Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat

Chapter 9. FROM $1 MILLION TO $10 MILLION AND BEYOND: How to Break through the One-Product-Company Syndrome

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."

—Steve Jobs

You have gotten your business started and have recorded your first million-dollar year. If you followed the program outlined in the preceding chapters for Stage One (start-up) businesses, you are ready for Stage Two: getting your business from $1 million to $10 million in revenues. You have learned a lot of important things—actually, the most important things—about doing business in your industry. You have:

• Located your core market—where your best customers are.

• Figured out the best media to reach them.

• Determined the best price for your lead product.

• Identified a unique selling proposition (USP) for your product.

• Tied that USP into a Big Idea.

• Used that Big Idea to create compelling marketing copy.

• Tested all of the above—media, offer, and copy—repeatedly.

STAGE TWO: CHILDHOOD—$1 MILLION TO $10 MILLION IN REVENUE

Main Problem: You are only breaking even or may even be losing money.

Main Challenge: Creating additional, profitable products quickly.

Main Opportunity: Becoming a business of innovation, increasing cash flow, and becoming profitable.

Additional Skill Needed: Coming up with a constant stream of new and potentially tipping-point ideas.

In short, you have figured out the optimal selling strategy (OSS) for the lead product of your business. Having an OSS means you understand how to bring in new customers cost-effectively. ...