Do Things That Effing Scale
“Do things that don’t scale.” -Paul Graham
Worse. Advice. Ever…
Depending on the stage and size of your business, this mentality could spell disaster. The further along your business is, the less this applies to you.
Yet it’s something ALL entrepreneurs struggle with. We’re ADD. We focus on the things we like doing, or worse yet, the ones that are easy. We write the blog posts, share on social, make flyers, cold-call customers…
That’s called a job, not a business. If you’re essential to your company, you’re an employee, not an entrepreneur. There is nothing wrong with that. If you’d rather be self-employed, that’s fine.
But founders building next-level, fundable, scalable businesses CANNOT be a critical cog in the business. If you are, you throttle growth, innovation and profit. And your business will NEVER be saleable, or fundable.
Unscalable is often necessary
Actually, Paul Graham’s pretty smart. In the early days, grinding is the ONLY thing that gets you going. And often, it’s the strategy that sets you up for success (even if it means playing dirty — more on that here, and how to take advantage of platforms).
But once you’re beyond the scrappy startup stage, beyond clawing for every ounce of progress (anything to survive), you need to think bigger.
You need to think scale.
But scaleable isn’t always smart
There are lots of strategies to build and grow a business. Most revolve around acquiring customers. It’s money in versus money out, and you need MORE.
From a scalability perspective, outside of paid ads, social media’s one of the most explosive growth channels. Where else can you reach thousands or millions with your brand’s message, seemingly overnight?
But despite the fact that Instagram and Pinterest are almost infinite, they aren’t a good fit for me. I know almost nothing about the platforms, they aren’t targeted to startups and entrepreneurship, and take a ton of effort to get right.
And while I’m a fan of spray and pray (see this post for why), it depends on how much the bullets cost. Experimentation is key. Constantly test to see what works, and what doesn’t. And wherever possible, have your team/tools do the testing for you.
As a founder, your time is incredibly valuable. NEVER forget that.
Protecting your time
So, what do you do, and what do you delegate? Better still, automate… And then, there’s the things you kill entirely.
We’re all familiar with the Pareto Principle: 20% of effort yields 80% of results, etc… I won’t rehash that here, or outline how to kill unproductive initiatives. (Instead, here’s a great article for that to optimize yourself/work).
As an entrepreneur, your resources are limited. So are mine.
And whether you’re an entrepreneur or solopreneur (which I am personally), you need leverage. So, let’s talk leverage.
Automation for impact
I coach founders and CEOs of world-positive businesses. I help leaders 10x results, acquire customers, scale faster, fundraise and fine-tune their startups/organizations for exponential growth. As such, I’m in the service business. It’s all about attracting clients, but how?
As a one-man shop with a few VAs (virtual assistants), I have to automate and outsource to be effective. And I write a lot. You’re reading this blog, aren’t you? But where, that’s the question?
My team reposts from mattward.io to Medium and Linkedin, creates video versions for Youtube, and cross-promotes on Hackernews and Facebook groups.
We use If This, Then That (IFTTT) to automatically post to Twitter, Instagram and Reddit. It also creates a Tumblr version, schedules things on Buffer, and more… all without me having to do a thing.
I just write (mostly).
And then, there’s email marketing. Founders optin for my growth hacking guides or perfect pitch deck formula, and receive weekly emails of my best stuff, all to help them explode their businesses.
And almost all of it is automated.
Get my free 15 Step Growth Guide to Acquire and Retain Customers here — no opt in needed!
Don’t automate/outsource everything!
One of the biggest mistakes CEOs make is outsourcing core competencies. If it drives the lion’s share of your business, keep that close.
If you’re running a CPG ecommerce company, you better be good at advertising. Reducing your CAC (customer acquisition cost) and increasing LTV (lifetime value) are the two biggest drivers of success. This is especially true with generic/commonplace products or services (like the 7-figure ecommerce company I built — it was ads or oblivion).
So, what is your USP (unique selling proposition)? (Not sure… See this post)
Is it originality? Customer service? What about incredible design and branding?
Whatever it is, own it and optimize it. Capitalism rewards extreme excellence. You don’t have to (and SHOULDN’T) do everything.
A few examples:
Shopify helps sellers start selling faster, and easier.
AWS handles your hosting and storage.
Slack simplifies accepting payments.
If there’s an existing solution, DO NOT build it yourself. We’re living in the world of microservices. Zendesk, Zapier, those obnoxious chat interfaces… it’s easy enough to get up and running.
And while that’s awesome, it also spells increased competition. When it took $5M in funding to spin up a server farm, startup opportunities were limited. Today, entrepreneurs are more empowered than ever… how will you stand out amongst a crowded field?
The risk of scaling
“Quantity has a quality all its own”
Bigger isn’t always better. If fact, when most organizations try to scale, quality takes a dip. Pixar produces a couple blockbusters a year, not a couple hundred… And if you’ve ever listened to a daily podcast, they’re not as polished as the less frequent publishers.
As you increase output (or team size), things change. Some of that’s inherent, some’s unfortunate.
There is one thing to remember: What is your USP?
Does scale amplify or erode it? That’s the question. And, where is that equilibrium/optimization point?
How far can you push the envelope before things tip towards unfavorable?
Things to scale
You should scale anything that builds your moat, or a flywheel for your business.
A few examples:
Content creation
Youtube drive the bulk of your visitors (and customers)? Consider doubling down on. As the “top of the funnel” content, it creates an (often) evergreen flow of visitors and traffic.
Twice as many videos, twice as many views/visitors… right?
Not so fast. Often, it’s exponentially better. More videos increases your chances one goes viral. Plus, Google rewards consistent content creation with increased search exposure and recommendations.
It could go from being a stream to a storm.
Content promotion/cross-promotion
Steven Spielberg without syndication would just be a bum with a camera. Unless you’re working to share with the world, the world ain’t listening.
How can you leverage existing channels and social platforms to spread your message and repurpose content?
If you don’t, no one else will… at least initially.
Advertising
If your CAC < LTV, spend as much as you can.
Even at breakeven, building a larger customer base increases the likelihood of referral (here’s a great referral strategy to boost virality). And, if your product/service has network effects (here’s how to design virality/NFx in), feeding your flywheel means faster long-term growth, better results and more profit.
Product lines
Run an ecommerce company? The fastest way to increase revenue and profit is simply offering additional products to your existing customers.
Of course, you need to be careful. Creating shitty products or scaling too quickly often leads to major issues (quality or cashflow), but in general, additional options lets you to serve additional customers and increase LTV of your existing ones.
Closing thoughts
What’s working in your business? What isn’t?
And what haven’t you tried because you’ve been too busy putting out fires?
Do things that scale, and scale yourself in the process. It’s the only way to build an epic company.
Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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About the author
Matt Ward is a multiple exit entrepreneur, growth and strategy consultant, startup advisor, ex-tech investing and futurism podcaster that helps impact-driven startups and businesses change the world faster. If you are interested in learning more about Matt or possibly working together, please feel free to reach out here:
