I built a 7-figure business in 2 years and often get asked how I did it.

I wish I could hand you the magic formula for success. But the truth is is that there have been quite a few bumps along the way.

So this week, I’ll be sharing the 7 business-defining lessons I’ve learned as I’ve built my business to where it is now.

Of course, there will be more posts like this in the future as I continue to grow. But for now, I hope you can take what I’ve learned and skip making the mistakes I made to get here.

Without further ado, here they are.

1. Figure things out for yourself

2. Embrace the hard times

3. Understand and accept that you can’t help everybody

4. Be patient, especially when it comes to growth

5. Allow your team to thrive

6. Get a bookkeeper

7. Set a North Star goal

Let’s get into it.

Lesson 1: Figure Things Out for Yourself

When I first started Scalable, I didn’t lead with a fancy background. I didn’t have a full team behind me either. In fact, I didn’t even bring on my first hire until we were managing close to $100MM in ARR.

I simply pitched my services to SMB owners who liked me as a person and were willing to bet on my ability to figure it out for them.

I was asked plenty of questions that I didn’t have a clue how to answer initially, and my clients knew that. But my job was still to find them the right answers.

It’s the grit factor that gets owners ahead—no way around it.

Lesson 2: Embrace the Hard Times

Some days are just going to suck. That’s just the nature of owning your own business. Accept it.

Control what you can—your books, your commitment to making the business thrive, your internal processes, your hiring practices, and your finances. Get help when you need it. But then accept the rest.

Lesson 3: Understand and Accept That You Can’t Help Everybody

Early on, we’d scope client work and give our prospects a brief overview of what Scalable could do for them.

But we’d never ask to see the books.

In hindsight, that’s insanity.

It doesn’t matter if a prospective client is the 10th 7-figure HAVC company that we’ve signed in the past 6 months. Now we follow a thorough onboarding process and don’t skip any steps.

It took some maturity to get to the point where I could turn down new business. But in my experience, most of those “not right now” clients have come back around and trust the Scalable brand much more as a result.

Lesson 4: Be Patient, Especially When It Comes to Growth

I’d like to grow faster by making a few acquisitions right now, but I’m not one to force it—especially since I’ve talked to a few businesses recently that are far and away so much better than the others. Naturally, everything else looks like a bad deal in comparison.

Even though I know most of my LOIs won’t close, I’m willing to go slow and be selective. I can do that because I already have a cash-flowing business.

The bottom line is this. There’s a fundamental difference between buying assets that get you a leap ahead strategically, and merely buying more revenue.

Lesson 5: Allow Your Team to Thrive

I’ve only had team members for about 21 months, so I’m still trying to figure all that out more broadly. But giving trust first, letting them fail, and partnering with my team have all gotten me pretty far.

Here’s why.

It’s easier to replace a client than it is to lose a strong team member.

So I let them take risks and don’t get bent out of shape if that means losing a client. Among my first 10-15 hires, my goal is to partner with them on some part of the business—whether it’s an acquisition or something that we start internally.

Lesson 6: Get a Bookkeeper

You need a bookkeeper. Every business does, no matter your size or scope.

But unless you’re a complex business with a full balance sheet and investors, you don’t need to hire full-time or even fractional help.

Start with a basic software package like Pilot instead. It’s a subpar solution, but subpar is still far better than no solution for your books.

Why?

Because with no bookkeeping you’ll struggle to file your taxes, obtain credit, attract investors, or bring in partners. It’s a snowball effect that you need to avoid at all costs.

Lesson 7: Set a North Star Goal

When you have a timeline for your business, it’s really easy to work hard in the moment. Because I’ve only given myself the next 10 years to run Scalable, I know that the clock is always ticking. This keeps my motivation high and makes pushing the important stuff off until tomorrow a lot less tempting.

Set an overarching target and make it time-bound. Then, keep that goal top of mind as you go about the day-to-day of running your business. You might be surprised at how that changes your approach.

Putting It All Together

Here are your top takeaways from this week’s post.

1. Being willing to just “figure it out” is what gets businesses ahead.

2. Some days as an owner are going to be harder than others. Control what you can and accept the rest.

3. Turn down the clients that you won’t be able to serve fully. It’ll keep your brand strong and may even lead to past prospects coming back around when they’re ready.

4. Don’t grow just to grow. When making acquisitions, pick the businesses that will allow you to leapfrog strategically. Resist the urge just to buy more revenue for the sake of getting there faster.

5. It’s easier to replace a client than it is to lose a solid member of the team. Let your employees fail and give them room to grow.

6. No matter your size or scope, you need some sort of bookkeeping solution.

7. Setting a hyper-specific, time-bound goal that you keep top of mind will fundamentally change the way you run your business in the day-to-day.

Hungry for More?

1. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn for daily content to take your business to the next level.

2. Shoot me an email with your questions or requests for what you’d like me to write about next.

‘Til Next Time,

Connor