My core principles for scaling businesses

Thought you'd like to know how I approach business scaling. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ No longer interested? You can remove yourself [here]( Hey , Guess what? After waiting eagerly for a year for the right conditions, I *finally* got my chance to hit the ice yesterday. #guiltypleasure While ice skating, a thought struck me. It's time to share something crucial with you: My core business principles. In other words, these are the golden rules I set for any new business to ensure faster (and easier) growth. You might know that I sold my businesses. This opened up a blank slate for me to aim higher and play a bigger game. In the past weeks, I've been in thoughts about what this new chapter will look like (after the upcoming 4-month world trip with the family 🥰). I'm not just thinking about the specific type of business, but more importantly, the guiding rules for any company I dive into. This journey resulted in an internal document that lists all my requirements. (I am happy to share the doc with the first 100 people who reply to this email, btw 😘). Here are three of them: Requirement #1: At least 70% of revenue should be recurring. Having recurring revenue in your business is IMHO the best thing since sliced bread. Instead of having to start at zero every single month, you already know what's coming in - allowing for easier hiring and investment in growth. This isn't just about charging monthly or yearly; it's about consistently solving an ongoing pain pain. In an ideal world, there should be a strong "lock-in", making leaving kinda painful. For example, when someone uses a support ticket platform, there's massive pain of leaving because they're reliant on it. Even when they cancel, support messages will still come in. Requirement #2: The business should be a painkiller, not a vitamin. Every business solves a problem, but too many are like vitamins instead of painkillers. Vitamins are optional; they're nice to have and can improve your customer's situation, but they aren't essential. Sure, you can grow a business that way (I have in the past!), but I've found that painkillers are much easier to scale. Painkillers, on the other hand, are indispensable. They address a critical, immediate need. When a customer has that problem, they need to resolve it. They're actively looking for a solution, and the cost is often a secondary concern. Think about a severe toothache. Would you hesitate and negotiate with your dentist? Absolutely not – you'd want immediate relief. Requirement #3: Surf a wave or trend Building a business that rides a trend makes it much easier to grow because you're growing not only from your own effort but also because the market is expanding. This can be any kind of trend, such as a macroeconomic trend or technical trend (like currently with AI). Personally, I aim to be first-to-market because the difference between being first, second, or third is astronomical. For example, a couple of years ago, FB introduced Lead Ads, and I was the first to introduce a tool to connect them to your email automation. As a result, we did seven figures within the first five days of being live. A few months later, the market was flooded with competitors going for scraps while we positioned ourselves as the leader. === Again, these are just three of my requirements. Happy to share the full list with the first 100 people who hit "reply." Now, I'm not claiming these principles are universal to build THE perfect business. There are probably millions of businesses that DON'T follow these rules and do extremely well. However, they are the principles for MY perfect business to scale to seven figures and beyond rapidly. Implementing these in your business can have a more significant impact than any tactic (like running ads etc can. A business with a solid foundation and mediocre marketing will always outperform one with shaky foundations, even if it has stellar marketing. Wondering how this applies to you? The beauty is, you don't have to implement these from day one. Many of these principles can be added to your existing business at any point, realigning it for easier growth. As we step into 2024, ask yourself... 👉 How can I add recurring revenue to my business? 👉 How can I position and/or describe my offer so people realize it's a painkiller? 👉 What trends are happening in my market, and how can I take advantage of that? Hope it helps :) Talk soon, Wilco P.S. Keen on the full list? Just let me know. Happy to share with the first 100 people. [Wilco de Kreij] Thanks for reading ! 🙏 My mission is to give small businesses the marketing power of giants. Inside my emails, you’ll get proven best practices, innovative strategies and real-world tactics that I’ve learned in my businesses. Prefer not to receive these emails? No problem - you can [unsubscribe]( at any time. This email reached you at {EMAIL} because you signed up for my newsletter or purchased one of my products. You can always [unsubscribe]( or [change your details](. Emarky B.V., Gageldijk 21, 3602AG Maarssen, The Netherlands