How I’m building to multi-6 figures

Before today's newsletter: this Friday I'm running a free training, Scale The Unscalable.

I’ll sharing what I see as the most viable paths to scaling a coaching or consulting practice. You’ll leave with a clear sense of where your practice is capped in its growth, and the next next step to take.

This session is for you if you’re past the early stages but unclear on your longer-term growth plan. We go live at 4.30pm UK time on Friday 19th June, Sign up here.

I’ll also share how you can join The Practice (applications close in 2 weeks and half the spots are already gone, so don’t miss out if you’re curious).

And on the topic of scale….

It's been a while since I shared my own goals with you, and scale is very much on my mind right now.

Specifically what I mean when I say scale, however, deserves explanation. I mean a business that for me can:

• Show up to a BD or marketing activity and actually benefit from the surge of interest thanks to having a business model that can accommodate the volume

• Have team, automations and workflows in place so that not every task depends on me showing up (which only works once you've got repeatable activities underneath it)

• Pay me generously: settling my November corporation tax bill back in spring, investing properly in my pension, taking dividends to meet lifestyle needs

• Invest in learning, or in building a resource or training, knowing I can share the benefit with the majority of my clients because they all share similar needs

• Have a full client roster without being tied to my desk every hour of the day, so I can happily head to the beach midday in Mallorca (where I am this summer)

Those versions of scale I benefit from today.

However, I've got some way to go to reach my some other scale ambitions.

Case in point: I hit the six figure mark a long time ago. And yet, nearly four years on I've not hit multi-six.

Sure, of course, money isn’t everything. But here’s how I see it: if you take the round clean £100k revenue mark, on average after my team, support, software, marketing, pension and tax, that’s around £50k take home. Not bad, but not exactly record breaking.

There are people making six figures and not spending money on all these things, but spending on these things - personally - allows me to redistribute my earnings back into the small business economy. Which feels good. They also mean I enjoy the experience of running my own business more and provide fulfilment in ways that more money in my back pocket could not.

I also recognise that I could have a £250k turnover business for example, without spending twice on all of those things. There’s not a like-for-like correlation between team, marketing or operational spend and revenue.

The main difference between a six and multi six figure business is the business model behind it.

So why haven’t I, a business coach, cracked this code yet?

Here's the honest tour of my business journey:

• 2020: training as a coach, also doing recruitment. Distracted.

• 2021: earning well from coaching, still doing recruitment. Distracted.

• 2022: travelled the world, tried lots of things. Distracted

• 2023: went all in on one big idea and message. Doubled my income entirely from 1-1 coaching, shooting well beyond six figures

• 2024: overworked, then the devasting and unexpected death of a client. I pulled back and dabbled. Distracted.

• 2025: launched the latest Authority Club and Authority Letters, kept the 1-1s. Best year yet.

See the pattern? The years I scattered, I stalled. The years I focused, I grew.

Distraction kills momentum.

If your business isn't built on one core idea, with a core scalable offer, and a marketing plan you can actually stick to, then you won't scale.

I know this because I've lived both sides of it and also worked with hundreds of coaches and consultants … and watched the same thing play out every single time.

2026 into 2027 is my time to apply everything I've learned.

The Practice is my plan for hitting multiple six figures.

The delivery model behind it, plus my plans for team, framework development, authority building, back-end systems, affiliates and referral partners makes for a £300k business and beyond.

Have I arrived there yet? No. But I'm a few steps ahead of where most of my members are starting, and I'm building it in the open, reporting back as I go, not teaching you things that used to work five years ago. I'm in the trenches with you.

And because of that, I know exactly what support structures I need and would value from on my journey, and those are the exact same ones that I’ve built The Practice around.

• I need a big, expansive vision and a coach who helps me think bigger → so The Practice opens every quarter with a 1-1 with me

• I need to talk things out loud and solve problems in real time → so there's a weekly drop-in call for spot coaching

• I need clear, measurable goals and a way to track them → so there's a monthly reporting structure

• I need accountability to keep producing my Body of Work → so there's a space to submit work for detailed editorial feedback

• I need direction on designing a scalable model → so there's a monthly training for that

• I need the energy of a team and community → so it's me, my team members, and a vetted peer group

I’m designing a structured environment that allows for personalisation all at once. That allows members to benefit from scale the ways that I have. Not from viral moments, a big social media following or heavy ad spend.

But from showing up with a repeatable One Big Idea, a business model that is both personally fulfilling and financially rewarding, and the commitment to producing the Body of Work that builds demands for them both. Without distraction.

Like an investment in the stock market, little by little over time grows exponentially.

The structures I’ve put around myself have ensured that’s possible and those same structures are now what I’m providing members of The Practice.

Here’s what some of the founding cohort members have said about why they’re joining:

• "Everything relies on me. I'm doing too much delivery and not enough on marketing, systems and business development. I need to shift the business to the next stage."

• "I'm ready to share my One Big Idea with a broader audience and develop thought pieces that spell out my key pillars as a coach."

• "I'm done throwing spaghetti at the wall. Building a Body of Work feels far more sustainable than fannying about on IG reels and I want something that compounds and consistently brings in leads."

• "I want accountability on the structures that make business development less hard, and to reconsider my offers so I'm as fulfilled as possible running my business."

Nodding along?

Starting on Monday 13th July, The Practice begins. Members will have 1-1 strategic coaching, editorial and creative feedback on their Body of Work and the accountability of progress tracking and regular reviews to ensure their practice will scale. Always bespoke and personalised. To begin, a capped cohort of 12 vetted peers alongside you.

(It's not for beginners, or anyone still figuring out what work they do.)

Founding cohort member rate is £990 per quarter, locked in permanently before it rises to £1,250 for the next intake. The first Founding members also get a bonus 1-1 with me in their first quarter.

If you want to hear the full thinking and frameworks behind The Practice first, join me Friday 19th June at 4:30pm UK for Scale The Unscalable. 

But if you already know this is what you need, you can now from today, apply. Full details are on this page. Applications close in two weeks or sooner if we hit capacity.

Ellen from The Ask is brought to you by Ellen Donnelly, Founder of The Ask, offering strategic business coaching & mentorship to Authority Entrepreneurs ready to grow a profitable business in a way that feels true to them.