Steve Jobs once said that ‘if you look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.’ It is valid for the most successful million-dollar businesses in the market today. There is a back story of years of struggle and endless effort that rarely comes out. However, that shouldn’t stop you from pursuing your dream of building a 7-figure business.

With proper planning and consistently conscious efforts in the right direction, you can fulfill your dream. Here’s everything you need to know about building a 7-figure business from the planning stage.

1. If you can dream it, you can do it

The first step in winning this battle is believing that you have a fighting chance. Many entrepreneurs start with the resources and a plan to build their business but lack the sheer belief that they will succeed. Without that belief, your efforts would be half-hearted at best. Also, you would easily give up on your dream as soon as things get complicated. Therefore, a positive attitude and actions that back up your beliefs are essential for forming and running a million-dollar business.

2. Build your value proposition

Simply saying that you want a 7-figure business and making products or services that don’t meet that value is a sure way to failure. You need to ensure that what you offer to your customers is worth a million dollars. You need to first build that value through an idea that solves problems for your audience.

You then need to ensure that the entire customer experience is exceptional. Creating a product or service is not enough in the current scenario. And to reach the million-dollar mark, you need to ensure that the product and services you deliver don’t lose their quality over time.

3. Take risks

Another determining factor when building a 7-figure building is the ability to take risks that others may not. The business world is full of opportunities for those who are willing to go beyond the ordinary. Whether it is a new product launch or a unique ad campaign, or a business deal that others aren’t willing to take. You need to take a leap of faith and go for it. 

Keep analyzing the market conditions and exploring new avenues to benefit from new opportunities before they become a common practice.

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell

4. Meet client expectations

One of the significant drawbacks of a startup is its inability to retain its clients and earn their trust. If you cannot get new clients and keep old ones successfully, there is no way your business can meet those 7-figure numbers in terms of revenue.

The tried and tested formula for keeping your customers happy is giving them what they want. Here are some tips to understand what your customers want:

• Identify your target audience: The first and foremost step in understanding your client is identifying the target audience. Not everyone would be interested in your product or service or require it. You need to find your target audience. You can conduct surveys, analyze the data you collect and start building your marketing strategy.
• Choose the proper marketing channels: Once you have your target audience, you need to choose the marketing channels that work best with your audience. There are several offline and online marketing channels that you can choose from. However, you need to go for the ones where your target audience is most active and where you can easily convince them.
• Act on your customer feedback: One of the most crucial elements of client retention is understanding your customer’s grievances and resolving them. Take your customer feedback at face value, analyze the most common issues, and work on long-term solutions for resolving them.

5. Learn from other successful businesses

The notion that you need to build up everything from scratch is no longer valid. You don’t have a lifetime to build a business, so learning the best practices from other million-dollar companies is wise.

One way to do it is to become a client yourself of a million-dollar business and learn from them. It would be best if you choose a company similar to yours but not your direct competition. You can also copy the moves of other successful businesses to an extent, pick out things that they did right, and add that to your business with a creative twist. 

6. Develop a successful business routine

You can take any successful business and observe that they have a routine that they follow daily. It is also a key element to success. These daily routines can comprise some crucial activities that you need to perform every day at a specific time. 

These routines may seem too much. However, they will play a vital role in enhancing your productivity. Develop these routines with great care, as they will help you find more time to focus on essential things.

7. Present your business in a good light

A lot of companies think that self-proclamations are bad. And they are if they are not valid. However, when they are correct, these self-proclamations show your customers, investors, competitors, and other stakeholders what you can bring to the table. It increases your goodwill and credibility. You can also involve your employees and families to spread the word. You can create a presentation that showcases the merits of your business to all the stakeholders.

8. Focus on scaling 

Scaling is a process that you cannot overlook when building a 7-figure business. Limiting your scope is the last thing you want to do when building a million-dollar business. Scaling also helps you enhance your growth prospects. Many companies fear scaling as they are not sure if they can handle the additional workload and the investment demands. However, you can scale your business without necessarily burdening yourself.

Here are some tips for scaling your business efficiently.

• Outsource: Many entrepreneurs feel the need to do everything themselves. This notion is feasible when your business is small. As it grows, you need to find people who can share the load with you. You can always outsource your non-core activities, such as digital marketing and finance, to proficient professionals.

• Automate: Machine learning and artificial intelligence have changed the dynamics of the business world. Nowadays, there are multiple softwares you can use to reduce manual labor and automate repetitive tasks.

• Hiring: Another crucial aspect when scaling your business is having the manpower and resources to handle the additional workload. However, don’t make the mistake of hiring too many people at once. You should focus on finding the right people for the job rather than more people.

A 7-figure business is not an unachievable goal. With prior planning and constant efforts, you can build your business in a few years. However, there are no shortcuts to success. You need to do the groundwork from day one to reach the top.