The 4 Stages of Business Growth (And How to Break Through)

“If you're not making a lot of mistakes in your business, I know two things: you probably take pride in the wrong things, and your business has stagnated.” 

Welcome inside the vault. This is a collection of previously unreleased lessons from eight-figure entrepreneurial mastermind RJon Robins. And in case you didn't see the warning label, this content can be explicit and is for serious entrepreneurs only.

In this lesson from the May 2014 Live Quarterly Meeting, RJon breaks down the four predictable stages of business growth. He covers mindset, leverage, business systems and the planning it takes to move through each stage. 

Key Takeaways:

1. Your family are your first investors. They expect a return on their investment.

2. Every business goes through four stages of growth.

3. Getting stuck early is often caused by lack of leverage, lack of planning, and lack of belief. It's not due to lack of opportunity. 

4. Building systems and tracking metrics are essential to moving from a self-run job to a sustainable and scalable business.

5. A million-dollar law firm is not about ease. It's about making faster, better decisions and having a platform to do more good.

In this episode, RJon draws from personal experience, including both successes and failures. He offers a practical roadmap to help entrepreneurial law firm owners recognize where they are, what's holding them back, and how to break through to the next level.

Let's go to the vault!

———-
Turn the lessons in this episode into an actionable growth plan for your business with the FREE 5-Week Business Plan Bootcamp. https://htm.live/bootcamp

Slow to Hire, Fast to Fire

“Everyone is always doing the best they can do. When you see someone loafing off and doing a horrible job, it's important not to take that personally. As bad as that is, that person is doing the best they can do.”

Welcome inside the vault. This is a collection of previously unreleased lessons from eight-figure entrepreneurial mastermind RJon Robins. And in case you didn't see the warning label, this content can be explicit and is for serious entrepreneurs only.

In this important lesson, RJon walks members of How To MANAGE a Small Law Firm through the difficult but necessary process of firing low-performing employees with integrity and compassion. He explains why being “slow to hire and fast to fire” protects your business, your team, and even the person being terminated. Through candid insights and practical strategies, RJon addresses the emotional challenges business owners face when making these types of difficult decisions. 

Key Takeaways:

1. Be as objective as possible when thinking about employee performance or lack thereof

2. Good employees want bad performers gone just as much as you do

3. Take the “relief test”: If you'd feel relief if someone gave their two weeks' notice, they need to go

4. Understand the strategic options between immediate termination or a “workout” arrangement

5. Having a termination checklist prepared before you need it puts business owners in a position of strength at all times

RJon acknowledges that it is normal to feel uncomfortable about firing someone. He explains how planning and the right mindset prepare law firm owners to handle these difficult situations while protecting their business and supporting the rest of their team.

Let's go to the vault!

———-
Turn the lessons in this episode into an actionable growth plan for your business with the FREE 5-Week Business Plan Bootcamp. https://htm.live/bootcamp

How To Evaluate Staff Performance

“What metrics do you currently have in place that you can use to make an objective, honest determination as to a person's performance? It's critical that you have metrics in place because if you don't, you end up managing based on your gut, your feelings, your chemistry or your rapport.”

Welcome inside the vault. This is a collection of previously unreleased lessons from eight-figure entrepreneurial mastermind RJon Robins. And in case you didn't see the warning label, this content can be explicit and is for serious entrepreneurs only.

In this lesson from a 2014 workshop, RJon guides members of How To MANAGE a Small Law Firm through a structured approach to managing people using objective metrics rather than subjective feelings. He explains why managing based on personal chemistry or rapport can lead to poor business decisions. RJon shows how using the SWOT analysis framework (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) is a non-biased way law firm owners can evaluate team members more effectively.

Key Takeaways:

1. Without objective metrics, you risk promoting people you like over people who deliver better business results

2. Consider the hidden cost of management time when evaluating employee performance

3. Convert task completion into percentages rather than raw numbers to better track actual performance

4. Quarterly employee performance reviews generate better results than annual reviews

5. Treat the analysis as objectively as you can by focusing on evaluating performance, not the person

Through practical examples and interactive exercises, RJon demonstrates how to create fair, objective performance evaluations that help both the business and its people to thrive.

Let's go to the vault! 

———-
Turn the lessons in this episode into an actionable growth plan for your business with the FREE 5-Week Business Plan Bootcamp. https://htm.live/bootcamp

Recruiting Is Sales

“Where are you now? Where do you want to be in the future? Where does the gap exist between where you are now versus where you want to be? That delta is the value of your services. That's how you sell a million dollars worth of products and services. Recruiting works the same way.”

Welcome inside the vault. This is a collection of previously unreleased lessons from eight-figure entrepreneurial mastermind RJon Robins. And in case you didn't see the warning label, this content can be explicit and is for serious entrepreneurs only.

In this lesson from the October 2014 Live Quarterly Meeting, RJon challenges law firm owners to stop hoarding jobs they should delegate. He reveals why every role, from housekeeper to legal secretary, should be recruited with A-Team quality standards.

RJon provides a practical framework to understand why recruiting is fundamentally a sales process. He shows how proper delegation creates value for everyone involved, not just the business owner. Using specific job description examples and strategic selection practices, he shows how to identify A-players who will truly contribute to your firm's success.

Let's go to the vault!

———-
Turn the lessons in this episode into an actionable growth plan for your business with the FREE 5-Week Business Plan Bootcamp. https://htm.live/bootcamp

Recruit, Don’t Just Hire

“You're recruiting people. You're not hiring them. You can't build an A-Team by bringing in F, D, C, and even a lot of B players on board. If you're giving someone the opportunity to make their life better by taking that job, have the courage to…really sit down and engineer that job so that you can make their life a lot better.”

Welcome inside the vault. This is a collection of previously unreleased lessons from eight-figure entrepreneurial mastermind RJon Robins. And in case you didn't see the warning label, this content can be explicit and is for serious entrepreneurs only.

In this lesson from a 2014 Live Quarterly Meeting, RJon discusses the critical importance of recruiting, training, and maintaining your A-team with members of How To MANAGE a Small Law Firm. He explains why “hiring warm bodies” keeps law firm owners trapped in jobs they own rather than businesses that work for them.

Key Takeaways:

1. You can't build a million dollar practice by working harder, you must build a team. 

2. A-players want more than just a job, they want meaning, purpose, and opportunity 

3. Documented systems are essential for attracting and retaining top talent

RJon guides law firm owners through a practical process to better understand how cause and effect directly impacts their law firm success. 

Let's go to the vault!

———-
Turn the lessons in this episode into an actionable growth plan for your business with the FREE 5-Week Business Plan Bootcamp. https://htm.live/bootcamp

There Is No Magic Pill

“The fact is there is no such thing as that magic pill. And when you get those policies done, when you get those procedures done, when you get those systems built, you're creating equity in your business.”

Welcome inside the vault. This is a collection of previously unreleased lessons from eight-figure entrepreneurial mastermind RJon Robins. And in case you didn't see the warning label, this content can be explicit and is for serious entrepreneurs only.

In this lesson from the July 2015 Live Quarterly Meeting, RJon and members of How To MANAGE a Small Law Firm have an interactive Q&A discussion. They address the hard truths about building systems, processes, and procedures for your law firm: there's no magic pill or shortcut. RJon explains why documentation is worth its weight in gold, not just for daily operations but also for creating actual business equity. 

Key Takeaways:

1. Documented systems create actual equity in your business that can be sold later

2. Great talent is attracted to firms with clear policies and procedures

3. Having objective, documented standards makes hiring and evaluation much easier

4. The calendar is often the best first system to document and delegate

5. Physical procedure manuals often work better than digital-only solutions

This Q&A session is a candid conversation that provides real-world application that law firm owners can implement today. 

Let's go to the vault!

———-
Turn the lessons in this episode into an actionable growth plan for your business with the FREE 5-Week Business Plan Bootcamp. https://htm.live/bootcamp