$100M SCALING

$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

ROADMAP
STAGE 5: PRODUCTIZE

A PE RSO N A L I Z E D G U I D E F R OM

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

YOU ARE HERE

STAGE 5: PRODUCTIZE

0. IMPROVISE 5. PRODUCTIZE

1. MONETIZE 6. OPTIMIZE

2. ADVERTISE 7. CATEGORIZE

3. STABILIZE 8. SPECIALIZE

4. PRIORITIZE 9. CAPITALIZE

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

STAGE 5: PRODUCTIZE

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

WATCH THIS FIRST

“START HERE”

THIS VIDEO EXPLAINS THE ENTIRE

$100M SCALING ROADMAP. THIS INCLUDES:

The methodology The differences Repeat themes How to get the most
between stages to be aware of out of your business

GOT IT? LET’S START SCALING

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

YOUR STAGE
STAGE 5
PRODUCTIZE

THIS VIDEO PROVIDES AN

IN-DEPTH LOOK AT THE CONSTRAINTS
& SOLUTIONS AT STAGE 5

YOUR ROLE HEADCOUNT BOTTOM LINE GRADUATE BY

DIRECTOR 10 to 19 Not making enough Make and sell your
per customer. second premium
Low LTV:CAC. product to customers

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

WHEN YOU HIT

“STAGE 5: PRODUCTIZE”
You’ve grown to 10-19 employees! Around 2.4 million businesses reach this level. You’re now a “Director”

with your first 2-3 managers under you. This is when your original product is doing well, but that’s not

enough anymore. Your main challenge? You need a second product to keep growing. Specifically,

you need to extend LTV - aka - you need to make more per customer. This gives you the cash to

scale advertising and recruit even higher level people to your team to keep the growth coming.

THE BIG CHALLENGE: ONE PRODUCT ISN’T ENOUGH

The biggest problem at Stage 5 is that customers buy your product, but then they have nothing

else to buy from you. They might even leave (churn) because they need other things you don’t offer.

That’s why it’s called the “Productize” stage - you need to create new products to sell to your existing

customers. Let’s look at what’s happening:

Products and Sales

Marketing and Customers

Tech and Data

People and HR

Money Matters

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

Products & Sales

• Customers have nothing else to buy from you after their first purchase
• You need to connect customer service with product development
• You need to make something new to sell to existing customers
• Sales people are overpromising and causing refunds and bad reviews
• You need to create sales materials and record customer calls for training

Marketing and Customers

• Getting qualified leads is getting expensive

• Your marketing needs to be more targeted
• Customer support is inconsistent - different people give different answers
• You need a proper playbook for customer service
• You need a plan for moving customers to higher-level products

Tech and Data

• Employees are using their personal computers and software
• When people leave, they take company information with them
• You need company-owned computers and software
• You need a way to track leads and customers
• You need dashboards to show important numbers

People and HR
• It’s hard to find managers and higher-level employees
• You should promote good employees from within when possible
• You’re firing people incorrectly and could get in trouble
• You need proper termination policies
• You need ways to encourage employee referrals

Money Matters
• You don’t know how much money you can reinvest in growth
• You need a real budget
• You need simple financial forecasting
• You need to track tax write-offs better

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS

LIKE AT STAGE 5
Your job is to create a second premium product while making everything more

professional. Here’s what you need to do:

Create Your Second Product

• Listen to what else customers want

• Create something new they can buy
• Make sure it’s high quality
• Price it well (often higher than your first product)

Professionalize Everything

• Create proper training materials

• Write down how everything should be done
• Give employees company equipment
• Set up proper systems

Improve Customer Experience

• Create consistent customer service

• Train everyone to give the same answers
• Record customer calls for training
• Create a path for customers to buy more

Fix the Money Side

• Make a real budget

• Track spending better
• Plan for future expenses
• Save money for growth

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

THE BOTTOM LINE

STAGE 5 IS ABOUT GOING FROM “ONE-HIT WONDER” TO HAVING
MULTIPLE SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTS. YOU CAN’T GROW JUST BY
SELLING MORE OF THE SAME THING. YOU NEED TO:

CREATE NEW SELL MORE TO MAKE EVERYTHING SET UP PROPER

PRODUCTS EXISTING CUSTOMERS MORE PROFESSIONAL SYSTEMS

This is when your business starts feeling like a real company that could keep growing for years. Instead of just doing one
thing well, you’re building a business that can do several things well.

WHY IT’S CHALLENGING: BUT IT’S WORTH IT BECAUSE:

• Making a second product is hard • You can sell more to existing customers
• You’re still fixing problems with the first product • You reduce risk by having multiple products
• Everything needs to become more professional • You build a stronger, more valuable company
• You need to spend money to grow • You create paths for future growth

REMEMBER
The key to Stage 5 is balance. You need to keep your • Make sure it’s truly needed
first product running well while creating something new. • Price it well (usually higher than their first product)
You need to stay profitable while investing in growth. You • Keep the first product running smoothly while
need to keep current customers happy while attracting developing the new one
new ones.
If you can master this balancing act, you’ll have
About 2.4 million businesses have figured out this a business that’s built to last and ready to grow
balance. The ones that succeed usually: even bigger.
• Start small with their second product
• Test it with their best customers

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

DO YOU WANT TO
SCALE TO THE
NEXT STEP?

What they see: you’ve got a successful business. What you see: you don’t take

home much at the end of the month. Reason: You’re not making enough profit.

If you want to expand your margin, have more cash to grow, and make more

money, you can see how we do this at a Scaling Workshop.

Check Dates

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

THIS IS THE
STAGE YOU JUST
GRADUATED FROM...

STAGE 4: PRIORITIZE
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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

STAGE 4: PRIORITIZE

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

YOUR STAGE
STAGE 4
PRIORITIZE

THIS VIDEO PROVIDES AN

IN-DEPTH LOOK AT THE CONSTRAINTS
& SOLUTIONS AT STAGE 4

YOUR ROLE HEADCOUNT BOTTOM LINE GRADUATE BY

MANAGER 5 to 9 Trying to be Niche down to
everything to serve only people
everyone like your best
customers

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

WHEN YOU HIT

“STAGE 4: PRIORITIZE”
Welcome to having 5-9 employees! About 3 million businesses reach this level. This is when you

change from being a “trainer” to becoming a real “manager.” You’ll have your first real team, with

one layer of organization between you and the front-line workers. The big difference? You can’t do

everything anymore - you have to choose what matters most.

THE BIG CHALLENGE: TRYING TO PLEASE EVERYONE

The main problem at Stage 4 is that you’ve been saying “yes” to any customer who would pay

you. Now that’s causing problems because different customers want different things. That’s why it’s

called the “Prioritize” stage - you need to figure out who your best customers are and focus on them.

Let’s break down what’s happening:

Products and Customers

Marketing and Sales

Customer Service

Tech and Tools

People and HR

Money Matters

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

Products & Customers

• You’ve said yes to anyone who would pay, and now your product is pulled in too many directions

• You need to choose a specific type of customer to focus on

• You need to update your product to serve just those ideal customers

• You might need to raise your prices to match your specialized service

Marketing & Sales

• You’re getting too many unqualified leads (people who aren’t right for your business)

• You need to create better free content to attract the right people

• Your sales team isn’t following up with leads quickly enough

• You need to start tracking basic sales numbers like how many calls you make

and how many people buy

Customer Service
• You have no way to measure if customers are happy

• You need to start tracking customer satisfaction

• Customer information is scattered everywhere

• You need a proper system (CRM) to keep track of customer notes and interactions

Tech and Tools

• Your new team isn’t using all the tools properly

• You need to get everyone on the same platforms

• You need to protect passwords and data

• You need project management and team chat tools

People and HR
• You’re wasting time interviewing people who aren’t right for the job

• You need to learn how to interview properly and check references

• Employees don’t know basic rules about time off, dress code, etc.

• You need to create an employee handbook with basic policies

Money Matters
• You keep getting surprised by “one-time” expenses

• You’re learning that running a business costs more than you thought

• You need proper profit and loss statements

• You need basic business insurance

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS

LIKE AT STAGE 4
Your job is to make the business more focused and professional. Here’s what you

need to do to graduate from Stage 4:

Choose Your Focus

• Figure out who your best customers are

• Change your product to serve them better
• Stop trying to please everyone
• Be willing to say “no” to customers who aren’t a good fit

Get Organized

• Set up proper systems for tracking sales

• Keep all customer information in one place
• Make sure everyone uses the same tools
• Create basic rules and policies

Start Measuring Things

• Track how many leads turn into sales

• Measure customer satisfaction
• Monitor how quickly you respond to leads
• Keep track of basic financial numbers

Make Things Professional

• Write an employee handbook

• Set up proper insurance
• Create basic processes for everything
• Start running your business like a real company

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

THE BOTTOM LINE

STAGE 4 IS ALL ABOUT FOCUS AND PRIORITIES.
YOU CAN’T SERVE EVERYONE, AND YOU CAN’T DO
EVERYTHING. YOU NEED TO CHOOSE WHAT’S MOST
IMPORTANT AND FOCUS ON THAT. THIS MEANS:

PICKING SAYING SETTING CREATING MEASURING

YOUR IDEAL NO TO UP BASIC CLEAR WHAT
CUSTOMERS OTHERS SYSTEMS RULES MATTERS

This is when your business starts feeling like a real company instead of just a group of people working

together. It’s when you stop trying to please everyone and start focusing on being really good at

serving specific types of customers.

REMEMBER
The key to Stage 4 is learning to say “no.” No to customers want to build something bigger in the long term. About 3
who aren’t right for you. No to projects that don’t fit. No million businesses have made this transition successfully.
to doing everything yourself. That’s how you build a If you stay focused on serving your best customers really
focused, successful business that can grow even bigger. well, you will too.

It’s a hard transition because saying “no” means turning

down money in the short term. But it’s necessary if you

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

THIS IS
WHAT’S
COMING NEXT...

STAGE 6: OPTIMIZE
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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

STAGE 6: OPTIMIZE

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

YOUR STAGE
STAGE 6
OPTIMIZE

THIS VIDEO PROVIDES AN

IN-DEPTH LOOK AT THE CONSTRAINTS
& SOLUTIONS AT STAGE 6

YOUR ROLE HEADCOUNT BOTTOM LINE GRADUATE BY

Leader 20-49 Everthing is Doing better rather
inefficient than doing more

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

WHEN YOU HIT

“STAGE 6: OPTIMIZE”
You’ve grown to 20-49 employees! About 2.1 million businesses reach this level.
You’re now a “Leader” with a full team of managers under you. The interesting
thing about this stage? Your main challenge isn’t doing more—it’s doing
everything better. You have two products, but they both need improvement.

THE BIG CHALLENGE:

EVERYTHING COULD BE BETTER
The biggest problem at Stage 6 is that having more people doesn’t automatically

make things work better. Things are actually getting less efficient. That’s why it’s called

the “Optimize” stage—you need to make everything work better, not just bigger. Let’s

look at what’s happening...

Products and Marketing

Sales and Customer Service

Tech and Security

People and HR

Money Matters

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

Products and Marketing

• Improving two products at once is slowing everything down

• You need a process to improve both products bit by bit
• Your ads don’t work as well with colder audiences
• Your marketing costs (CAC) are going up
• You need a better way to create ads at scale

Sales and Customer Service

• Your core product isn’t closing as well as it used to

• Sales team needs real training now
• Customer churn is increasing because you have more products
• You need to group customers by when they joined and how they use products
• You need to track more detailed customer success metrics

Tech and Security

• New people are joining, others are leaving

• Company data and access is at risk
• You need real cybersecurity
• You need better password protection
• You need proper employee onboarding and offboarding for tech

People and HR

• You can’t find enough good people through your network

• Everyone who’s good already has a job
• You need multiple interviews for different skills
• High-level talent wants full benefits packages
• You need retirement plans and better benefits

Money Matters

• You’re spending money on growth but not growing

• Money seems to be missing or wasted
• You need more detailed financial data
• You need a real balance sheet
• You need to pay taxes quarterly

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS

LIKE AT STAGE 6
YOUR JOB IS TO MAKE EVERYTHING WORK BETTER.
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

Fix The Basics

• Make your core systems work better
• Train your people better
• Track everything important
• Fix the biggest inefficiencies first

Protect Your Business

• Set up proper security
• Protect company data
• Get proper insurance
• Create proper processes

Make Things Measurable

• Track important numbers
• Measure employee performance
• Monitor customer satisfaction
• Watch financial metrics

Build For The Future

• Create training systems
• Set up better benefits
• Improve your technology
• Make things scalable

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

THE BOTTOM LINE

STAGE 6 IS ABOUT MAKING EVERYTHING WORK BETTER,
NOT JUST BIGGER. INSTEAD OF JUST ADDING MORE
PEOPLE OR DOING MORE THINGS, YOU NEED TO:

IMPROVE MAKE THINGS FIX WHAT’S BUILD BETTER

EXISTING SYSTEMS MORE EFFICIENT BROKEN PROCESSES

WHY IT’S CHALLENGING: BUT IT’S WORTH IT BECAUSE:

• It’s tempting to just do more instead of better • Things start working smoothly
• Fixing things takes time and money • You waste less money
• You have to change how things work • People are more productive
• People resist change • You can grow without breaking things
• You have to invest in improvement without
immediate payoff

REMEMBER
The key to Stage 6 is patience. Making things About 2.1 million businesses have mastered this
better takes time. You can’t rush optimization. optimization phase. The successful ones usually:
You have to: • Focus on one improvement at a time
• Find what’s not working well • Measure results carefully
• Figure out why • Train people properly
• Create a better way • Create good systems
• Test it • Document everything
• Train people • Make sure changes stick
• Monitor results

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

THE SECRET
TO SUCCESS
THE REAL SECRET TO STAGE 6 IS REALIZING THAT
“BETTER” BEATS “MORE.”

DON’T DO THIS DO THIS INSTEAD

Hiring More People Train Current People Better

Adding More Products Improve Current Products

Getting More Customers Serve Current Customers Better

Adding More Tools Use Current Tools Better

If you can make this shift from “more” to “better,” you’ll build a stronger
business that’s ready for even bigger growth.

Remember, at this stage, success isn’t about doing more—it’s about getting
more for what you do.

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$100M SCALING ROADMAP • STAGE 05: PRODUCTIZE PERSONALIZED GUIDE

DO YOU WANT TO
SCALE TO THE
NEXT STEP?

What they see: you’ve got a successful business. What you see: you don’t take

home much at the end of the month. Reason: You’re not making enough profit.

If you want to expand your margin, have more cash to grow, and make more

money, you can see how we do this at a Scaling Workshop.

Check Dates

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