You’ve decided what success looks like for you and your business and now you know you’re ready to take your business to the next level. YAY! That’s so great! Buuuuuuut how? Upleveling will look different for everyone, so today, I want to highlight three common ways you can uplevel in your creative business. We’ll talk through how to know if it’s for you, what it might mean for your life+business, and action steps to get going!

1) Increase Your Pricing

One of the most alluring and simple, yet scary options is to raise your prices. It can be hard to do this with confidence, but I want you to know that you are so worth it. You work hard, you invest in education, you give your clients a personal and intentional experience, and you have continued to get better at what you do every year. 

This type of upleveling might be for you if…

… you’re booking fast or overbooking but either aren’t ready for a team or don’t think your gifting includes team management 

… you need more time and are ok with taking on less clients at a higher price point

… you know there are others in your market who are successfully charging more and to your knowledge, your experience matches theirs AND you’re willing to work with the people that will pay that price point

… you’re consistently booking clients who are not ideal/seem to undervalue your work even though you provide an excellent client experience

Some things you need to consider before upleveling in this way:

• It’s VERY important that your experience matches your price. 
• You will likely push away some of your current or potential customers, but this is just the nature of raising your prices. You should be booking less when your price point increases.
• You will almost definitely have people say you’re too expensive. Be confident in your offerings.

Your Next Steps:

1. Take a look at your financials and reverse engineer what you need to make. Read The 5 Biz Numbers You Need to Know to get started! 
2. Evaluate the experience you provide. Are there areas you can improve? How can you add value? Consider client gifts, clear and detailed up-front communication and materials like a welcome guide.
3. Research and get to know your new, higher-end target market on a personal level. Adjust your branding, social media posts, or content to speak directly to them.

2) Build an Internal Team

It sounds great doesn’t it? Having someone else do all the tasks you loathe while you get to focus on your zone of genius? That’s because it is. 😉 And it’s just plain smart business. It might be time to add members of an internal team to help you tackle the work that slows you down or steals your joy. This type of upleveling gives you more time to work ON your business instead of just getting by IN it. Some examples of internal hires would be a Virtual Assistant to handle client onboarding, communication, etc., an editor for a photographer, or a shipping assistant for an ECommerce product shop. 

Building an internal team might be for you if…

… you don’t have time to work ON your business to help it grow

… you’re struggling to enjoy the work in your zone of genius because you’re burnt out

… important back-end business responsibilities are not being completed

… your clients are not being given a quality experience and things are falling through the cracks

Some things to consider before upleveling in this way:

• It’s rare that this type of upleveling is a bad idea unless you don’t have the money for it. But be cautious with this excuse… some outsourcing can be worked into your pricing and sometimes it takes profiting a little less in order to grow your bottom line in the long run. If you aren’t sure about your business financials, that should be the first thing you tackle.
• Spending as little as possible on someone newer to the industry or newer in their business may end up costing you more money and headache than is worth it. Do your homework and make sure the people you outsource to are the right fit for you and your business. You may also consider doing a trial period so you’re not locked into a year-long contract.

Your Next Steps:

1.  Think through the tasks that drain you. What do you dislike doing? What do you constantly procrastinate on? What takes you a lot longer than it should? Those are the things you should outsource first.
2. Write out all the steps you take to complete the tasks. A ‘how to’ guide will help structure the role and help you decide what type of person you need.
3. Decide the type of person you’d like to work with. What personality traits are important? What skills are you lacking that you’d like them to fill?
4. Decide how you want to manage another person. Will they be a member of your team or will you simply be paying them for a service? How often do you want them to reach out to you? Will they have complete ownership of a section of your business or will everything need your approval?

3) Build an External Team/Associates

Nothing quite beats the feeling of growing a business with others who are bought in to your vision and want to see your business grow. Teams can bring so much joy and so much growth, but it’s probably one of the hardest ways to uplevel well. Are you ready to take on more of a management role in your company? Do you want to spend less time doing the services you offer or being the main face of your business and more time delegating and leading? Building an external team or adding associates can be a great way to expand your reach and capacity, but it’s so so important to recognize that this is not for everyone and may greatly change the way you spend your time.

This type of upleveling might be for you if…

… you’re overbooking or have much more demand than capacity to fill the need

… you like the idea of building and leading a team and have leadership capability

… you enjoy teaching, managing a group of people, and have a clear idea of your brand

Some things to consider before upleveling this way:

• This may not create less work for you, just different work. Actually, up front, if you don’t have clear systems in place, it WILL create extra work. Instead of being on the ground working on your business, you are shifting yourself into a management role
• It will take some time to build out your team and train them to your standards. You can’t rush this!
• Hiring can be a challenge and requires preparation and intentionality.
• There’s a lot of prep work involved before you can hire your first team member. It’s time to get your systems streamlined and outlined! My girl Jenn can help you with this!

Your Next Steps:

1. Decide if adding an associate is right for you. Be super honest with yourself – do you want to be a leader and do your giftings fit that role?
2. Take some time to write out what defines your brand. What messaging do you use? What standard would you want a team member to mimic?
3. List out all expectations and duties you would have for this team member. Think through how you will manage them, when you will have them work on their own, and what training you want them to complete.

Need help figuring out which option is right for you? Join the Authentically Creative Facebook group for helpful input!