It’s time to exit your scrappy starup era.

As a startup, you only have so much runway before you run out of tarmac…aka…funds.

It doesn’t really matter how much runway you create for yourself, either; it is almost never enough, hence the scrappiness,…aka…financial gymnastics.

This is all part of the game…..S.T.A.N.D.A.R.D.

How well the startup phase is navigated is where the entrepreneurial wheat is separated from the chaff.

The industry I serve (coaches/experts) doesn’t navigate this phase well, so what was meant to be a scrappy – TEMPORARY – startup phase becomes its entire personality.  Always behind the 8-ball, trying to play catch-up. ALWAYS on struggle street. ALWAYS chasing. NEVER quite getting “there”.

These businesses operate like this for YEARS until they quit or are forced to quit because who wants to continue to endure that level of financial pressure that permeates every inch of your life?

The problem is twofold.

1: There is a lack of urgency. Coaches by nature are optimistic, which serves them well up until a point, and it also holds them back because this optimism to rally, time and time again, rather than build systems that will support growth, is put on the back burner…constantly.

2:  They burn through funds and then stop investing out of fear. Burning funds is part of the deal; you invest in things too early, you make mistakes…all normal. Investing in that coach you expected to save you? Normal. Investing in that shortcut to success? Also normal. Unfortunately, just when you have gained that experience and have become clearer about what you came here to do…is when you stop investing.

NOW you know what you need…and you’re either too scared or too broke to keep investing in growth.

So you start operating from fear.

This is the crossroad coaches will stall at, over and over and over again.

This is where coaches remain trapped in the scrappy startup, building a little more runway, crashing on takeoff and having to start over…again and again and again.

If this sounds familiar and you want off this ride from hell, you must create urgency.

You must get clear on what your business will look like when you are out of startup.

And then you need to set a short deadline, exiting startup and leaving the scrapiness behind.

I have a client who is going through a rough time in her personal life right now. I was able to remind her…hey…your ads are looking great in the feed, and I am seeing them a LOT, and your Podcast stats are looking amazing. Your business is handled. It’s working FOR you even now, while you’re going through this.

THAT is when you know you’ve exited startup and have built an enterprise that operates with or without you.

If you want that, you can have it, but you can’t keep settling for crumbs and taking every little win as a sign; it’s time to start aiming higher than that.

So lock in and get it done!

M x