Stop Being Broke. Get Busy.

Summary

The speaker emphasizes the importance of scaling businesses by tackling what seems unscalable, sharing insights from his experience in exiting nine businesses and building a $200 million portfolio. He argues that the inability to scale is often due to a lack of skills rather than impossibility, and encourages entrepreneurs to engage in direct customer interactions to learn and improve their offerings. The video offers tactics to scale by starting with high-value, 'done for you' services and progressively moving to more scalable, 'do it yourself' models, ultimately advising viewers to embrace the hard work of the early stages to avoid financial stagnation.

Takeaways

• 💰 **Scaling the Unscalable**: The speaker emphasizes the importance of not overlooking seemingly unscalable aspects of a business, as they can often be scaled with the right approach and resources.
• 💡 **Skill Deficiency, Not Unscalability**: The concept that something is unscalable is often a result of lacking the skills to scale it, rather than an inherent limitation.
• 🤔 **Starting Small, Thinking Big**: Entrepreneurs should start with what is manageable and scalable given their current resources, but always keep the bigger picture in mind.
• 📈 **Learning Through Doing**: Engaging in 'unscalable' activities like one-on-one customer interactions can provide valuable insights and learning opportunities that can inform business growth.
• 📝 **The Power of Personalization**: Personal touches, such as handwritten cards or personalized messages, can be powerful in business, even if they seem unscalable at first glance.
• 🔑 **Cultural and Training Investments**: Scaling a service business involves investing in culture and training, which are key to handling growth while maintaining quality.
• 🚀 **Leverage and Resources**: As a business grows, the ability to leverage resources, such as hiring additional staff or investing in technology, can help scale previously unscalable processes.
• 📈 **Incremental Scaling**: Scaling often involves incremental steps, starting with a basic version of a process and gradually improving and expanding it as the business grows.
• 🔄 **Adapting and Evolving**: Businesses must be willing to adapt their strategies and processes as they grow, recognizing that what works at one scale may not work at another.
• 💼 **The Swamp of Entrepreneurship**: The speaker describes an early stage in business where one must work multiple roles due to limited resources, which is a necessary phase to build up to a scalable model.
• 📱 **Technology as a Scaling Tool**: Even in a world of automation, personal touches and direct communication can be more effective and are examples of scalable personalization.
• 📈 **Sales to Fulfillment Continuum**: The easier a product or service is to sell, the harder it is to fulfill, and vice versa, indicating a need for balance in how businesses approach their offerings.
• 🏢 **Small Business Advantage**: Smaller businesses have the advantage of being able to do things that larger businesses cannot, such as highly personalized services, which can be a key differentiator.

Q & A

What is the main concept discussed in the video script?

The main concept discussed in the video script is 'scaling the unscalable,' which emphasizes the idea that what may initially seem unscalable can often be scaled with the right approach and resources.

Why does the speaker believe many businesses are leaving money on the table?

The speaker believes businesses are leaving money on the table because they are not utilizing their single largest competitive advantage, which is often the ability to scale processes that they currently perceive as unscalable.

What is an example given in the script where someone thought their business process was unscalable?

An example given in the script is a woman in the fitness industry who thought outbound sales, which requires people, was unscalable. The speaker argues that it's not the process that's unscalable, but rather a lack of knowledge on how to scale it.

What does the speaker suggest is the real issue when people claim something is unscalable?

The speaker suggests that the real issue is not that something is unscalable, but rather that people have a 'skill deficiency.' They lack the skills or knowledge on how to scale the process in question.

What is the speaker's view on the importance of doing 'unscalable' work in the early stages of a business?

The speaker views 'unscalable' work as crucial in the early stages of a business because it allows for learning and skill development. This work can provide valuable insights into customer needs, preferences, and the most effective ways to serve them.

What is the 'sales to delivery continuum' mentioned in the script?

The 'sales to delivery continuum' is a concept that suggests the easier something is to sell, the harder it is to fulfill, and vice versa. It highlights the relationship between the marketing and delivery aspects of a business.

What are the two frameworks introduced by the speaker for understanding business scalability?

The two frameworks introduced are the 'sales to fulfillment Continuum' and the 'done for you, done with you, do it yourself pyramid.' These frameworks help to understand the dynamics of selling and fulfilling products or services and the progression from fully serviced to self-service models.

What advice does the speaker give for businesses that are struggling with scalability?

The speaker advises businesses to start by doing the 'unscalable' work themselves to learn and understand the process deeply. As they gain insights and resources, they can then look for ways to semi-privatize or systematize the process, thus scaling what was once thought unscalable.

What is the significance of the 'done for you, done with you, do it yourself pyramid' in business strategy?

The 'done for you, done with you, do it yourself pyramid' signifies a strategic approach to business where one starts with offering high-end, fully serviced products (done for you) and gradually moves to less hands-on services, eventually offering do-it-yourself solutions. This approach helps in establishing a strong brand and allows for scaling.

What does the speaker mean by 'use what you have' in the context of entrepreneurship?

The speaker means that entrepreneurs should leverage their current resources, skills, and advantages, even if they seem small or limited. This includes doing 'unscalable' work to gain insights and build up to scalable solutions.

What is the speaker's recommendation for new or small businesses regarding the approach to selling their products or services?

The speaker recommends a top-down approach where businesses start by selling the most expensive, high-end services (done for you) and then move down the pyramid to offer less expensive, more scalable solutions (done with you and do it yourself).

Outlines

00:00

💰 Scaling the Unscalable for Business Growth

The speaker emphasizes the importance of scaling processes that initially seem unscalable, such as personalized customer interactions, as a competitive advantage. They share their experience in business, having founded and exited nine businesses, with the last one being sold for 46.2 million dollars. The speaker argues that many entrepreneurs leave money on the table by not leveraging their largest competitive advantage. They provide examples, like a fitness business owner who wanted a more scalable acquisition system but was resistant to scaling outbound marketing due to its labor-intensive nature. The speaker challenges this mindset, suggesting that the issue is not with the scalability of the task but with the entrepreneur's skill in finding a scalable solution.

05:01

📈 Learning from the Market: The Path to Scalability

The speaker discusses the concept of learning from the market as a crucial step in business growth. They argue against the notion that certain business tasks are inherently unscalable, instead suggesting that it's a matter of developing the right skills and strategies. The speaker provides actionable advice, such as engaging in direct customer communication to understand their needs and pain points, which can lead to product improvements and better marketing strategies. They also introduce two 'magic questions' that can help identify the most and least valuable features of a product from a customer's perspective. The speaker encourages entrepreneurs to embrace the 'unscalable' tasks in the early stages of their business as these efforts will pay off in the form of customer insights and business growth.

10:02

🚀 From Unscalable to Scalable: A Journey of Business Evolution

The speaker shares insights on how businesses can evolve from handling tasks manually to automating and scaling them effectively. They recount the story of a business owner who started by writing handwritten cards to customers and eventually scaled this personal touch to a system that still maintains its impact even with high order volumes. The speaker emphasizes the importance of not dismissing tasks as unscalable due to initial limitations in resources or skills. Instead, they advocate for a mindset shift where entrepreneurs see the potential for scaling through learning and adapting. They also discuss the importance of starting with the most efficient process possible and leveraging personal interactions with customers, even when scaling up, as a way to maintain a competitive edge.

15:03

💼 Navigating the Swamp: Incur the Right Kind of Business Debt

The speaker introduces the concept of 'management debt' as a consequence of not having the right people in place due to financial constraints. They explain that this leads to the business owner having to take on multiple roles, which seems unscalable. However, they argue that this is a necessary phase that every business goes through, which they refer to as 'the swamp.' The speaker advises entrepreneurs to focus on the type of debt they want to incur, suggesting that it's better to start with a more personal and labor-intensive approach that can later be scaled with the right systems and processes in place. They also caution against trying to implement scalable solutions too early, as it can lead to inefficiencies and lost opportunities for learning from the market.

20:04

🛠️ Frameworks for Scaling: Sales to Delivery Continuum and Pyramid Approach

The speaker presents two frameworks to help businesses understand and navigate the scaling process. The first is the 'Sales to Fulfillment Continuum,' which suggests that products or services that are easy to sell are usually hard to fulfill, and vice versa. The speaker recommends starting with the most expensive, 'done for you' services that are easier to sell but harder to fulfill, as this maximizes revenue per customer and sets up the business to develop systems for scaling. The second framework is the 'done for you, done with you, do it yourself' pyramid, which advises a top-down approach to scaling services, starting with high-end services and gradually moving to more affordable, self-service options as the business grows and systems are established.

🎯 Scaling Insights and Business Lessons

In the final paragraph, the speaker wraps up their message by reiterating the importance of scaling the unscalable and encourages entrepreneurs to get busy doing the work that leads to growth, rather than staying broke and inactive. They offer a video that breaks down more business lessons from their 13 years of experience, suggesting that there is more in-depth knowledge to be gained for those interested in further understanding the intricacies of scaling a business successfully.

Keywords

💡Scaling the Unscalable

The concept of 'scaling the unscalable' refers to the idea that what initially seems impossible to scale can often be made scalable with the right approach and resources. In the video, the speaker emphasizes that many businesses leave money on the table by not leveraging their largest competitive advantage, which is often an unscalable process that could be optimized. For example, the speaker mentions a fitness business that could potentially scale its outbound marketing strategy by hiring and training more people, thus transforming an initially unscalable process into a scalable one.

💡Competitive Advantage

A competitive advantage is a characteristic or attribute that a business possesses, allowing it to perform better than its competitors. In the context of the video, the speaker argues that businesses often overlook their single largest competitive advantage, which could be an unscalable process that, once scaled, could significantly increase revenue. The video encourages viewers to identify and leverage these advantages rather than dismissing them as unscalable.

💡Service Business

A service business is a type of business that provides intangible products, such as services or experiences, rather than physical goods. The video script discusses the challenges of scaling service businesses, particularly when they involve personal interaction or customization. The speaker uses the example of fitness coaching to illustrate that service businesses can be scaled through hiring and training, which is a process that requires culture and training to be effective.

💡Skill Deficiency

Skill deficiency refers to a lack of necessary skills or knowledge to perform a task or achieve a goal. In the video, the speaker suggests that what many people perceive as unscalable is actually a result of their own skill deficiency, meaning they lack the knowledge or ability to scale a process. The speaker argues that with the right skills and resources, even seemingly unscalable processes can be scaled.

💡Handwritten Cards

In the context of the video, 'handwritten cards' is an example of an unscalable process that the speaker argues can be scaled over time. The speaker tells a story about a business owner who started by writing handwritten cards to every customer and eventually scaled this process by having other people write the cards, maintaining the personal touch while increasing scalability.

💡Revenue

Revenue refers to the total income generated by a business from its business activities. The video discusses the importance of scaling processes to increase revenue. The speaker uses his own business experiences and the experiences of others to illustrate how scaling initially unscalable processes can lead to significant revenue growth, such as his last business exiting at 46.2 million dollars.

💡Customer Onboarding

Customer onboarding is the process of integrating a new customer into a business's products or services. In the video, the speaker argues that even though onboarding might seem unscalable, especially if it involves personal interaction, it can be scaled by creating systems and processes. The speaker suggests that doing the 'unscalable' work of onboarding customers personally can lead to longer customer retention and more referrals.

💡Pain Points

Pain points are the problems or difficulties that a customer experiences, which a business can address with its products or services. The video emphasizes the importance of understanding customer pain points to improve a product or service. The speaker suggests asking customers what feature is most important to them and which one they would least miss, providing insights into their pain points.

💡Sales to Fulfillment Continuum

The 'sales to fulfillment continuum' is a concept introduced in the video that explains the relationship between how easy it is to sell a product or service and how hard it is to fulfill it. The speaker uses this concept to advise businesses on how to approach scaling, suggesting that starting with easier-to-sell, harder-to-fulfill services can help develop systems and processes that can later be used to scale the business.

💡Done For You / Done With You / Do It Yourself

These terms represent different levels of service provision in a business model. 'Done for you' refers to a fully outsourced service, 'done with you' involves a collaborative approach where the business guides the customer, and 'do it yourself' provides the customer with the tools and knowledge to perform the service independently. The video suggests a top-down approach, starting with 'done for you' services and gradually moving to 'do it yourself' as the business scales.

💡Management Debt

Management debt is a term used in the video to describe the situation where a business doesn't have the right people in place, often due to financial constraints, and as a result, the business owner has to take on multiple roles. The speaker warns that this can make a business process seem unscalable, but it's actually a matter of resource allocation and prioritizing the right hires to scale effectively.

💡Leverage

Leverage in a business context refers to the use of various types of advantages or resources to increase the potential for success or growth. The video discusses the importance of leveraging resources, such as hiring additional staff or investing in technology, to scale processes that initially seem unscalable. The speaker uses the example of buying iPhones for staff to handle customer service at scale as a form of leverage.

Highlights

The speaker emphasizes the importance of scaling processes that may initially seem unscalable, arguing that many businesses leave money on the table by not leveraging their largest competitive advantage.

The concept of 'scaling the unscalable' is introduced, challenging the common belief that some business aspects are inherently unable to scale.

A fitness business example is given to illustrate the misconception that outbound marketing and personal interaction cannot be scaled.

The speaker argues that the inability to scale is often due to a lack of skills rather than an inherent limitation of the business model.

The importance of starting with a scalable mindset and being willing to adapt and learn is highlighted.

The story of a successful business that started with handwritten cards for customers and scaled the personal touch is shared.

The idea that businesses should not skip steps in their growth, such as avoiding one-on-one customer interactions, is discussed.

The speaker suggests that doing the 'unscalable' work in the beginning can lead to valuable learning and business growth.

Two frameworks are introduced: the Sales to Delivery Continuum and the Done For You/Done With You/Do It Yourself Pyramid.

The Sales to Delivery Continuum suggests that easier-to-sell products are harder to fulfill, and vice versa.

The Done For You/Done With You/Do It Yourself Pyramid is a strategy for scaling services by starting with high-end, full-service offerings and gradually moving to more self-service models.

The speaker advises starting with a high-priced, full-service offering to maximize revenue and set a strong brand position.

The process of developing standard operating procedures (SOPs) from high-end services to create scalable, productized offerings is explained.

The benefits of starting with a top-down approach to business scaling, beginning with high-value services, are discussed.

The speaker shares personal experiences and examples from successful businesses to illustrate the effectiveness of scaling the unscalable.

The importance of not being 'busy and broke' but rather focusing on doing the right work to generate income is emphasized.

The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to apply these lessons to their own businesses and to avoid common scaling pitfalls.

Transcripts

what I'm going to talk about in this

video is not fun but it's going to make

you a ton of money and I'm going to

explain why so many of you are leaving

massive amounts of money on the table

right now and not using your single

largest competitive advantage and these

lessons have come hard-earned from years

in business I've founded and exited nine

businesses my last one at 46.2 million

bucks our current portfolio is over $200

million a year and I make these videos

so that you can make money and the big

concept I want to talk to you about is

scaling the unscalable and I'm going to

give you some big tactics at the end of

this video after I explain why it's so

important why everyone gets it wrong and

so just because in the beginning you

can't see how it's going to scale

doesn't mean it's impossible to scale I

had this girl come up to me at an event

ages ago and she was in the Fitness

World obviously because that's where I

was and she said I do outbound for my my

business and we do $30,000 a month um

but I want to have a more scalable

acquisition system and I was

like why can't you scale outbound and

she was like well I mean it requires

people and I was like welcome to

business

baby like how how do you think you're

going to scale the deliverable if you

had Fitness coaching I was like people

is Fitness coaching unscalable no you

hire and train people welcome to the

service business which is culture and

training that's service that's how it

works and the fact that you don't know

how to do it is what makes it unscalable

not that physics disproves the ability

to scale onboard boing or scale

handwritten cards like unless you can

prove physically that it's impossible

that gravity exists differently in your

world then it's not unscalable

you have a skill deficiency it's unskill

that's what it is it's not unscalable

you are unskilled enough to scale it I

remember when I was in weight loss I

would have a lady who would walk in and

uh and she would say something like hey

uh I don't want to lose too much weight

right or I'd have a guy and this is

probably the more common one they'd say

well I don't want to get I want to look

like you like and I'm like don't worry

you never will but the point is is they

would look at me and say I don't want to

get bulky like you you have too much

muscle I don't think that looks good and

I'm like you know you're not going to

wake up tomorrow and just be jacked as

and have trained for 20 years right

it's not going to happen there's going

to be a million days in between and at

any point you can say I'm just going to

stop here I'm going to try and maintain

but the thing is is that people try and

say that they don't want the extreme

version of a solution so they're not

willing to do take a step in that

direction and so the same thing happens

from a deliverability perspective they

say hey you know what if I do it this

way I'm not going to be able to hit $100

million a year this isn't scalable but

the thing is is that you're not even

making money right now and you're

talking about scale you're talking about

how you're not going to be able to fit

in your clothes and you haven't even

lost weight you're talking about how

you're don't want to look too bulky but

no one even knows you work out right now

because of how you look and so the same

thing in business is that like sure you

think and here's the here's the real

real is that when you start you don't

have context and you don't have

resources so with your current set of

resources the unscalable thing looks

unscalable because you have no help and

you have no money and you have no

leverage but good friend of mine Andy

forella he has first form they do

hundreds of millions of dollars a year

in Revenue when he started the business

he started writing handwritten cards to

every single person who bought their

products now in the beginning you'd be

like you're the owner how could you

write handwritten cards to every single

person that buys the product that's not

scalable Alex but guess what

he still does it today and they get a

zillion orders a minute at this point

but what did he do well in the beginning

he was writing the handwritten cards and

over time he just signed the handwritten

cards and then finally other people were

writing the handwritten cards and the

gesture still held and so the thing is

there's a there's a 2.0 3.0 version that

can still check 80% of the boxes that

you learn from the unscalable solution I

got on the phone this last week with a

recent founder who exited exited a

fintech company for $2.5 billion some of

you guys who saw my story um I've been

trying to talk to people in that space

so if you don't do know somebody in Neo

banking uh payer processing uh who had a

big exit uh please hit me up I'm trying

to learn some stuff uh for one of our

portfolio companies but anyways he was

saying hey it's all about the unscalable

and he and I had this great chule about

this that so many business owners are

unwilling to do the heavy hard work the

one1 calls the talking to customers in

the beginning because they say it's not

scalable but there's always a version

that presents itself two three steps

down the road because you have the money

and the skill to be able to say hey what

are the key components of this of this

thing that can make it scalable and so I

would encourage you if you're starting

the business and let's say you're

selling because I'm obviously in the

school Community right and so I see

people who are trying to sell a a $20 a

month community and they're like well I

don't want to hop on the phone for a $20

month sale also first off guess what

genius I was in the the large Fitness

World brick and mortar what do you think

gym memberships sell at do you think

they have a person selling it at the

front desk sure as they do guess

who it isn't the owner and they can

still scale that process and so again

the idea that things aren't scalable is

ridiculous now sure you're not going to

be able to take 20 calls a day in the be

you know at scale but you're currently

making

zero so what the are you doing all

day you can't be busy and broke pick one

right you're either busy and you're

making money because you're doing the

right stuff or you're broke but you got

plenty of time like you can't have both

problems and so if you're broke get busy

and do some of the unscalable stuff and

that means hopping on the calls with

customers that are below your ticket

price but guess what that happens is

that you're learning more from them then

you are earning from them and that's

okay because you're going to learn the

pain points they're suffering from

you're going to learn the the hooks in

the messaging that matter most to them

you're going to learn how to alter your

product and your offer in a way that

makes it convert at a higher percentage

you're going to learn The Things They

Don't Care by the way you want have two

magic questions here's some Pro tips for

you the first thing you ask a customer

is you say hey if I were to eliminate

all of the things that I have in my

feature set except for one what would it

be and they'll tell you and if you ask

100 people you'll get by far a power

ranking for what matters most in terms

of value for the core deliverables you

have now you can also ask the second the

inverted version of that question which

is hey if I were to eliminate one thing

from my entire feature set and it

changed nothing about your life which

one would it be and you also get the

least valuable thing and between both

those elements and if you do this on a

regular basis you continue to cut and

trim and distill down the value they

provide to the most amount of people by

simply asking them and so I think Paul

Graham said this and I believe this and

I keep repeating it because I think it's

so important is that you can solve every

question and every problem in business

by talking to your customer more you

have a marketing problem talk to your

customer you have a product problem talk

to your customer like they know what

they want and they will tell you how to

address them and how to advertise to

them and so getting on the phone and

doing the quote unscalable writing the

handwritten card onboarding every

customer even though it's $10 a month

that they're paying guess what happens

when you on board those customers I'll

bet you they're going to stay longer

I'll bet you they refer more people and

you're going to be able to make the

product better and the marketing better

and so even if you do that now let's say

okay Alex oh my God I followed your

advice and now I'm taking 20 calls a day

well guess what now you're making money

and I don't give a but if you're

still like hey I want to make more money

fine I'll give you the next step so when

you go from 101 you go to semi-private

you do one on six right you can still

deliver a close to that experience but

you 6X your output so instead of talking

to 20 people a day you talk to 120

people a day now if you're like wow 20

people a day that sounds like a lot

guess how Alex learned sales I did 4,101

closes not consults closes over a

multi-year period for my gyms why

because I had appointments back to back

to back to back to back and I had two to

three people that were scheduled for

every 30 minutes and so that accounted

for show rate so that no matter what I

always had one to three people who were

showing up every 30 minutes that I

pitched the exact same thing to and

guess what happened I got pretty good at

sales the amount of people who asked me

hey what sales training did you go to I

didn't I went through the unscalable

sales training of actually just selling

a lot of people and so the idea is that

you are going to learn more then you are

going to earn in the beginning and that

is okay because as long as you see

entrepreneurship as a continual journey

of educating educating yourself on your

customer the problems that you're trying

to solve for them why would you not want

to FastTrack that and jam as much of

that as you possibly could from the best

possible teacher that is in the

marketplace which is the market

itself and so I get passionate about

this because I see so many poor people

trying to think that they're thinking

like rich people when they're really

thinking like poor people CU they're

trying to be broke and not

busy so get busy talk to the customers

even if they pay you 10 bucks a month

you'll learn more and then guess what

happens after you do one on six you do

group onboarding you do one on 20 you do

one on 30 and guess what you can do from

there we have a company right now that

still does that did group onboarding and

scale to 100 million plus a year all

right and we still did it because we

knew the onboarding was such an

important Pro part of the process for

sitting expectations telling them what

was going to happen next

keep setting promises and keeping

promises over and over and over again

and so if you have one on 30 fine guess

what you can still do six those do 180

people a day with just one person and if

you train somebody and what happens like

let's really think through this in the

beginning you do the one-on ones okay

now in the beginning you're just

answering questions over time you say

Okay most people have these same six

questions and so then I'm going to

create a little presentation around

these six questions and so then you

start using the presentation in the one

ones and you're like you know what I

think I can do this a little bit faster

and so you get the one-on six there and

you have the presentation and you're

still seeing the same output with the

one on6 as you were with the one-on-one

fantastic now what do you do you see can

I get to 30 and you do 30 and then you

5x again your 6X output and again now

you're like huh I wonder if I can teach

somebody else to go through the same

deck as me and you know what you do and

just like that you scaled the

unscalable real quick if you're tired of

being broke and would rather be busy

join me at the school game so school.com

games I take a call every every weekend

there I'll help you build your business

step by step we we have once a month a

mastermind that I drop in there of all

the people who fly out from the top 10

communities that are making money online

right now and we break down all the tax

that they're doing right now so that you

can use them too and so the reason that

you have to do the unscalable stuff is

that there's a swamp in business where

you don't have enough money to pay

somebody else but you still have to do

your day job and the next job and so you

just have to work overtime and that

means you work today's job and

tomorrow's job so that you can get ahead

and so the thing is is that every single

business hear me out every single

business incurs debt so the question is

what type of debt do you want to incur

so a venture back company incurs

financial debt so that they can H lots

of talent upfront they can get really

smart people and pay them where they

should be paid at Market rates now if

you don't have that money to pay all

those good people guess what kind of

debt you incur management debt because

you don't have the right people because

you can't afford to pay them and when

you have management debt what does that

mean it means that you have to work the

job of two three four people and that's

what makes it quote unscalable but you

have to go through that swamp in order

to get to the other side and one of the

big problems is that people look 10

steps ahead and then project that back

to the present it's the same thing as

saying Hey I want to uh get rich so I'm

going to go start flying private it's

like Warren Buffett wasn't flying

private to get rich he has done that as

a result of being rich it's not the path

that got him there it is the outcome of

being there and this is actually one of

the big issues I see at large with a lot

of the uh information that gets put out

there is that what happens is people

grind and they sacrifice a T and then

they get rich and then they have a

different Demand on their time and then

they extrapolate and they give advice of

their current setting to people who are

not in their current context which is

try why I try to spend a lot of time

with people who are making their first

10K first 100K first million dollar a

month so I can I can remember what it's

like to be at each of those levels so

that can make sure that what I'm saying

is contextual to the current constraint

of the business that you're in and I'll

give you a super tactical example of

this in companies that we still to this

day who do tens and hundreds of millions

of dollars in revenue is that I know

just just like you do if I get a green

textt that clearly is from a you know a

chat interface for a sales rep or an

automation I'm way less likely to

respond if I get an iMessage I'm an

Apple user and so I know that this is a

real person on the other side and so

what do you think I have our sales teams

do do we use the interface or do we do

the unscalable yes guess what we send a

personalized voice note we send a

personalized video we send it via

iMessage from a personal phone now does

it mean that they have to have a

personal phone no I don't need use their

phone I can buy them an iPhone again

there's leverage there's leverage in the

beginning you're like what am I going to

do buy everyone an iPhone well

eventually yes but in the beginning you

don't have money and that's okay but you

think that something isn't scalable

because you don't have the context from

which to scale it but if you had

unlimited money and unlimited Talent you

absolutely could scale it and so just

don't use that as the excuse to not do

the thing that you know would work

better because you have to be more

efficient per lead per opportunity when

you're small and so you have to pull out

all the stops Gary Halper has this

amazing story about this he says

whenever I want to write a sales letter

I imagine that I can only write one

letter for my life or I'm going to die

and so he says if I he starts with that

hypothetical Max saying if that's what I

had to do what would I do he's like well

first I would have a handwritten

envelope that I'd handr write the name

on it I'd have a stamp that I would lick

and put on it on the inside would be a

handwritten letter from me and then the

words themselves would be all these

things and I'd have some lumpy thing in

there and he starts at the hypothetical

extreme because if you only have enough

money to send a 100 letters then

handr write all of them right now over

time you're like okay this worked how do

I scale it but guess what now you've got

the sales from you writing a 100 letters

and guess what you have the skill of

writing a 100 of those letters and all

of a sudden you start develop a system

for how you write those letters and you

expand your capacity to 500 letters and

you 5x your income and you're like okay

now what are the elements that of my

unscalable solution that had the highest

effect or impact on the throughput well

80% of the stuff uh didn't have as much

of the impact this 20 % did I can use

cash from my earlier less scalable thing

to create more leverage in the more

scalable thing and get 80% of the effect

and 10 times the output so it still

makes sense and so you always are going

to lose efficiency at scale but the

question is in the beginning start with

the absolute most efficient process and

this is fundamentally the opportunity

for all starting or smaller businesses

when I say small business I'm saying 10

million and under all right so don't get

your get your ego all up like I'm a

seven figure ENT I don't give a the

point is is that you're not you're not

Apple you're not A3 trillion company

you're not Microsoft right so you can do

things that they can't that is the

advantage of the small business and that

is why there will always be small

businesses because they can do things

that big businesses can't because they

don't scale but the fact that they don't

scale 100% is 100% your opportunity to

beat them if you're not doing this it's

like getting dealt pocket aces and then

choosing to fold because you're saying I

can't have pocket aces on every single

turn because my next turn I might not

get it and so I have to not use them now

you have them in this chapter so use

them use what you've got the first rule

of Entrepreneurship use what you have

and if you have an advantage if you're

the small fish then that's the advantage

you play now become a midf fish then you

have other advantages you have resources

you have a little bit of reputation and

you use those resources to leverage up

so now that I've talked about scaling

the unscalable hopefully you're sold on

that concept there's two Frameworks that

I introduce you one is the sales to

delivery Continuum and understanding the

dynamic between both polls and secondly

the done for you done with you do it

yourself pyramid so the first thing is

is understanding something that I called

in uh the offers book the sales to

fulfillment Continuum and basically the

sales to fulfillment Continuum states

that the easier something is to sell the

harder it is to fulfill in general now

the only main exception of this is

technology but when it comes to Services

uh it's usually if it's really easy to

sell it means hey I'll do everything for

you no matter what very easy to sell

very easy to make that promise very hard

to deliver on that promise now the other

side of that is that if I said hey you

have to do it all yourself then that's

something that's very hard to sell uh

but very easy to deliver on and so what

I find interesting is that the vast

majority of people who are starting

businesses try to start on the thing

that's the hardest to sell and I think

they have it wrong I think they have it

backwards and in my career I've had

basically the the exact opposite uh

perspective or approach to starting a

business or starting a new product line

and so if you're a business owner I

would think about this when you're

thinking about selling a new product or

starting a new level of service and if

you're someone who's new then this is

going to be starting from zero to

selling the first thing now the second

framework around this the first is the

sales to fulfillment Continuum the

second is the order in which you attack

it and so the way that I recommend doing

this is following what I call you know

like the Tesla Model which is you start

at the top of the pyramid with the most

expensive thing first this is typically

done for you so this is very easy to

sell very hard to fulfill and that's

okay because in the beginning you don't

have that many customers you don't have

that much lead flow and so you want to

maximize the revenue per customer now in

addition to that it also sets you up to

go Downstream later because you will get

the highest percentage of people the

best results with done for you the

difficulty is that it's more difficult

to scale comma and that's okay because

again we're starting out and when you do

this you develop the Sops you develop

the products underneath of that larger

product that allow you to productize the

service that you're ultimately going to

deliver later and so imagine you take on

I'll use an agency as a simple example

here if I took on uh agency clients and

I did everything turned Key Well I'm

going to start developing Sops for lead

maget developing Sops for ads I'm going

start developing Sops for landing pages

and upsell pages and email followup all

of these things are things that I'm

going to have to develop Sops for now

once I have all of these systems in

place guess what happens next you go

from the top of the pyramid to the

second layer of the pyramid which goes

from done for you to done with you now

done with you you can typically charge a

fraction of or less than what you charge

for done for you sometimes a third of

the price a fifth of the price but by

doing that you've productized a great

degree of the service and then you

switch from a service provider to a

Consulting relationship where you're

helping someone do it themselves but

you're still there to assist and so

that's kind of in between the total not

even handholding it's hand doing to hand

holding to No Hands touching right which

is do it yourself at the end and the

thing is is imagine the opposite version

of this a branding perspective you've

positioned yourself you've price

anchored the most expensive version of

your service that has the highest

results with the best customers and so

you already have this strong Association

at the top of the pyramid which then

allows you to go and say Hey listen I

have you know 10 private clients they

all you know pay me $10,000 a month to

do whatever it is and I have a lot of

you guys who are asking me but you don't

necessarily qualify for my Private

Client Service and so I decided to take

all the stuff that I have for my Private

Client Service and make it available to

you and I'll help you walk through the

process that I walk through with them

but instead of me doing it you could do

it for yourself but I will be there

every step of the way and by offering

that you are able to sell 10 times the

amount of people because the amount of

handholding in terms of support that you

have to offer is on10th of you literally

doing it now from there again you say

hey there's a lot of people who know my

private clients they can't necessarily

afford that and they can't afford this

thing but they have they're enterprising

and they want to take things on their

own and so I take all the Sops and stuff

and I will give them to you so you can

just follow along and do it on your own

and that's one10 or you know oneir of

the price of my done with you and so I

prefer the top down approach to the

bottom up approach cuz let's play it the

other way hey I've got this really cheap

thing right that I've been selling to

everybody and I have you know everyone

in their in their and their mother takes

it now I'm going to start helping you

through it now to be fair I don't think

there's anything necessarily wrong with

that it's just that if I had a

preference between which one I would

prefer to build I'm going to have the

least operational uh drag at the top

because I have the fewest number of

customers and then I have more customers

and then I have the most customers and

as I move my way down the pyramid it

gets harder and harder to sell but my

skill in sales improves right because

I'll know the customers I'll talk to

them I'll spend time with them and so my

messaging can improve and get better and

better all right that's what I had

that's my money message of the day is

that scale the unscalable start there

stop being stop being brok and not busy

and uh get busy and you won't be broke

for long and if you like this then I

have a whole video that breaks down all

my business lessons from 13 years in

business which you can watch next