Using Technology To Scale The Unscalable (S5E2)

What you’ll see this episode:

In the first competition episode of this season, we see things already heating up between the contestants. With the first lesson of the week focusing on how to scale a business, many Bloxers have major lightbulb moments while others get left in the dark. It all comes down to the very first Blox Off, where the pressure hits some of the contestants with a big dose of reality. Who will be the first in Season 5 to earn the coveted red jerseys? Learn along with our contestants the importance of scaling your business, and how any business can grow through employees, technology, and an audience.

The Competition Begins

We open with the judges gathered for breakfast at Wes’s mansion, where they discuss the necessity of mentorship and where they might be if they had the guidance when they were younger. As judge Steven Khuong puts it, “I’d probably be living on Mars by now”. Another sentimental conversation takes place in this episode between Dr. Michael Chase and Peter Neilson, a business owner who lost his son to cancer. Through their touching interaction, we see how building businesses not only changes lives, but saves them.

After the day’s lesson on Scaling the Unscalable, the contestants are tasked with their very first challenge of the game: Craft a 3-minute pitch on an aspirational tech stack on how to scale their business in four categories: lead capturing and nurturing, revenue capturing, customer organization, and social media. 25% of the speech must be dedicated to how they will seek out help from the outside world to implement the tech stacks. After a long day of presenting and consultations, it’s time for the Blox Off, where we find out that Kaitlyn Lemus Portillo might be the toughest judge to ever touch The Blox. As she notes, not everyone understood the assignment.

SCALING THE UNSCALABLE

Scaling your business refers to the process of taking your business to new heights by expanding its reach, processes, and capabilities. As an entrepreneur, it’s crucial to understand the importance of scaling your business. It’s not just about increasing production, it’s about optimizing every aspect of your business. From the supply chain issues to the training of employees, everything needs to be scaled smoothly to ensure sustained growth. Scaling is a reflection of your entrepreneurial success, and it’s vital to stay ahead of the competition. You don’t have to be a technology company to scale your business like one. In today’s market, every business needs to be tech-savvy and up-to-date with the latest trends to be successful. Therefore, entrepreneurs need to learn the art of scaling their businesses effectively to achieve their long-term goals.

Key Takeaways From This Episode:

1. There are three main ways to scale your business: through employees, through the crowd, and through technology.
2. A tech stack refers to all of the software & equipment we use to create value for the business. This could be software to acquire leads, nurture them, capture their revenue, induce retention, deploy the product/service to them, distribute the product/service, customer service, etc.
3. You don’t need to use every piece of technology that is out there in order to scale. Instead, you need to pick the right tool, for the right job, at the right time, and each of those tools must be learned, paid for, and taught to employees.
4. You also cannot do every job yourself, and unless you’re a tech expert, you probably cannot implement your full stack properly, so it’s important to utilize contractors where necessary. 
5. When hiring a technologist, make sure they share your vision, have excellent communication skills, are established, and are familiar with the types of technology that you’re implementing.