As a business coach for millennial entrepreneurs, I regularly meet young creators who feel defeated, burnt out and frustrated with their work. And honestly, I can't blame them. With today's competitive advertising platforms, algorithmic inconsistencies on social media, and content creation overload, it's harder than ever to stand out and grow an online business with confidence.
That's why I asked four seven-figure millennial entrepreneurs to share their best insights on how they continue to grow and achieve new milestones in their business against the odds. Use these tips to gain clarity, inspire action, and think outside the box to manifest massive change.
1. Invest in the right team members.
A common theme I see among successful young entrepreneurs is their ability to choose business partners and team members with strengths that can be leveraged for success.
“The reason my business hit $1 million in revenue within three months of launching is because I had a strong business partner with the critical skills I lacked,” says Irina Wynn, CEO and founder of World Microblading and Fab Life Society. “He excelled in paid media and business development, so having him on my team allowed me to focus more on the creative and branding aspects. The truth was, I already had an offer that people needed, but my business partner helped position me as the go-to choice in my niche through ads and basically become the king of the category,” says Wynn. .
Ultimately, it's impossible to grow if you're limited on your time, energy, and resources, so having the courage to step out of your comfort zone and bring others into your vision is often the key you need to make a major breakthrough.
2. Stop over-complicating your success.
While creating the skills needed to scale your business is often a steep learning curve, nothing is harder than rewiring your mindset for success. But if you're able to make certain mental shifts and continually strengthen that muscle, you'll find that the only thing holding you back is your own self-doubt.
Jeremy Adams, the co-founder of Prestige Food Trucks and CEO of Unicorn Innovations credits its multi-million dollar ventures to its simple belief that it could do it. "What most people don't realize is how simple it can be to hit seven figures. You can sell $100,000 to reach a million, or $10,100,000 to reach a million. I simply chose to enter an industry where the average customer pays $1 million a year. It started with believing I could and not over-complicating it. »
3. Always evaluate the quality of your product.
Shaan Patel, CEO and founder of a Mark Cuban-funded company, PrepExpert, says your business will never grow if your product isn't essential to helping others.
“There are three key elements attributed to hitting seven digits:1) Product, 2) Product, 3) Product,” he says. “Focus on creating the best possible product or service for your customer. The better the user experience someone has with your product, the more likely they will tell a friend or colleague about it. Word of mouth is worth 10 times more than any paid marketing you can do for your product or service. In fact, for the first five years of my business, I didn't do any marketing for Prep Expert. Yet the company still doubled its revenue every year. Why? Because the SAT and ACT classes are so good, students would tell their friends about score improvements, college admissions, and scholarships they got! Word of mouth is the key to building a seven figure business. By building a better product, you build marketing directly into the product. »
4. Harness the power of your local community.
If you're stuck in a sales rut, one of the best things to do is to look outside the box, reconnect with your brand values, and to create new ways for your ideal customers to pay you.
That's how Johnathan Grzybowski, co-founder of digital marketing agency Penji, was on his way to hitting seven figures in his business. “In November 2017, we were struggling to recruit new customers. Being a community-minded startup, we are always looking for new ways to support our local community, so we had an idea,” he says. “We decided to create a new offering that served qualified local nonprofits for just $1 a month. The program gained local notoriety and soon after, top influencers and leaders in our local network were standing up for us by introducing their friends and co-workers to our company. Most of our sales in our first year came directly from positive praise that came from giving away our service to non-profit organizations for free.
As you can see, achieving accelerated results in your business is often a lot simpler than you think – you just have to step out of your comfort zone, leverage the right teammates to lift yourself up, strengthen your mindset, and dare to do the (seemingly) impossible. You have this.
Related: My Top 10 Financial Habits for Entrepreneurs
