Our Strategy for Crossing the Chasm

How we're scaling from a one-person show to a high-performance team

🎥 Watch the full breakdown on YouTube

In this video, I walk through the exact steps I’m taking to scale from a solo operation to a team-based business - including the reasons behind the shift, the practical steps, and the tradeoffs involved.

If you prefer to read, here’s the written version of our strategy.

Before and After

Here’s what our business looked like before, and where we’re heading.

Before (Current State)

• Clients: 1–3
• Capacity: 3 clients max
• Quality: 7.5/10
• My Role: Everything - marketing, sales, design, copy, development, project management
• Team: Just me and a few freelancers

After (Future State)

• Clients: 5–10
• Capacity: 10
• Quality: 9/10
• My Role: Focused on marketing, sales, and project management
• Team: Me with a dedicated copywriter, designer, developer, and others

Why We’re Making the Shift

Scaling isn't just about handling more clients. It's about removing bottlenecks, improving quality, and building a business that doesn’t rely on one person doing everything.

The 3 Main Drivers

• Client ceiling: I can’t take on more than 3 clients without sacrificing quality.
• Quality ceiling: Specialists outperform generalists. No one can do everything at a high level.
• Time ceiling: There are only 168 hours in a week. My calendar is the bottleneck.

The Tradeoffs: Pros, Cons and Mitigations

Pros

• Higher quality work by hiring specialists
• Faster delivery by removing bottlenecks
• More time for high-leverage work like sales and strategy
• Focus on strengths in marketing, sales, and project management
• Improved client experience with smoother delivery and faster feedback
• Better long-term growth through stronger case studies and referrals
• Reduced founder risk by making the business less dependent on me
• Increased pricing power and profit from better work and case studies

Cons (and how we’ll handle them)

1. Cash-flow pressure: We'll begin with project-based or short-term hires to stay flexible and reduce risk.‍
2. Stagnant execution skills (design/dev): I’m deliberately shifting to focus on sales and marketing - the areas that drive real growth.‍
3. More team management: I already have strong project management skills, and I’ll lean into them to keep operations tight.‍
4. Creative control loss: I’ll hire A-players and focus on outcomes. It doesn't have to match my exact vision if it meets the brief and delivers results.

The Pre-Crossing Checklist

To successfully cross the chasm, three foundations must be in place:

1. Relationships: I need reliable, high-level designers, copywriters, and developers who are ready to step in.‍
2. Sales: I need to consistently close deals that cover team costs and generate profit.‍
3. Systems: We need clear processes to ensure quality and consistency in every project.

What’s the Bottleneck?

Right now, the bottleneck is sales. Until we’re consistently winning deals that justify hiring a team, we’re staying lean.

The plan is simple. Start with short-term, one-month client commitments. If things go well, we extend. This allows us to prove the model without overcommitting.

After Crossing the Chasm

Once the team is in place and I’ve stepped out of execution, everything changes.

• I’ll focus on sales, marketing, and project oversight
• My weekly schedule will shift toward growth and strategy
• When capacity fills up, I’ll bring in a project manager to win back even more time

That gives me the space to double down on sales and scale the business without burning out.