Many businesses I meet with are stuck at a certain level and can’t break through. They can’t seem to get unstuck. They can’t level up. Leveling up, in a general sense, means to make a change in your life or career for the better. When you level up your business, you take it to the next level. In this context, that means getting more production from your staff, acquiring better clients, and ultimately have better margins. Sounds simple enough. But, the reality is, with the same people, process, and products, you’re business won’t be able to.

After giving the same advice to many of them, I realized there are 4 simple steps for leveling up your business.

Step 1 – Embrace who you are.

Know what your personal limitations are. Understand what your staff is truly capable of achieving. Learn what your customers are saying about you; why they choose to use your services over your competitors. Identify the gaps in your business processes. Don’t skip this last one. If you don’t identify the gaps, you won’t be able to understand why you haven’t leveled up in the past.

It’s from doing these things that you’ll take an inventory of where you’re at. There’s no right or wrong answer here. It’s just reality. “It is what it is.” BUT. You can’t even think about leveling up if you don’t know what level you’re currently. You won’t be able to get to the next one.

Many of my clients walk through the process of developing a functional organizational chart to map this out in a literal sense.

Step 2 – Identify what you want.

Leveling up, in a more specific sense, needs to be clarified with what you want that to look like. Thinking, “I just want the business to do better” won’t get you there. Instead, clarify that goal. How exactly do you want it to do better? Do you want more clients? Do you want more profitable customers? Do you want a staff that doesn’t bother you every two minutes (yes, I was told this by a potential client as what they want.) Whatever it is. Get specific. That’s a key component of setting SMART Action Goals (Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Relative. Time Bound.)

Then, continue the steps of the SMART Action Goals. Get measurable. How are you going to measure your progress towards this goal? How are you going to know once you’ve gotten there? Make sure what you want is attainable too. Is it relative to your other business objectives? Is there a time constraint on this goal?

Step 3 – List out the sacrifices.

This is my favorite step, but unfortunately many people skip this part… It’s important to remember: You won’t be able to get to where you want to go if you don’t make some changes. Before you can make those changes, you need to take an inventory of what this change is going to cost you. It might be financial (the investment of money into a process). It might be emotional (taking a hit to your ego). It might be relational (the hiring of additional people or firing of unnecessary people). It might be personal (changes in your personal life). It might be a diversion of attention (a new focus and shifting of priorities).

When you list out the sacrifices you’re willing to make, after you’ve done the first two steps, it forces your brain to take a mental inventory of exactly how this process will work. It’s a mental exercise I learned from my undergraduate studies at Judson University, in Elgin Illinois. It’s like realizing exactly how this whole “leveling up” thing will actually work. It’s a beautiful process to witness.

Step 4 – Commit to getting there.

For many people this is the “rubber meets the road” step. Without this step (implementation), you were basically just teasing yourself with the whole “level up” talk. You have to take some action. Right. Now. What’s that going to be? It varies with each situation. But, this could be hiring a consultant to be your accountability partner in this process. It could be hiring a business manager so you can focus on the parts of the business you do best. It could be telling your team there’s going to be changes and then laying out the step by step plan on what that looks like.

Whatever committing to getting there looks like. You, and only you, hold the keys to each step in this process.

So. What have you got to lose? Let’s level up!