It started, as most things do these days, on Zoom.

My camera—crooked as usual—and my lighting made me look like I was doing the consultation from inside a cave… 

But hey, when you charge $3,000 an hour, you assume people are here for your brain, not your webcam skills.

Mark was sitting on the other side of the screen, somewhere between impressed and skeptical. 

(Now, we don’t share the names of our partners and clients we work with, so they have a competitive advantage in their markets. So, we’re going to call him Mark.)

Pulling in $110,000 a month already, Mark wasn’t a newbie. 

He was successful, but he wasn’t free. 

His business was riding on his shoulders, and he was stuck trying to figure out how to break through to the next level without breaking himself in the process.

His first words weren’t the usual polite pleasantries. 

Instead, he dove straight in: “I’ve worked with all the top business coaches, hired agencies that promised the world, and I’m still stuck. 

I need to get to $1M a month, but I feel like I’ve hit a wall. 

Can you actually help me?”

I grinned, adjusting my camera just enough to reveal a slightly less lopsided view of my ceiling fan. 

“Mark, you’ve come to the right place. I won’t waste your time with fluff or theory. By the end of this hour, you’ll have a roadmap to break through that wall. But fair warning—I’m terrible at small talk. Let’s get to work.”

“Why should I listen to you?” 

Mark asked with the kind of half-smile that told me he was genuinely curious but wouldn’t mind poking holes in my pitch if I didn’t have my act together. 

Fair enough. If I were about to spend $3,000 on an hour of someone’s time, I’d ask the same thing.

So, I leaned in—not to the camera, but into the story.

“Two years ago, I sold my coaching company after scaling it to high six-figure months. 

Since then, I’ve spent a year consulting CEOs who were paying me $25,000 a month to fix their businesses, and spoiler alert: most of them had the same problems you do. 

Then I started The Rainmakers, my agency, and built a system that reliably adds 20+ clients a week to our partners’ businesses without them burning out or running on a content treadmill.”

Mark nodded, intrigued but cautious.

“Here’s the beauty of this plan,” I said.

 “It’s not rocket science, but it works. I will take what you’re already doing well and turn it into a machine that runs without you having to micromanage every little piece. 

By the end of this hour, you’ll have a clear path from $110k to $1M a month.”

Mark looked up from his notepad, and he smiled for the first time since the call started. 

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s do this.” 

Even though Mark’s already pulling in just over $100,000 a month—which, let’s be honest, isn’t exactly couch-cushion change—we started by talking about the three core systems every business needs for predictable, stress-free growth.

Why? 

Because no matter how impressive your numbers are, if you don’t have these systems dialed in, your business is like a house of cards. 

One strong gust—aka a busy season, a staff issue, or life itself—and the whole thing can topple.

These three systems are my bread and butter. 

They’re what I focus on when working with coaches in that $30k to $100k-a-month sweet spot who want to scale without adding gray hairs or extra work hours.

So, let me walk you through the exact blueprint I gave Mark…

Phase 1: Building the Three Core Systems ($30k to $100k/month)

You’ve cracked $30k/month, so now the game changes. 

It’s no longer about grinding for every sale—it’s about building systems that do the heavy lifting for you. At this stage, scaling starts with three repeatable systems: lead generation, sales, and fulfillment.

Mark had cracked $110K/month, but it came at a cost. 

He was working late nights, micromanaging his team, and handling too much himself. 

As I walked him through the three core systems—lead generation, sales, and fulfillment—he realized he had only partially built each one, leaving him stuck in the grind.

1. Lead Generation: Creating a Consistent Flow of Qualified Leads

You can’t scale without a steady stream of prospects, and relying on referrals or organic traffic alone won’t cut it. This is where paid ads or outbound marketing become non-negotiable.

• The Goal: Generate qualified sales calls on autopilot at a cost that makes sense (ideally, under $300 per call).
• The Strategy: Run ads that showcase your offer’s irresistible value, or implement outbound strategies like cold outreach to targeted prospects.
• The Benefit: Once dialed in, you’ll have a predictable way to fill your pipeline every single day.

Think of lead generation as your business’s heartbeat—it keeps the blood flowing so everything else can function.

Closing Calls Like Clockwork

Now that you’ve got leads coming in, it’s time to turn those calls into cash. This requires a repeatable, battle-tested sales process.

• Your Job as Founder: You’re still the one closing at this stage because no one knows your offer better than you. Plus, refining the sales script is critical, and you can’t outsource that without first mastering it yourself.
• The Metric: Aim for a 30% close rate on qualified calls (from booked call to close, NOT just on final closing call). If you’re not hitting that, refine your pitch, practice objection handling, and study your ideal client’s pain points like it’s your new religion.
• The System: Develop a script that guides the conversation effortlessly—covering rapport, discovery, value delivery, and the close. Once it works, you can eventually hand it off to a closer in Phase 3.

A great sales process is like a recipe: follow the steps, and you’ll get consistent results.

3. Fulfillment: Systematizing Client Results

As your client list grows, delivering consistent results becomes a bigger challenge. This is where you start building your ‘fulfillment conveyor belt.’

• The Concept: Every client goes through the same series of “hoops” (milestones or activation points) to achieve their desired outcome.
• The Execution: Review what’s working and what isn’t in your current process. Document it, streamline it, and start standardizing it so results don’t depend solely on you.
• The Feedback Loop: Constantly iterate. Check client results daily, tweak the process, and optimize. Over time, you’ll create a fulfillment system that runs like clockwork.

When clients get consistent results, retention and referrals become effortless.

By the time you hit $100k/month, you’ll have built a well-oiled machine for generating, closing, and fulfilling high-ticket clients. 

These systems form the backbone of your business, allowing you to scale without constantly reinventing the wheel. 

You’ll move from chasing growth to creating predictable, scalable success—and that’s when the real fun begins.

Phase 2: Productizing Your Business ($100k to $250k/month)

At this stage, you’re no longer just running a business—you’re building a machine. 

Mark admitted he’d tried to hire a sales closer before, but the results were disappointing. 

I explained that the problem wasn’t the person—it was his onboarding process. Together, we mapped out how to hire, train, and support closers and account managers effectively. 

By the end of this phase, he knew his business could run without him handling every detail.

Scaling beyond $100k/month isn’t about working harder; it’s about productizing your operations so they can run without you in the driver’s seat. This is the phase where you make your business scalable.

To productize your business is to turn your systems—lead generation, sales, and fulfillment—into streamlined processes that can scale efficiently. 

The goal is to create a repeatable, reliable operation that delivers results whether you’re directly involved or not.

Step 1: Offloading Sales Success (& Trusting Performance)

You’ve spent countless hours closing sales and ensuring clients get exceptional results. 

Now it’s time to bring in reinforcements.

Hiring Your First Closer

Instead of spending your mornings on back-to-back sales calls, you’ve got a dedicated closer handling them for you. 

But handing off sales isn’t as simple as giving someone a script and hoping they crush it.

Your role is to set them up for success:

• Onboard them thoroughly. Don’t just teach them the script—show them the nuances of how you connect with clients and handle objections.
• Train them consistently. Daily debriefs after calls are critical to refining their skills and ensuring they align with your expectations.
• Set the bar. Your goal is for them to maintain or even improve your 30% close rate, freeing you to focus on higher-level strategy.

Bringing in an Account Manager (AM)

While your closer takes over sales, your account manager steps in to oversee fulfillment and client success. 

This isn’t just about lightening your load; it’s about ensuring every client gets a seamless, exceptional experience.

Your job is to:

• Build clear systems and workflows so your AM knows exactly what needs to happen at every step.
• Empower them to be self-sufficient. They should handle client needs without constantly coming to you for approval or guidance.

When done right, these hires don’t just save you time—they multiply your impact. 

They create bandwidth for you to focus on growth, not the grind.

Step 2: Onboarding and Ramping Processes

Here’s a hard truth: when a new hire doesn’t work out, the problem often isn’t the person—it’s the onboarding process.

Think about it. How can someone meet your expectations if they don’t fully understand what’s expected of them or how to deliver it?

A well-structured onboarding process is your insurance policy against failure.

• Set clear expectations from day one. Define their role, their KPIs, and how success will be measured.
• Provide the tools and knowledge they need to succeed. That could mean scripts for closers, workflows for AMs, or even shadowing you in action.
• Don’t stop at onboarding. Dedicate time to ramping them up with consistent feedback and training. This isn’t a cost—it’s an investment that will pay off exponentially as they begin to excel.

And here’s a pro tip: document everything. 

Your onboarding process should be so well-defined that it becomes a repeatable system anyone can follow.

Step 3: Iterating for Consistency and Efficiency

Even with a stellar team in place, your systems will never be “set it and forget it.” Growth demands constant iteration and improvement.

Refining Your Sales Process

Work closely with your closer to analyze metrics, tweak approaches, and optimize scripts. 

A slight adjustment in how they frame your offer or handle objections could mean the difference between hitting 30% close rates and blowing past them.

Streamlining Fulfillment

Collaborate with your AM to identify bottlenecks in client workflows. 

What’s slowing things down? 

What’s confusing clients? 

Address these issues to create a seamless process that ensures consistent results.

Building Feedback Loops

Regularly review client feedback and team performance to spot opportunities for improvement. 

Every tweak brings you closer to a business that operates with precision and reliability.

The balance here is key: you want efficiency without sacrificing effectiveness. 

It’s not about cutting corners—it’s about doing what works, better.

By the end of this phase, you’ll have a sales and fulfillment team consistently hitting their KPIs without needing your constant oversight. 

This is the turning point. 

You’re no longer just running a business—you’re scaling a machine. And with these systems in place, your business doesn’t just grow. It thrives.

Phase 3: Scaling Through Team Leadership ($250k to $500k/month)

When your business hits $250k/month, everything changes. 

It’s no longer about how hard you work or how fine-tuned your systems are. 

Now, it’s about one thing: how well your team performs. Scaling beyond this point isn’t an operational challenge—it’s a leadership one. Success at this level comes from your ability to develop people, not just processes.

For Mark to hit $250K/month, he realized something: his team wasn’t the problem—he was.

 He was still too involved in solving day-to-day issues. I told him, ‘It’s time to step into leadership. 

Your team can’t grow if you’re always in the weeds.

The Shift: From Operator to Leader

At this stage, your role evolves. You’re no longer the person executing every task or fixing every problem. Instead, your focus is building a culture of performance, accountability, and growth. 

Your mission is clear: make your team successful, so they make the business successful.

1. Increasing Capacity: Ads and Team Growth

Growth at this level demands scaling your inputs: more leads, more sales calls, and more fulfillment capacity. But scaling inputs only works if you’ve built the infrastructure to handle them.

• Ads: Increase your ad spend strategically to generate a steady flow of leads. Make sure your marketing systems can handle the added volume without breaking down.
• Team Growth: As your leads and sales calls grow, so must your team. This means hiring more closers, account managers, and support staff. But don’t just hire warm bodies—hire people who elevate the team, not just fill seats.

Avoid the trap of scaling ads faster than your team. A flood of leads without the capacity to handle them will overwhelm your systems, frustrate your clients, and hurt your brand.

2. Training and Developing Your Team

Your team’s success is a direct reflection of how well you train and support them. When you invest in their growth, it creates a ripple effect that drives the entire organization forward.

• Skill Development: Closers need regular training on objection handling, refining scripts, and understanding sales psychology. Meanwhile, account managers must learn to streamline workflows, better serve clients, and anticipate needs before they arise.
• Alignment: Every team member should understand how their role contributes to the company’s broader vision. This clarity motivates people and keeps them focused on what matters most.
• Accountability: Set clear KPIs for every role and track performance consistently. Celebrate wins to reinforce positive behavior, but don’t shy away from addressing underperformance directly and constructively.

A strong team doesn’t happen by chance—it’s a product of intentional leadership. When you build your people, they’ll build your business.

3. Building Scalable Processes

As your business grows, you can’t rely on ad-hoc solutions or informal systems. You need processes that scale with you. Focus on three key areas:

• Recruitment: Create a system to attract top talent. This means crafting detailed job descriptions, structuring interviews to identify the right fit, and developing a seamless hiring experience.
• Onboarding: A great onboarding process ensures new hires hit the ground running. Train them not just in their tasks but also in your company culture and values. This creates alignment from day one.
• Meeting Cadence: Daily team meetings are the glue that keeps everything together. Run 15-minute stand-ups where each person shares:
  1. What they accomplished yesterday.
  2. What they’re focusing on today.
  3. Any challenges they need help with.

This simple structure keeps your team aligned, surfaces problems early, and fosters a culture of transparency and accountability.

By the end of this phase, your team will be a high-performing engine driving your business forward. Your role shifts from micromanaging to guiding and developing. You’re not stuck in the weeds—you’re steering the ship.

When your team is winning, your business becomes unstoppable. 

At $500k/month, you’ll have built more than a thriving company—you’ll have created an organization capable of scaling to even greater heights. And best of all, you’ll be leading with clarity, confidence, and purpose.

Phase 4: Operational Freedom ($500k to $1M/month)

Hitting $500k a month is an accomplishment most business owners only dream about. 

But scaling to $1M? That’s a different game entirely. 

At this level, the work shifts from doing more to doing less—strategically. It’s no longer about being involved in every decision or every task. It’s about building a business that thrives without you, delivering exceptional results whether you’re in the room or not.

Mark had the epiphany on our call…

To hit $500K/month, his mindset is the thing that needed shifting. 

He knew he no longer should be asking, ‘How do I fix this?’ 

Instead, he should be asking, ‘How do I empower my team to fix this?’ 

This stage demands a fundamental mindset shift: moving from execution to strategy, from being in the trenches to leading from above.

Step 1: Promoting Internal Managers

By now, you’ve built a solid team that runs your core systems—sales, fulfillment, and operations. The next step is to elevate your best performers into leadership roles, creating a layer of management that takes full ownership of their departments.

• Sales Manager: This person oversees your closers, ensuring they hit their KPIs, refine the sales process, and maintain a high close rate. They handle team coaching, review sales calls, and troubleshoot performance issues.
• Client Success Director: This role is all about fulfillment—ensuring clients get consistent results, are happy with their experience, and stick around long-term. They manage client relationships and retention metrics.
• Operations Manager: Your operations lead handles everything behind the scenes—finance, legal, admin—keeping the business running smoothly so you can focus on growth.

Here’s the trick: promote from within whenever possible. People who’ve grown with your company already understand your culture, values, and systems, making the transition seamless and effective.

Step 2: Delegating Problem-Solving

One of the hardest shifts at this stage is letting go of the need to fix every problem yourself. If you’re still jumping into Slack to handle client complaints or troubleshooting your ads at midnight, you’re holding your business back.

Your managers need to take ownership of their roles—and their problems. Your job is to empower them with clear decision-making guidelines and trust them to execute within those boundaries.

• How to Delegate Effectively:
  • Give them the tools and authority to solve challenges on their own.
  • Create a culture of accountability, where team members feel confident handling issues but escalate them only when absolutely necessary.

This doesn’t mean you’re checked out—it means you’re no longer in the weeds. 

Instead of fixing problems, you’re coaching your managers to handle them better. You’ll still check in regularly, but your focus shifts to guiding, not micromanaging.

Step 3: Transitioning to Strategic Leadership

With your team running the day-to-day, your role becomes one of visionary leadership. 

This is where you step back to look at the big picture and focus on shaping the future of your business.

• Big-Picture Strategy: Where do you want the business to go in the next one to three years? Are there new markets you can tap into? New offers you can develop?
• New Initiatives: With operational freedom, you now have the bandwidth to explore new opportunities. This could mean scaling existing systems, diversifying revenue streams, or optimizing profitability.
• Team Development: Continue investing in your managers. Their success is your success, so ensure they have the tools, training, and support they need to thrive.

This stage requires a profound mindset shift: letting go of the need to control every detail and trusting your team to execute the vision. Your job now is to think strategically and lead confidently.

By the time you’ve mastered this phase, your business runs like a well-oiled machine. 

Sales happen without you. 

Clients are delighted without your direct involvement. 

Challenges are solved before they even reach your desk. 

And the revenue? 

It grows—without you having to push every button.

This is operational freedom—the moment where you’re no longer a business operator but a true architect. 

You have the time, space, and energy to focus on what lights you up, whether that’s doubling down on growth, exploring new passions, or simply enjoying the life you’ve built.

At $1M a month, you’re not just running a business anymore. 

You’ve designed a legacy.

 A machine that works for you, instead of the other way around.