Undeniable Truth: Our business can only grow if we grow ourselves.
To let this really sink in, it’s helpful to see the uncanny similarities between the developmental journeys of human beings and businesses.
Human beings and businesses both develop through stages of maturation.
Human beings develop from infancy to adulthood. In order to grow and mature, we must have our human needs met.
Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs describes the pattern through which human needs and motivations generally move. To exist in life, the idea is that individuals’ most basic needs must be met before they become motivated to achieve higher-level needs.
If our needs are not fulfilled and sustained in the right sequence, we don’t feel safe and secure. For example, your need for love and belonging will not be important to you if you’re dying of thirst or cannot feed yourself.
For your motivation to rise to the next level, the prior level must be satisfied first.
Each layer of need is the foundation to the layer above it.
How your human needs are fulfilled is what determines your life experience.
Similarly in business, your business has needs that must be met for it to grow and mature.
Therefore, how well you fulfil the needs of your business is what determines your business building experience.
When human needs are not being met, and when the individual’s capacity is underdeveloped… we often see adults at work behaving like children throwing hissy fits or acting like whiny teenagers.
When our capacity doesn’t match the level our business requires of us, we experience doubt, frustration, stress and imposter syndrome — then chaos ensues.
As your business grows over time, you will be called upon to expand your capacity to fulfil your own human and business needs.
That’s why it’s imperative to be aware of the critical relationship between personal growth, continuous improvement and business growth, so you can keep breaking through your glass ceilings to maintain and sustain the level of business growth you reach.
In short, our experience of our business is ultimately determined by how we operate as human beings, how well we develop ourselves and how much we expand our capacity.
In the world of entrepreneurship, businesses develop from survival to sellable through 4 Levels they operate in.
As you go through The Exceptional Business Roadmap, it will become clear to you WHY you’re experiencing your business the way you do.
Before I reveal the roadmap to you level by level, I have words of caution…
I’m cautioning you towards becoming a “special snowflake”.
What I mean by that is mistakenly thinking that the roadmap doesn’t apply to your ‘specific’ business.
The fundamental truths of life and universal principles of business don’t change regardless of the industry you’re in, how much revenue your business generates, how many people work in your company or how long you’ve been in business.
As we learn to “level up” and graduate our business to the next level, we all face similar problems, challenges and frustrations.
What matters is your experience of your business.
What does it feel like to operate your business behind-the-scenes?
More importantly, what do you want it to feel like?
The roadmap shows you a high-level, top-of-the-mountain view of the business building journey.
As you go through the roadmap, you’ll develop a better sense of direction and understand what your business requires of you in order to level up.
The point of the “map” is to help you orient yourself, identify where you are and help you see the forest from the trees.
You’ll know where you are when you read the characteristics and descriptions of each level. There are also areas of focus you’ll need to pay attention to as well as questions you’ll need to ask yourself — these points of reference act as breadcrumbs for you to follow.
Once you’re able to elevate yourself and see your business from the mountain top with the help of a map, you’ll get a better sense of WHAT you’ll need to do to operate a business that’s in alignment with the life you want to live.
When you understand where you are and where you want to end up, it’s easier to figure out what to do and how to get there.
Transforming, improving and optimising how your business operates takes time, focus and discipline.
Remember, every level is the foundation to the next level.
If you try to rush or skip over what’s required at the level you’re at, not only will your business never reach its full potential… it will most likely collapse on you.
This is NOT a race!
Focus on your journey and your own process based on the life you desire for yourself.
Unlike people who sell easy, overnight success with little effort required, that’s not how I roll.
I prefer to give it to you straight without the sugar and the magic pixie dust. It’s more useful to be practical, realistic and to go to work with your eyes wide open, instead of operating from ignorance.
Depending on where you’re starting from, this is a journey that takes years, decades or a lifetime.
Building your business right is way more important than building it fast.
Again, everyone is different and unique. Only you can determine how long it will take to reach the destination you desire, and to experience the true freedom you ultimately want.
It will take as long as it takes, and no faster.
Your journey is your journey.
Without further ado, let’s dive into Level 1…