Reaching $10M+ in Revenue with 30 FTEs in 2014, I did this interview with the Grow a Business Podcast when I first released my book Fearless Beauty.
The book beat the forecast and achieved the expectations of a year within the first week.
The first period of getting Private Label on its feet was full of blood, sweat, and an unbelievable turn of events.
If you want something based on a real story to go from nothing to everything, then you might want to read this.
Follow Reality, Not Trends
Although online sales are huge, people depend on them.
But I still depend on my brick-and-mortar stores and try to expand my existence.
You can even do radio ads in the area of your operation, because the old ways are still surviving for a reason.
That’s why a lot of my stores are in Atlanta, serving more than 6 million people. With this curious mindset, I made $250K in the first year, then $850K, then $1.2 Million, all the way up to more than seven million a year.
You have to find a way to differentiate yourself in your branding, marketing, business model, or the way you communicate with your audience on a daily basis.
Because if you don’t stand out, you lose it all together!
Never Feels Successful
You should never feel successful because when you feel it, you feel satisfied and full, not hungry for success.
You need to aim for more and ask for more. Instead of 100 sales, aim for 1000 sales.
I used to think all I wanted was one store; now I have three and aim for 20 showrooms.
So, ditch the limiting beliefs and think bigger than you can handle while getting inspired by other entrepreneurs.
But you need to ground yourself when it gets off track. One mistake I made earlier was to expand my team faster than the growth of the business.
So, limit your liabilities while increasing your capabilities. And give time to yourself to balance your work and life so you don’t go crazy!
Learn Before Outsourcing
The amazing thing about learning to do things yourself is that you really know when things go wrong or go well.
When you’re being cheated and when you need to trust. Along with saving money.
But you will need to enroll in some courses to upgrade your skills to a professional level.
I took Neil Patel's course early on, and it cost me more than $1000, which was a huge investment back then.
But I can now recognize when an agency is fooling around with my business.
Financing Your Project
You shouldn’t get a loan if your business costs less than $20M.
I saved and borrowed to get the $28K it took to get the business off the ground.
And I rely on manufacturing partners in China to get pay-later deals to facilitate my supply.
I use my credit card for every business transaction to get points and miles back to make business trips or just have some fun every once in a while.
The Rule of 14 Touchpoints
I believe the customer should encounter 14 touchpoints before making a purchase; nevertheless, being in a position that enables you to retain them and increase their lifetime value.
From the visual identity that allures the audience into the checkout button.
You need to use all your data points to make a successful sale.
With less dependency on normal paid ads, and making more efforts towards your social proof and original content produced by you or the customers themselves.
The currency of marketing is trust; with more trust comes more sales eventually.
The money is not in the shortcuts; it’s built with consistency over time.
It’s in the 0.001% improvement every day, not in the 10% increase every quarter.
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Improve as a Person Along the Way
I always make sure I get enough shut-eye to work the extra hours I need to carry out because of my position as a CEO.
I try to avoid excessive consumption and buy long-lasting items.
I never finished a book until I was in my 20s because of an undiagnosed learning disability. But I beat that with learning in my free time through commuting or travelling. Over time, it became more like a passion than a commitment.
That's why when I took the course, I went from writing 20 blogs a month to writing 100, then hired a team of 30 writers and one editor to triple my sales by writing 100 blogs a month.
Investment in learning all types of skills always pays off. You need to grow as a person, so your business grows with you.
Resources I Rely On
The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss was a great help.
You need to learn to delegate and outsource when it’s right for you. You can use the platforms’ courses when they’re good, like the certification offered by Kalviyo for email marketing.
Podcasts like Masters of Scale and How I Built This are great examples of what YouTube can offer you to win with your next brand.
Always look for good ads and try to figure out what makes them great so you can unlock some creativity that stops people from scrolling away when they see you.
And finally, try to accept the failure because it’s the most reliable learning source!
Listen to the full episode on Grow!