There is a simple process that every service business owner can use to not only amplify the growth of their business but also identify the areas of the business that aren’t pulling their weight.
It’s called the Rapid Growth Analysis Script and it’s something you should go over every quarter to make sure things are on track. It will help you identify the parts of your business that are working correctly, and which ones need to be fixed.
A good way to think about your service business is to imagine it like a bathtub.
The water in the tub is your business’s revenue, and the tap is all the sales and income generated over time. But there is also the drain at the bottom that represents your ongoing expenses and inefficient processes.
If you want your business to grow, you can’t just focus on making more water come out of the tap because if you’re not careful it may look like your business is doing well, but your bathtub is leaking away all that hard work and money.
And if the tap ever stops flowing as fast you’re going to quickly realize how much money you’re losing on a regular basis.
You need to control the drain as well as the tap, and you can do that by using the Rapid Growth Analysis Script.
Here’s How It Works
Get out a piece of paper and separate it into two columns. Writing this out by hand is a good way to get you really thinking about your answers. If you think you might need more space, feel free to grab two pieces of paper and use one for each column.
At the top of the first column, write “Is Working”. At the top of the second column write “Not Working”.
Down the left-hand side of the page(s), write down the key elements of your service business. Let’s look at Marketing, Sales, Products, Services, and Operations.
It should look something like this:
For each category think about what is working well and what isn’t working. Get some data in front of you to validate your thoughts in each area but don’t spend too much time on each.
Use your intuition and write down how you feel about each area, if some area of your business in particular frustrates you but is performing well by the numbers, that can still fall under the “Not Working” section.
Your business should be working for you after all.
If you need some help crunching the numbers, ask someone to support you and get another set of eyes on the figures. Think about how your conversion ratios and other important statistics compare to the industry averages and your local competitors.
For each section, write out the elements of your business that are giving you the results that you want, but equally important, which ones aren’t giving you the results you are looking for.
Once you fill out each section, take a look at the “Is Working” column and take note. These are the areas of your service business that are performing well and they are the things you should be doing more of.
Entrepreneurs have a tendency to bounce around a lot from shiny new thing to shiny new thing, instead of just sticking to the tried and true.
Don’t be one of those business owners that leaves money on the table just because you want to try out a shiny new marketing channel or software.
If something is working and delivering the results you want, it’s time to scale that up. Think about how you can leverage those things and amplify them, so they can be even more powerful growth enablers for your business.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t try new things, but that you have to prioritize the proven methods and keep those efforts going and growing.
Once you’ve done that, take a look at the elements in the second column. These are the areas of your business that aren’t making the cut. It’s time to maybe make some hard decisions.
If a marketing campaign isn’t getting you the results you need to be profitable, it’s time to restructure the campaign. Maybe try a new channel, new ad creative, new copy, a new message, or a new offer. If sales is an issue, maybe you need to hire new staff or refine your script or sales process.
Look at each section and see what you need to reduce or stop doing so that you can close the drain at the bottom of the bathtub and avoid losing even more business.
Overall, this is a very simple tool that you can use to quickly see what’s working in your business right now, and what you need to reduce or eliminate right now. So if you have some time, I recommend you get that piece of paper and give it a try. You may be surprised by what you find.
And once you’ve done that, open up whatever scheduling system you use for yourself and book 20 mins roughly three months into the future, so that you can do it again next quarter.
Build this into your business and I guarantee you’ll start to see some incredible transformations right away.
