Incubator Client Strategy Breakdown: Bonnie Hit $30k Months & Took a 10 Day Vacay 5 Months Into the Incubator Program
Episode 641: Show Notes
Most of us have a set of preconceived notions about what it takes to grow and scale our businesses. We’re often convinced that in order to make more money we need more clients, which means we need to grow our team. But we can’t grow our team until we have more money. The situation can feel impossible and even send you on a doom-spiral of dread. But it doesn’t need to be this way! Sometimes all you need is a new perspective and a gentle nudge in the right direction. In today’s episode, we share the incredible story of our wonderful client, Bonnie.
We unpack how the Incubator Program helped her understand her business, readjust her pricing structure, and transform her life and her company in the process. We take a deep dive into the preconceived notions around growing and scaling your business, and how small shifts can bring about dramatic changes. Discover how Bonnie managed to double her revenue in five months, find ease within her business, and take a 10-day vacation in Costa Rica, without a laptop! We’ve loved seeing the Incubator community grow, and it’s so rewarding to see members flourish, share, and support one another. Tune in to learn more about the program and how it helped Bonnie transform her business!
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The Truth About What It Takes To Scale and Grow
So many of our clients have preconceived notions of what it takes to scale and grow a business. They think that XYZ needs to happen for them to reach their goals: whether it’s making more money, creating the time to scale and grow or paying themselves more. But time and time again, we’ve seen clients, peers, and even ourselves, try out a new perspective to see what the possibilities could be, and it’s had a huge impact on our approach going forward. When you allow yourself to take a fresh perspective, then big things are possible.
Concerns All Small Business Owners Have
Our Incubator client Bonnie, resembled many of our clients and followers. Like many of you, she is in the creative marketing space. She runs her own social media marketing agency and works with a wide variety of clients. Like many of our clients, she came in with a lot of thoughts and opinions about who she was currently working with. Did they make sense for her and should she keep working with them? She also had a set of preconceived notions around growth and was convinced that in order to scale her business she would need new clients, which would require a bigger team and a larger budget.
Crisis Mode
When Bonnie came to us she was in crisis mode. She was overworked, underpaid, and struggling to pay her single employee. A big part of the problem was pricing issues. She had clients who had come in during the early stages when her rates had been lower but had gotten stuck there and she was hesitant to renegotiate it. Some of her rates were so low, and the demands so high, that she was essentially working for free! Unfortunately, this story is all too familiar.
How Bonnie Took Control and Doubled Her Revenue
In a situation like Bonnie’s, it’s easy to feel like you have no control. But there are always options. After Bonnie joined the Incubator program we helped her assess her situation and gain clarity on what she needed. She then focused on select clients with whom she knew she had a window of opportunity to renegotiate. And we are so proud of what she accomplished! Instead of sending a generic email to her entire client list, she crafted precise messages to each of them and achieved a one hundred percent conversion rate on the six people she initially reached out to! Less than eight weeks after joining the Incubator Program she had landed new contracts from these clients that amounted to more than 60,000 dollars in contracted revenue that she had not anticipated for 2022. And she did all of this without any new clients or offerings. She simply refined what she already had.
How To Transform Your Client Relationships
Too many of us have had the experience of not wanting to check in with clients because of a fear of scope creep. This is especially prevalent if you’re already overextended. But what if you could be excited to jump on a call with clients and evaluate your plans for the future because you actually have the headspace for that conversation? The Incubator Program is built to not only help you achieve your financial goals, but to give you the space you need to function at your best and have a choice in the clients you serve, the hours you put in, and the rates you charge.
The Incubator Structure
The Incubator has a twelve-month structure, and there are different phases within that structure. The longer length of the program is specifically designed to be flexible and allow for unexpected delays and events because life happens! You are expected to see a cash injection in your first 30 to 45 days. You will build and refine your systems, as well as automation. You will also learn how to hire and grow your team and create an amazing culture, along with everything that comes after that. Those first five months are always accompanied by an incredible amount of traction!
The Beauty of Finding Ease
More often than not we have a lot more confidence in our clients than they have in themselves. And we are always so proud when they hit their goals, not just their financial goals, but also finding confidence and ease in what they do. While substantially increasing your revenue is amazing, what is truly special about achieving your financial goals is the agency and ease it affords you. In fact, Bonnie had achieved the agency to take a ten-day vacation – without her laptop – to Costa Rica this year, something she had thought was impossible five months before! Bonnie is now in a position where she has the choice to scale and grow or simply focus on fulfilling the client work she currently has. Even if she only fulfills her client work, her business will have doubled!
Why We Love the Incubator Community
We’ve loved seeing Bonnie, and all our other members, grow and flourish. We love the sense of community that our Incubator members find with one another. Especially when they’re feeling overwhelmed, insecure, or frightened. They have the ability to come into the group and share their fears in a way that allows other people to show up for them and make them feel seen, heard, and understood. It allows people this space to gain confidence in a way that they may have struggled to do on their own.
Quote This
Five months later, it wasn't just about the pricing, allowing her to hit her financial goals. The ease that has come for Bonnie has been the most exciting to me.
Highlights
The Truth About What It Takes To Scale and Grow [0:07:42]
Concerns All Small Business Owners Have [0:09:53]
Crisis Mode [0:11:05]
How Bonnie Took Control and Doubled Her Revenue [0:15:01]
How To Transform Your Client Relationships [0:17:09]
The Incubator Structure [0:20:35]
The Beauty of Finding Ease [0:23:08]
Why We Love the Incubator Community [0:25:56]
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
We help overwhelmed and creative entrepreneurs break down their Oprah-sized dreams to create a functioning command center to tame the chaos of their business. Basically, we think you’re totally bomb diggity, we’re about to uplevel the shiz out of your business.
KEY TOPICS
Scaling, Growth, Preconceived Notions, Finding Ease, Increased Revenue, Clients, Conversion, Pricing, Boss Project Incubator
