Do you ever wonder what people with more successful businesses are doing? I know I am always swiping through carousels and listening to episodes like this, and often it’s all the same: “They’re consistent,” “They charge their worth,” etc. This episode is NOT like that. I am working behind the scenes in these businesses, and I have gathered 11 things that I genuinely see multi-6 and 7-figure business owners doing regularly. I guarantee you haven’t thought of or noticed at least a few of these things before! So, without further ado, welcome to episode 20 (I can’t believe we got here this fast!)
I want to give a quick disclaimer. These points are patterns I have noticed (while working with many businesses over the years) and are not based on any one specific business or business owner alone.
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Table of Contents
1. They Embrace Boring Tasks
Oftentimes when we are a solopreneur and in hustle mode, we are always doing things that we like. It’s this idea that you feel like you’re working (which you are!), but it’s not necessarily the stuff that needs to get done or that you should be doing. The stuff you should be doing is usually boring and sometimes we will just avoid the more tedious and boring tasks.
Instead we will gravitate towards the things on our to-do list that we naturally LIKE to do. One thing that I’ve seen over and over again with multi-six and 7-figure business owners is that when boring tasks are getting done, they are thrilled. They know the importance of these tedious tasks that nobody wants to do (and they don’t want to do) and understand if they have a boring day in the office, it means a lot is getting done.
2. They Have SYSTEMS
This is probably the most obvious one in the entire list of 11 things, but hear me out on this. Most of them have systems in place. All of my multi-6 or 7-figure business clients are using either Asana, Clickup, or Monday for project management. So, they know exactly what they need to work on, what their timelines are or if they’re ahead or behind on projects. They’re not guessing.
They have systems in place. Not only do they have systems in place for project management, but they also have specific systems for other needs. For example, if someone wants to be a guest on their podcast, they have a form for that. If somebody wants a refund, if somebody reaches out about a new opportunity, they have a system for that. If they hire someone like me, they know that they’re going to probably want to onboard me to their project management system or adopt what I have.
For almost any scenario, they have a system, they have email templates (which is exactly how they would respond) so they don’t have to respond to every email. The backend is clean. It’s not always perfect, but there is always something there. I’m a big fan of having some of that organization on the backend because as you grow, it becomes unsustainable to do everything via email or communicating on Voxer.
To drive my point home, very few people are getting to multi-six and 7-figure businesses without having a system in place. If they are, I can only imagine the headaches that it’s causing.
3. They Have REALISTIC Timelines
They have realistic timelines. We are inundated with “get your course up and running in 30 days”, “build a website in a week” type of messaging and we think these are realistic timelines. These are NOT realistic timelines. When I am in the backend of a six or 7-figure business owner, they are planning to create and launch a course in four months or re-brand in Q3. It’s SO far in advance. We often stress ourselves out and try to throw things together, whereas I find the bigger the businesses, the more slowly it moves.
It’s been so refreshing and a change of pace for me. I know for me, in the past I get so excited about a new idea and want my team and I to drop everything we’re doing because I want to get it done right away (out of excitement of course!). Whereas I feel bigger business owners don’t expect that, not only from their team, but they also are not dropping everything every time they have a new idea.
The realistic timelines has been one of the biggest things I’ve learned from working with multi-six and 7-figure business owners, and it’s so interesting to me to see how far out they’re really planning. They also break their main task up (a new course for example) into a bunch of micro tasks and put those in their project management system.
4. They have MULTIPLE Opt-ins and Less Offers
This is something I’ve never noticed or heard anyone talk about before. I feel we see people create more and more different offers, whereas I see multi-six and 7-figure business owners creating more free content or tiny offers. Specifically behind an email wall. The focus is definitely getting people into their orbit versus creating new offers.
Then, when they do create offers, they’re done really well, but they’re not confusing their audience by having a bunch of ways to work together. It’s usually one to three ways that they’re actively promoting. Sometimes they have stuff behind the scenes (consulting, one-off calls, etc).
It is true that they have different streams of revenue. Whether it’s partnerships with brands or affiliates, but for the most part, they’re working on creating more opt-ins or conversion awareness than they are brand new offers. I think we feel we need more but instead of looking to create another offer, create another opt-in.
5. They Have a HIGH Standard, But Don’t Expect Perfection
While we can all get stuck in perfectionism, there are people who are pushing products, rushing or repurposing things too soon before they’re ready. There is a lot of messaging in the online space that tells us to do it messy, take action, etc. And while I think that can sometimes be good advice, I also think we’ve taken it too far where we are not actually spending enough time on making sure it’s good.
Multi-six and 7-figure business owners are not lazily throwing up content or offers. It is always high quality. They have a high standard for work, but if something minor happens, they aren’t stopping everything until it’s fixed or done right. Everything doesn’t necessarily have to be perfect, but they are not accepting a low standard either.
6. They Are Good Communicators
If you want to be successful, you need to learn to be a good communicator. One thing I see a lot is a different communication style or expectation. I have clients that want any communication through email with a clear subject line. Another example, I have clients that prefer to keep communication in Slack. I have clients that prefer to keep all communications inside their project management software. And I have clients that are fine with Voxer as long as it’s under a minute or two. All of that is okay, but I do think having clear communication boundaries and styles are important.
This ties into the communication style, but I’m never confused about what is expected from me or what they want me to do. The communication is rock solid. They might ask my opinion, but, (as it should be) they’re the ones deciding what to do in the end. I’m not saying if you’re not successful, you’re a horrible communicator. I’m reflecting in my own communication where sometimes I fall short or maybe I create some confusion because I feel I need to say what I want, if I expect people to do what I want.
I’ve noticed especially multi-six and 7-figure business have typically been in business longer and they have got this skill down. They usually have an opinion or know in their head what they want to do.
7. They Are APPRECIATIVE
They are so appreciative. I feel this way about all the business owners I work with, and it really complements the other topics I talk about regarding business owners. When you are not making enough money, it can be really hard to be grateful. I’m not saying this about any client, it’s honestly partly my own experience. It can be hard to show appreciation when not everything is working swimmingly or as amazing as you feel it should be.
I feel that other more successful business owners are not afraid to keep you as part of the journey. They’re not afraid to tell you when something is not going as well, but they’re still so appreciative of the work. And if you’re invested in their business, they really appreciate that. This is not just successful 7-figure business owners, but it is so nice when ANYONE takes the time to do it.
8. They Protect Their IP
They protect their intellectual property. They are checking their website insights on sites like Copyscape to see if someone’s plagiarized them. They know if someone is launching a similar product and they are making sure it’s not theirs. They’re seeing if their course has been ripped off and put on a scammy site. They likely have a few trademarks and are defending them.
I would say a lot of my multi-six and 7-figure business owner clients have been copied or had certain things happen where they had to protect their intellectual property. As someone who doesn’t have as big of a business, it’s been interesting. Because if I thought someone was copying me I would probably think it was just a coincidence. I think it’s a confidence thing, and lack of confidence would be the reason I wouldn’t protect my intellectual property, even though I should. It’s a very interesting pattern, and I think it’s smart business.
9. They Ignore What Competitors Are Doing (But Know Who They Are)
They ignore what their competitors are doing for the most part, but they know who their competitors are. I was working with a client who told me they don’t look at what other competitors do because they don’t want to get influenced by it. Which I thought was so interesting.
Personally, I follow a lot of Pinterest managers and bloggers. Sometimes I will have the same idea as them but even though maybe I had the same idea as they did, I don’t want to create content around it because I saw them do it already. This goes down to the idea of creating before you consume. It’s still important to be aware of who your competitors are, what the market is saying and charging, what do you agree with and don’t agree with, but you don’t necessarily need to watch them very closely.
10. They Are Obsessed With Marketing
Go figure that businesses doing high revenue are obsessed with marketing! For the most part I see my more successful clients (especially ones that have a more personal brand element) trying new things, prioritizing and having fun with marketing. And they spend a great deal of time on it! I think everybody gets frustrated from time to time with things like the Instagram algorithm or what other social media they should try and overanalyzing things, but for the most part, I see my more successful clients really obsessed with marketing.
11. They Have Their Finger On The Pulse Without Micro-Managing
I have clients who are all different levels of involvement with me. Some trust me to do my thing while others like to be really involved in the process. I don’t think any one of these are right or wrong. But bigger businesses know what the deadlines are, they have realistic timelines, they know how long things are going to take and trust their team to get it done so they’re not necessarily checking in all the time. They’re not nitpicking things but they do keep their finger on the pulse. They aren’t focused on the minutiae of what I’m doing, and more focused on the outcomes.
For example, they don’t necessarily care to check how many words are in their blog post, but if they’ve hired me for six months, they care to know what the analytics are. Or, they want to know that there is a blog post every Monday for them to review or whatever the situation might be. Basically, they know what the expectation they have for me is and their other team, but they aren’t trying to figure it out or look over your shoulder while you’re doing it or spend so much time editing it that they could have just done it themselves.
I think sometimes, especially as business owners that love what we do, we become so attached to the work, and like I said, there should be a high standard, but I think sometimes we can get really caught up in doing everything exactly the way that we would do it, and sometimes it’s worth it and sometimes it’s not. So it’s just when to know the difference.
Business Lessons from Multi-6 and 7-figure Business Owners
I hope you enjoyed these business lessons from some of my absolute favorite multi-6 and 7-figure business owners. I absolutely LOVE what I do and who I work with, and I always find it so fascinating to learn how other people are working and running their businesses (outside of their “morning routine” or what we see them doing on Instagram.
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