Build Your Online Business One Sprint at a Time

Start with a Revenue-Generating Offer. Add Capabilities as Your Business Grows.

If you're an experienced professional thinking about building an online business around your expertise, you may already have discovered something: There are a lot of moving parts!

You might need a website, blog, newsletter, podcast, social media presence, lead generators, email sequences, sales pages, online courses, coaching programs, and perhaps even an online community. And that's before considering all the technology required to make everything work together.

It's easy to become overwhelmed trying to figure out what you need to build before launching your business. But here's the good news:

You don't have to build your entire online business all at once.

In fact, you don't even need most of those capabilities to get started. A much more practical approach is to start with one revenue-generating offer, build only what you need to support it, and then expand your business incrementally.

Start with a Revenue-Generating Business 1.0

I recommend beginning with a medium-priced core offer that delivers meaningful value to your ideal clients. Depending on the transformation you're helping people achieve, that might be a $300 program or one priced at several thousand dollars.

Your core offer could be a six-week live training program, recorded online course, group coaching program, or another structured way of delivering your expertise. The important thing is to start generating revenue while helping clients achieve results.

You don't need a large audience or an elaborate marketing funnel to make that happen. For example, you could begin by:

• Publishing social media posts or reaching out through direct messages.

• Inviting interested prospects to a free private appointment.

• Using that conversation to explore their needs and determine whether your core offer is appropriate.

• Enrolling interested clients in your live training or online course.

That's a simple, operational customer journey. You might initially have only one or two participants in your program. That's okay! You're getting started, delivering value, and learning from actual customers. As your business develops, you can attract larger groups and increase your revenue.

Think About Your Online Business as a Capital Asset

Online business systems are software capital assets that can be thought of as a revenue-generating machine. Like other capital assets, your online business system requires an initial investment, ongoing operation, and periodic improvements to increase its value and performance. Like every capital assets, online business systems follow a lifecycle:

Design → Build → Operate → Iterate

First, design the business you want to create. Then build the capabilities necessary to make it operational. Once you've launched, operate the business, learn from experience, and identify opportunities for improvement. Then design and build the next version.

Think of each business version as a collection of online customer experiences arranged into an operational customer journey.

For example:

Business 1.0 — Generate Initial Revenue

Start with social media outreach, private appointments, and your core revenue-generating offer.

Business 2.0 — Generate More Leads

Add a core website, lead generator, and nurturing emails to create another pathway for attracting prospective clients.

Business 3.0 — Increase Revenue per Client

Add a higher-priced private coaching or professional services offer for customers who want additional personal assistance.

Each version builds upon the capabilities you've already established. And importantly, each new version should accomplish a specific business goal.

Build Each Customer Experience with a Focused Sprint

So how do you actually implement these business versions without getting overwhelmed? That's where focused implementation sprints come in. I borrowed the sprint concept from my earlier career leading software development teams.

Rather than attempting to build an entire complex system at once, we developed and implemented working capabilities incrementally through focused projects called sprints. In the case of an online business, a sprint implements the online assets and processes needed to support one complete, operational customer experience.

Consider launching a live training program or recorded online course.

You might need multiple online assets, including:

• A sales page explaining the offer.

• A checkout process to accept payments.

• Purchase confirmation and onboarding emails.

• A live event with reminders or a recorded course with member access.

• The training content and resources needed to deliver the promised results.

These are interconnected component assets of one complete customer experience. When everything works together, you have an operational capability that can generate revenue.

And once you've implemented that sales and delivery process, you can often reuse many of its components for additional offers.

You Can Launch Business 1.0 in Just Two Sprints

Let's return to our simple Business 1.0 example, applying the principle of starting with the end result and working backwards to the front. Your first sprint could implement the live training or online course that serves as your core revenue-generating offer. Your second sprint could establish the private appointment experience, including an online scheduling calendar.

You could attract prospective clients through social media posts or direct messages, invite them to schedule a conversation, and then enroll appropriate clients in your program. You don't even need a complete website to get started.

Two focused sprints can be enough to launch a functioning, revenue-generating online business.

Of course, your particular business might require a different combination of experiences. The point isn't that everyone needs exactly two sprints. It's that you should build only the capabilities necessary to accomplish your initial business goals.

Grow Your Business with Intention

Once Business 1.0 is operational, you can begin thinking about what comes next. Perhaps you need more leads. That might justify building a website and lead generator. Perhaps your existing customers want more personalized assistance. That could lead to a premium coaching offer. Or perhaps you want to improve your delivery systems so you can serve more customers efficiently.

Let your business goals determine what you build next. You don't need every possible capability. You need the right capabilities, implemented in the right sequence.

Design Before You Build

The biggest mistake I see experienced professionals make is jumping into building websites, funnels, courses, and technology systems before they've designed the business those systems are supposed to support.

You already have valuable expertise. The challenge is turning that expertise into an operational business that attracts clients, generates revenue, and delivers meaningful results.

Start by designing your initial business around four essential elements:

• Your ideal clients and the problems you help them solve.

• Your signature framework for delivering results.

• Your customer journey and the experiences needed to support it.

• Your business model, including offers, pricing, and revenue goals.

Then implement that design one focused sprint at a time.

Ready to Design Your Online Business?

I'm preparing a free, five-day Design Your Online Business Workshop to help experienced professionals create their initial online business design and determine their best path forward.

Join the notification list at OBSDesignWorkshop.com to be notified when registration opens.