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Launching a SaaS in 30 Days
And Getting 12 Customers!
These last two weeks I’ve been crushing through tasks to get the Empire AI, a GoHighLevel whitelabel, launched.
Unsurprisingly, launching a SaaS (Software as a Service) in less than 30 days is a lot! I’m pretty fetching good at figuring things out, but there’s always something crazy that pops up. Building a plan to immediately solve the more complicated pieces as been awesome.
But that’s part of my adventure, truly.
The cool part is: We’ve already got 12 people who have signed up for the platform!
Let’s fetching go!
And we’ve barely even launched!
And I only really got to work two weeks ago (the beginning of this month was spent at an NLP trainers course run by Creatrix).
Now that we are 30 days into our launch, and things are feeling more stable, I wanted to share what I’ve learned so far in this process.
The Dream Bearer
You must have exactly one person responsible for the vision of the platform.
For us, this person has been Monica Kline. She has pushed us each to keep the vision of a high touch, hands on, luxury service. It’s been fun to keep this in mind as I’ve built.
This is the person who gets the final say in all of the things.
This is the person who tells you when it’s good.
By interacting with Monica I’ve been able to learn what her dream for the software is.
And hopefully I’ve been able to bring it into reality, piece by piece.
The Dream Bearer is also the one that sells. And sells. And sells!
Monica has been CRUSHING it in this arena. I don’t know anyone who makes herself so available to serving those around her. I’m proud to be a member of her team. =)
The Organizer
You must have someone who is in charge of the deconstruction of the dream in to actionable tasks.
When we first started out, we did not have a dedicated person doing this. It’s hard to do. Honestly.
The reason it’s difficult is because the dream and vision is detached from the actions that need to happen to make that dream a reality.
Meaning, I can tell you “It needs to be luxury” but that doesn’t necessarily help you know exactly what to do with a website.
Bridging that gap is what the Organizer does.
They take the statement “It needs to be luxury” and turn it into actionable items for others to take and run with. This in turn reduces confusion for the entire team. You could call the organizer the manager.
I’ve made myself valuable my entire professional life by being good at taking a vision bridging the gap.
It’s taken years, but I feel like I’m finally in a place where I can do it consistently for any one, any time, anywhere.
Which is why 2 weeks ago, when I saw the chaos, I decided the highest value I could add was to fulfill the role of Organizer.
The Chump(s)
You must have at least one person responsible for hammering away at the fulfillment of the software.
As a term of endearment, I’ll call this person the Chump. Over the past two weeks, I have been a Chump (which is why it’s a term of endearment). It has been my job to crush through the tasks that I happened to give myself.
Meaning I was both the Organizer and a Chump.
This means that, operationally, things are very simple.
I design my own tasks based on the vision (Organizer). Then I go out and execute on them (Chump). Finally, I return and report on what was done.
The Chump is a necessary component because if you don’t have one, nothing actually ends up happening.
Luckily I wasn’t the only Chump (I had access to other Chumps to help me out).
Finding good Chumps is incredibly difficult. But when you find the A game Chumps, they just get stuff done. It’s been a pleasure to work with some fellow A game Chumps over the last two weeks.
I’ll end by saying: Chump output is dramatically increased (and improved) by a good Organizer.
The Result
In the last 14 days, with the introduction of an Organizer and full time Chump, we have made measurable and proven progress towards the goal.
Funnels, automations, and emails are being put in place.
Fires are being put out.
The vision of the Dream Bearer is being fulfilled, and we’ve successfully brought on 12 customers!
So we are making money!
I’m excited to see where this goes. The sky is the limit, truly.
Your friend, organizer, and proud chump,
Sterling Long!
P.S. If you’re a coach and would like to replace pretty much every software you are currently using with one, better, central service, that’s what Empire AI does for you. Courses, emails, texting, automations, ads, and more. It’s all here. Ready for you to use!