8 tips for scaling your brand, without the stress
There’s no denying it: Scaling can be stressful. In fact, for most people, it’s often stressful.
In those early stages of your business, when you haven’t got a 50-person team behind you and are wearing every hat from marketing executive to logistics manager, getting through your to-do list can feel impossible. Your time is filled with niggly everyday tasks, whilst what you want to be focusing on is the big picture.
That’s why we want to teach you Wizz’s tried-and-tested tips for taking the stress out of scaling.
Wizz, WIZZ&CO founder, has been called “The Queen of Retail” for a reason! Having previously headed up Buying at Selfridges and helped to grow some of the largest brands within the business (Charlotte Tilbury! Facegym!), she knows her stuff. She also knows that indie brands are the future and wants to help them to flourish. Preferably without founders pulling their hair out in the process!
Tip 1: Get help from people you already know
Nobody can run a business on their own - no matter how much we may want that to be the case! That’s why it’s so important to try and get support where you can. Your first port of call should be the people you already know: Do you have friends, family or colleagues that can share their expertise or lend a hand in some way? If you’d be willing to help them with something, they probably feel the same way about helping you, and making the most of this will free up a serious amount of time.
However, sometimes we need help from the professionals…
Tip 2: Get comfortable with outsourcing
For this, it’s crucial to identify what gaps there are in your knowledge when assessing what support you need: Are you not so great at social media? Find copywriting difficult? Struggle to stay on top of emails? This is when you outsource!
Outsourcing is an amazing tool when it comes to scaling your business. And it doesn’t have to look like taking on a huge marketing firm, it can simply mean hiring a freelancer on a one-off basis if that’s all you need.
There are three types of outsourcing...
Agencies: They allow you to completely hand over tasks on an ongoing basis (eg. Social, PR, digital marketing etc)
Freelancers: This includes things like VAs for managing admin, social media scheduling, online specialists and copywriters who you can hire on a freelance basis.
Paid interns: Give someone the chance to learn from you, whilst also handing tasks over to them. You will often find you can also learn from them as they are digitally native and have had work experience in various other companies.
Tip 3: Get help with the big picture
By now, you’re probably realising that you need help if you want to scale in a way that is low-stress!
Focusing on the big picture of your business can feel impossible when you’ve got so much on your plate and just want to tick through that to-do list of yours.
That’s where our membership comes in. WIZZ&COLLECTIVE is a destination for emerging brands to get help scaling, with expert masterclasses, resources and your new favourite network! This membership was created for anyone that wants to build a successful and profitable brand, with not only proven brand strategies but also the business skills to outsource and grow.
We’ll be your scaling sidekicks AND your biggest supporters. Find out more here and get on the waiting list!
Tip 4: Get clear on your vision
Who’s in your team right now? This includes everyone from friends and family to freelancers!
Now what’s your blue sky dream team? What would you like to achieve in the next 3 years? What are the categories you need in your business? What are the different variables and teams that you would like to have if you could?
By thinking of these different channels to focus on, you’re already positioning yourself as a CEO.
To help with this, map it out and assess how you can get to your “dream team” within each quarter, including taking on new members of staff or freelancers. Wizz also recommends working alongside someone to map out what you can do in terms of strategy and the financial targets to help you to reach your goals.
Tip 5: Use Wizz’s time management matrix
This time management matrix has helped Wizz with establishing what work to prioritise, delegate and where her focus should be. If you’re a creative, you’re going to love it!
Here’s the matrix broken down...
Urgent and important - Things that need to be done soon. There are clear consequences if these don’t happen.
Urgent but less important - You need to action these soon, but there won’t be huge consequences if you don’t. For example, getting back to emails and basic admin.
Important but not urgent - Nothing with a set deadline, but these tasks will push the business forward. For example, strategy planning and long-term goals. These are the tasks we put off!
Neither urgent, nor important - Things you shouldn’t be doing. For example, social media scrolling! Or what you can delegate
Tip 6: Break down big tasks
Tasks like creating a business plan or a distribution strategy can feel overwhelming. That’s why you should break every task down into all of the steps that you need to take until you finally reach your goal.
Once you have these lists, commit a set of time to working through the tasks - even if it’s just a couple of hours a week. We recommend using the Pomodoro Technique to make this as productive as possible.
This is a distraction-free way of working that will allow you to get as much done as possible in a short space of time: You’ll start breaking the back of those big tasks that are easy to put off.
Tip 7: Get aligned with your team
As you start to scale you need to be organised so that you’re giving proper briefs and fair timescales to the people that work for/with you. You also need to make sure that you get them fully up to speed on your business when you start working together and that you find a communication method which works for you (weekly calls, Whatsapp, Trello boards etc).
The key is to align your expectations with theirs!
Tip 8: How can you focus on your headspace?
Headspace is a huge part of being able to grow into your role as CEO and taking the stress out of scaling.
Parking ideas is important. So everytime you think of something, assess whether the idea aligns with your strategy and will lead to your ultimate goals.
Another brilliant way to free up space in your brain is to repurpose content. Pick a theme and then create three pieces of long-form content: A press release, a blog and an email.
This can then be repurposed for each platform: You can edit out the key points for use on Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest etc, pointing people in the direction of your longer form content to grow traffic.
With these tools, you’ll begin to be able to transition to a CEO mindset, with more headspace and more time to focus on growing your business.
Want to up-level your business even more? Here’s how to get your customers raving about you…
Watch the replay of our most recent webinar on the six stages of the customer journey, so that you can woo your customers and take the stress out of scaling. Trust us, you don’t want to miss it!