Scaling a business is never as simple as following a set of instructions. It’s not a straight line from ambition to achievement, it’s a layered journey of mindset shifts, practical learning, and eventually, letting go of the need to do everything yourself.
Over the years, I’ve seen, and personally experienced, that the real transformation for any business owner happens in three stages. It’s the journey from what to how to who.
At first, I didn’t even realise there were stages. I thought I was just trying to grow the business, pushing forward, learning, trying new things. But when I look back, I can see how each stage marked a fundamental shift, not just in the business but in me as the person leading it.
Let me walk you through it.
Stage 1: The What Stage
What do I need to do to grow this business?
Every business owner starts here, the research phase. You know you want to grow, but you don’t quite know how. So, you go looking for answers.
I remember those long nights searching online, listening to podcasts, reading books, signing up for webinars, anything that might give me the missing piece of the puzzle. It’s exciting in some ways because there’s so much possibility, but it’s also overwhelming. The more you learn, the more you realise how much you don’t know.
One business owner I work with has a small design agency. She was brilliant at her craft, but she kept hitting a ceiling. When I asked what she was doing to grow, she reeled off a list: SEO, email marketing, networking events, social media content plans… all great ideas, she was personally learning lots, but none were really moving the business forward.
That’s the trap of the What stage, you gather all the knowledge, then more and more knowledge, but knowledge alone doesn’t create results.
Stage 2: The How Stage
How do I actually make this work in my business?
This is where things get harder, and sometimes lonelier. You start testing what you’ve learned. You try to apply what you’ve learned from endless workshops, books and videos, implement a marketing strategy, improve your processes, build and improve your systems.
It’s slow. It’s clunky. And it feels like everyone else is figuring it out faster than you.
I remember trying to systemise the way we handled client projects. I’d read all about processes and automation, so I sat down and mapped out how everything should work. It made perfect sense on paper… but then reality kicked in. The team resisted the changes. The system didn’t fit every client. The whole thing began to collapse within weeks.
What I realised later is that the How stage is never just about implementing systems, it’s about learning how to translate good ideas into something that fits the shape of your business. It’s a shift you have to make in your mind because you have to make it your own.
The design agency owner went through the same struggle. She finally cracked it when she stopped trying to do everything at once and focused on one simple system, following up with every enquiry consistently. That one shift alone increased her conversion rate by 40%.
Stage 3: The Who Stage
Who do I need to help me make this happen?
This is the breakthrough, but it’s one of the hardest steps to take.
By this point, you’ve worked hard to build the business up with your own two hands.
You’ve figured out how things need to run, and you’ve probably convinced yourself that no one else will ever care as much as you do.
That’s exactly how I felt. I thought bringing in people would slow things down or cost more than they were worth. But the truth is, your business can only grow as far as your own capacity will take it, unless you start finding the right people to take parts of it further than you ever could on your own.
The design agency owner’s next breakthrough came when she hired a part-time client manager. It felt like a luxury at first, something only bigger businesses could justify. But within three months, she told me she couldn’t believe she’d ever run the business without that person.
For me, the Who stage has been the most uncomfortable but the most rewarding. When you find the right people, something shifts. The business starts to grow not just because of what you know or what you can do, but because of what others bring to the table.
That saying “You are the sum of the five people you surround yourself with” is more true than even when growing a business. If you only surround yourself with people that are just as good as you, your business will only be as good as you can ever be.
The Transformation
Looking back, I can see that the real journey wasn’t about strategies or systems, it was about me becoming a different kind of business owner at each stage.
- In the What stage, I learned how to think like a business owner.
- In the How stage, I learned how to act like one.
- In the Who stage, I learned how to lead like one.
Most business owners get stuck in the How stage, endlessly trying to figure out how to do more themselves or trying to work out how to get their team to be more productive. But the fastest route to growth is always through the Who.
If you’re feeling stuck right now, ask yourself:
- Are you still searching for more What?
- Are you grinding through the Howon your own?
- Or is it time to let go and start finding your Who?
The business you want will only ever be built by the person you’re becoming.
If you’re on this journey and want to go deeper into how to navigate these stages, there are loads of tips and ideas in my book, The Very Best Business Handbook You’ll Ever Own. You can find it on Amazon here.
What stage are you in right now? I’d love to hear your story.
Work with me:
I help owners, founders and leaders create a scalable business that works without them, build a world-class team, and 10x profitability. Book a call with me here to see if we could work together.
Remember, there are only three types of people – those who make things happen, those who wait for things to happen, and those who talk about why things don’t happen for them. Which one are you?
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