One of the biggest mistakes people make when scaling their business is not carefully considering what is actually scalable in the long run vs what may make a quick dollar in the here and now. Now let me explain what I mean – We tend to trade our valuable time that could be used to work towards bigger goals and projects that will change our business, for saying yes to quick money that just adds work to our to-do list.
For example – You could shoot three extra sessions one month and make an extra $800. Now when I break this down let’s say between travel, shooting, editing, and planning these three extra sessions you would spend 12-15 hours from start to finish on them! This would be considered “easy” or “quick” money. Now instead of spending those 12-15 hours shooting and editing, you could have spent that same amount of time creating a new product for an online shop that would probably make that same $800 that month + bring in sales every month following! ( and probably grow in profit every month also! ) In this case, your time would be much better spent creating that new offer over squeezing in more sessions!
This is the exact thing I did last year when I began scaling my business!
I cut back my weddings, I quit taking “extra sessions”, and I focuses any free time I had on creating offers that would grow with my business and bring in money daily, weekly, or monthly once they were created!
Saying no to a few hundred dollars here and there allowed me to create extra income streams in my business that bring in more than 5xs what one of those extra sessions would have made me every month! – It is a pretty good trade off if you ask me!
So how do you determine where your time is best spent and if you are setting yourself up for long-term success with your offers?
Ask yourself these questions –
- This new offer, idea, or collaborations may look great right now but will it actually be able to grow with me and my business over time?
- Will I be able to remove myself from these offers and let them run on their own?
- Will these projects be able to bring in more money over time? Or will it be a one time thing?
- Can I see myself or my business being able to support this workload for the long run? Will the workload get easier or more intense later on?
If you are spending hours every week shooting, editing, and working in your business but never seem to find time to work on your business then I would bet it is safe to say you need to see what you are saying YES to that is preventing you from working on your long term success! – Let’s be honest, shooting all week every week isn’t a good long term option for you or your business!
When you are working towards scaling your business, working for the future is always your best bet and will always be the one that becomes the most profitable over time! It isn’t always the easy option because we all love some quick money ( and it isn’t always a bad thing to say yes to! I still do at times! ) I encourage you though to truly look at what you are offering and creating to know that you are investing your time and energy into areas of your business that will continue to pay out over years to come!
Did you catch Part 1 & 2 of this blog series yet on 7 Secrets to Scaling Your Business? Check them out below!
