When I started my marketing firm, Dash of Social, at the age of 19, I only expected it to be a side hustle that would carry me through college and supplement my future career. The thought of reaching six figures in my little business, never mind being able to fully sustain myself with it, was never something that I expected to happen–especially within 2.5 years of starting it.
Reaching this goal absolutely didn’t happen overnight; in fact, there were quite a few months when making $2,000 – $3,000 (which is a great number!) really excited me, and I kind of wondered if that would be the maximum amount of money I could make.
But, me being the goals-oriented person that I am, I knew that if I really wanted to take my business to the next level, there were adjustments I’d have to make, both personally and professionally, that would help me get there–so I did.
Although being good at what you do certainly helps to make more money, there are so many additional things that also contribute to that. I implemented these tactics below to help me grow into a 6-figure business by the age of 21, and I still practice them.
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Moving My Body Daily
As someone who has always loved to exercise, I never truly knew that moving your body would have close ties to your personal success. When I first started my business, I gave up going to the gym for a while because I worried that I didn’t have enough time to work, so I needed every single additional moment that I had–and to me, that meant that going to the gym had to go.
I was wrong. On the days that I didn’t go to the gym, I’d feel exhausted, unmotivated, and uninspired, and I knew that had to change.
I got back into going to the gym and decided to go first thing in the morning because I’m 100% an early bird, so my wakeup time became 4:15 am to allow me to get to my local gym at 5 am and run for an hour. I’ve now been doing this consistently for almost 3 years, and the results are incredible. Not only do I feel good but I also find myself more productive, energized, and excited about work.
Raising My Prices
I pushed this one off for a LONG time because I felt like I was already struggling to get clients at what I was charging, so how would I get them at a higher rate?
The first business coach I hired actually told me I needed to double my prices, and the second business coach I hired told me I needed to raise them again… and I did both times and still was able to get new clients at those new prices. So if I could do that, so can you!
I found that raising my prices each time brought me closer to working with dream clients rather than micromanagers, having additional time in my schedule, and making more money.
If I kept my prices the same from when I first started, I’d have to have 2.75 times more clients than I do now in order to make the same amount of revenue I’ve brought in over the past year… and that’s a pretty scary thought. Who wants to work more than double the amount of hours to make the same amount of money? Certainly not me.
Networking Frequently
There are so many cliche phrases that I could spit out related to networking… and “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is one of them. And although the mention of the importance of networking probably makes you want to roll your eyes, it really does work.
I did two things specifically regarding networking that brought me more clients: 1) interacted in Facebook groups and 2) set up calls with complementary businesses.
Showing up daily in Facebook groups to provide value resulted in 76% of my clients coming from these groups alone. And setting up calls with entrepreneurs who owned complementary businesses allowed me to create a referral base that would bring me future clients. You just need to focus on what you can give rather than what you can get, and the rest will come around tenfold.
People can be some of your biggest assets, so don’t be afraid to go out there and see what can happen for you–as long as the relationship is mutually beneficial, of course.
Improving My Mindset
I say this all the time, but when I first started my business, I never knew how important mindset would be. I thought that business was all about strategy. A lot of it is about strategy, but mindset is just as important, if not more.
I was the type of person who doubted everything. I doubted that I could make more money, I doubted that I could get more clients, and I doubted that I knew what I was doing.
Because my mindset wasn’t in the right place, I was subconsciously blocking any opportunity for me to grow my business because I didn’t believe in the fact that I could. I was becoming my own roadblock!
But once I did the mindset work, believed that great clients were on the way, and trusted that I knew what I was doing, it was like the floodgates burst open, and things improved drastically. You need to be in the right place mentally to accept the growth that is waiting for you.
Whatever you do to bring you closer to the goals that you want to reach, remember these two things:
- It’s all about consistency. You can’t do something a few times and expect results to come.
- Your work is never done. Once these results do come, that doesn’t mean that you can stop–it means that you have to keep going to continue on the path that you’re on!
What do you do daily to bring yourself closer to success?
