Dreager:

Mhm. Well, the call in and of itself also has a framework. It has a process. Like just, just because in your mind, it's. I get on the call and I sell them. Okay, but If like you said if somebody else is going to be doing that for you What is that process that you're taking that lead? From at the beginning of the call working them through to the end That gets you that yes So Mm hmm Mm hmm Mm hmm

Safa Harris:

okay, cool. I'm getting a whole bunch of leads. I've like refined that and amplified it. Like I'm converting them. Okay. Well, can you actually deliver what you sold? Are you able to operationally handle that volume? Is your business ready to be able to handle all of that? And what needs to happen to make it so? And a lot of that is going to be who's doing what, what's going on with the team, what the structure is, what tools and systems need to happen to create that space in your business for you to actually Accept these leads and accept these sales and be able to deliver on that. And then it's not just the delivery aspect of it, because now you have all of this internal stuff going on too. That's not just like, Oh, I'm going to create some content. It's like, no, I'm creating content that I'm testing and I'm refining and I'm getting really specific on, and I'm doing more of that and I'm refining it. And then next quarter we're doing this and this and this, and you need the support to do it. Because you're playing in a

Ashley Dreager:

Mm hmm. Mm

Safa Harris:

whatever.

Ashley Dreager:

Yeah. And so to tie this back to the, for the MEMS example, from the beginning of the episode, this is, we're having an external support team member system, whatever it is, somebody outside of the like day to day to give you that objective perspective so that you don't. Miss things that are very easy to be missed when it's you, because your business is so close to you that it's really easy to miss and to not be able to see the bigger picture to be able to see everything outside of your, your perspective of it. Right. Um, so that's the first thing. And then two, The fulfillment aspect. I mean we're You can easily see yes, you could get that far but if you don't fulfill you're gonna lose everyone you're gonna you you're gonna lose that client and it's Cheaper to keep a client and keep a customer than it is to acquire a new customer. So, you know, like I said, it's, it's really easy to miss that bigger picture when you are trying to do everything yourself, when you are trying to be that strategic leader within the business without having a sounding board, without having anyone to just kind of double check that you've crossed your T's and dotted your I's.

Safa Harris:

where you're in

Ashley Dreager:

so we, I mean,

Safa Harris:

and you're just like, and you're like

Ashley Dreager:

yeah.

Safa Harris:

just like, oh my gosh, like I have no idea. What is happening? I'm so overwhelmed. Like

Ashley Dreager:

Mm hmm. Mm

Safa Harris:

trying literally everything I'm doing everything. And I am just Like it's

Ashley Dreager:

hmm.

Safa Harris:

to just. Be the big picture. It's hard to step back and be objective and do that current state assessment.

Ashley Dreager:

Yeah, exactly. So we, we can be your external objective

Safa Harris:

Very objective. tell you what you don't want to hear.

Ashley Dreager:

We offer free audits. We, yeah, we are not, we won't, we're not going to sugarcoat it. I mean, we're not going to be mean about it, but,

Safa Harris:

It's very

Ashley Dreager:

you know, if we see something Mm From the external of your business. Obviously, we're not going to have access to the inside of your business, uh, with this offer. Um, but we will take a look at everything, look at what your challenges are, what you think your challenges are, where you want to be and give you that action plan, that audit of everything that we are able to see that you provide to us and give you that step forward, that path forward to break past. the plateau that you're in or to be able to take more intentional action to get out of the weeds.

Safa Harris:

yeah. So the audit really kind of us a high level insight into all the different aspects of the business and kind of where you are seeing point. And what you are trying to achieve and getting all of that kind of sussed out, we're able to be like, Hey, you know, we actually see opportunities here, here and here. That's going to solve opportunities. Situations X, Y, and Z, and we recommend that this is your 1st step. So, like. Start working in this direction, so it's a really good. Way to get some clarity, especially when you're just overwhelmed, burnt out and in this fog of like, I see 10 different paths in front of me. Where do I go? We come in with this objectivity of like, okay, cool. is what you got going on. This is what's happening. This is what you want. Like, this is going to be like your greatest impact point. Go here 1st of thing.

Ashley Dreager:

Yeah, so that's, if that's something that you're interested in, check the show notes, uh, because we'll have that linked for you there.

Outro:

And that wraps up another episode of the business millennials podcast. We hope you found this conversation, thought provoking, inspirational, and helps you make a larger impact with your business. Growth is not just about profits or revenue. It's a journey of personal development, contribution, and bettering ourselves in society. Our challenge for you take at least one key lesson from our time together today that you can apply not just to your business. But your relationships, creative expression, wellbeing, and personal evolution to, we appreciate you tuning in. If you enjoyed this show, we invite you to pay it forward, share it with an entrepreneur, creative student, or community leader who needs an infusion of insight or inspiration right now. And make sure to subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. So you never miss a single episode. And if you like what you heard, leave us a five star review. See you next week.