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Jan 24, 2023
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Getting to the point that you have a solid financial footing and a reliable team for your online business is a process, so don’t worry if you’re not there yet. In this post, we’re gonna tell you what you need to focus on to get your business shored up in team building and finances.
The Banker Phase and the Leader Phase, which are the phases of business during which you’ll be focusing on finances and team, are the fifth and sixth stages in the seven phases of building an online business that we’ve been talking about in the podcast and on the blog.
It’s what we call the BADA$$ Online Marketing™ (BOM) Process, and it’s my answer to the problem of spending too much time and money on the wrong things in our businesses… a common issue in the online business world.
You can read all about the BOM™ Process in this post.
During these last two phases that we’ll be talking about in this post, you’re stepping out of the day-to-day operations and becoming more of the owner.
You’re less focused on things like marketing and selling and more focused on other pieces of the business that ONLY YOU can be responsible for.
Yes, this is an exciting place to be… but trying to step into this place too early is a recipe for disaster (which is why I made this a PHASED process… so you’re not doing things you shouldn’t be doing yet!).
Contrary to the advice out there, you shouldn’t be speeding your way through to get to these phases. You MUST complete these previous phases to prepare your business for the financial and leadership responsibilities that come with the Banker and Leader Phases:
Once you’ve made it through these ^ phases, you’re ready to move on to the phases we’re talking about today.
But even if you’re not there yet, don’t worry. You’ll learn what these phases are all about so you know what to expect.
So let’s dive in!
Want to dive a little deeper into the subject? Listen to Bobby discuss the concepts in this post in Episode 281 on the Certified BADA$$ Online Marketing Podcast™!
What We’ll Be Covering…
The following post was taken from the transcript of Episode 281 of the Certified BADA$$ Online Marketing Podcast™.
The Banker Phase: Building Financial Stability For Your Knowledge Brand
The Banker Phase is when you focus on the goal of getting your business to a solid financial footing.
You focus on growing your revenue enough to cover basic expenses and at a level where you can take home more money for yourself and live the lifestyle that you want.
Also, it’s about making enough money today that you can put away as a safety net for your business.
It’s a continuation of the scientist phase where you’re pouring money to grow your sales and revenue.
So, you’re thinking about the things you need to do to hit your numbers.
But also, it’s no longer just about revenue. You have to think about profits, and this requires discipline, and you’re gonna say no to a lot of things.
Get Used to Putting Money Aside for Expenses in Advance
As you grow your revenue, you need to plan, project revenue, set your budget, and think how much you can spend and why.
Shifts can be tough, especially when you’re coming from being a full-time employee. You have to take care of a lot of business expenses, so you have to put that money aside.
You should be putting money aside so that you don’t always have to use your credit card for a big expense, like when you do a launch event.
You’re not buying now hoping that you’re gonna make sales. Instead, you want to have the money in the bank to buy things.
And that’s possible if you have the discipline to make profits first.
It means that you’re thinking about yourself as the owner of the business, not the worker.
Your business should be there to support you… not you supporting your business.
You should reach the point where your business should be able to pay you a good wage and support the way of living that you desire.
If not, you should be asking yourself, is it worth continuing?
It’s the point that you grow your business and you become more responsible with the money.
You also need to build a cushion for your online business. Ideally, you should have
at least three months’ worth of emergency funds. So in case something happens, you’re covered.
When you have done that, you’ve mastered the money, and you’re ready to move to the Leader Phase.
Be In Control of Your Money Before You Hire a Team
Sometimes you’re building your team while you’re in the banker phase. You might have a virtual assistant or an executive assistant and a couple of contractors.
But the common mistake I see people make is that they hire too fast. Guess what happens? They end up taking a pay cut so that they can pay their employees.
That’s not a good place to be. You should be in control of your money.
What you should aim for in your knowledge business is to have payroll set aside in advance of hiring.
When you bring in an employee, it should eventually lead to more money. But you want to make sure that your business is on solid financial footing before you hire team members.
Let me just put this as a value statement…
When you hire people as your employee, they’re trusting you for their livelihood. Now, there may be times that bringing in a team member may not work for some reason, so you have to let them go.
But if you’re gonna let people go because you failed to plan your finances, that’s a problem you create.
So, think about it. If someone is trusting you for their livelihood, you have to be responsible. That’s why you need your money really ironed out and make sure you’ve got that in good stead before you start taking on full-time team members.
The Leader Phase: Establishing a Reliable Team
The Leader Phase is when you’re creating a reliable team so that your business can run without you being involved in everything
It’s the stage of building an online business where you’re building your team and systematically taking yourself out of the operations.
It doesn’t mean you’re not doing anything in the business anymore. What it means is that you make it so that you’re not a bottleneck in your business.
When you’re involved in your business, you’re involved in every single piece: marketing and sales, delivery, customer support, operations… everything.
That’s not sustainable.
You have to take yourself out of certain things over time. Customer service, fulfillment work, operations, and frontend tasks like lead generation and marketing—those are things that you can allow your team to be in charge of.
Ultimately, you should have people whom you trust to take care of operations, customer experience, conversion, traffic, etc. You’re pretty much hands-off, but they’ll let you know when you need to be involved at times.
Develop Your Leadership Skills
For some entrepreneurs, team building is one of the hardest things to do. But it doesn’t have to be.
Sometimes it boils down to leadership skills. Understandably, some people tend to be the type who roll up their sleeves and do the work, so they could be micromanagers.
What you need to do at this phase of building your online business is to learn leadership.
Leadership is hard. You have to be compassionate and stern. You have to be supportive, and yet you also have to correct your employees at times.
As a leader, you may also have to fire people, not because they do things differently, but when they do something wrong, like stealing.
Those things require leadership skills, so you have to be willing to do that.
Wrapping Up the Phases of Building an Online Business
The banker and leadership phases are where you’re gonna spend the most time. In the banker phase, you might be spending a year or two trying to build your business to the level that you need to support the lifestyle that you want.
Then in the leadership phase, you’re gonna bring people in, and some may not be the right fit so you have to let them go. You have to build the right culture. You’ll have some people who may decide to leave because they want to do something else. So, it can also take some time to have a stable, reliable team.
Now, if you’re not at this point yet in your business, I don’t want you to worry about this. You need to focus on the right thing at the right time. You’ll reach this point when everything in your business is running like a routine, you’re not reinventing the wheels anymore, and you have mastered your finances.
When you think about building your online business in phases, it becomes easier to grow it.
If you wanna dive deeper into these seven phases of building an online business, you’re welcome to join BADA$$ Online Marketing University (BOMU). It’s my entirely free program where you can access the BOM Process course, along with other courses that can help you build a thriving online business.
