24 Apr Mission: Scale – The Debut Events
Mission: Scale – The Surprising in Person Strategy Day
This spring, we hosted the very first Mission: Scale strategy days in Newcastle and Leeds. These were intended as small in person full day events to help existing business owners take a big step back, lock in on their next projects for growth, and formalise the underlying systems that would make the growth inevitable.
“I got stuck at multiple six figures”, said creator and host Lisa Bean, “I realised I couldn’t just do more coaching to scale up to seven figures. I had to fundamentally redesign the way my business operated. This is what gave me the blueprint for Mission: Scale. I could see the systems in my business (products, sales, marketing etc.) were doing exactly what they were designed to do. To scale up, I couldn’t do more. I had to redesign the whole system and introduce two things: a better programme that could truly help more people at once, and a lot more in the form of operations – people, systems, processes. Reflecting on this one day, I just wondered if other business owners would like to do this work too. I had the days booked in and online within the week.”
The day wasn’t what you might expect from a typical business event. In the morning, participants didn’t open with elevator pitches or presentations and dive straight into training or problem solving. Instead, the group went around the table slowly and took the time to really share and really listen. Each person talked about how they got to where they are now, what they’re working on currently, what’s working, what’s not, and what they need — from themselves, their teams, and their days.
“I found it really interesting”, said Lisa, “how much people got from having the opportunity to talk about the challenges of their journey, to see how far they’d come, to just be heards, and to listen to others. A lot of people commented on how valuable this part was. I think people felt a lot less alone – and a lot less alien – by the end of that simple sharing session.”
It seems that the simple act of going round the room set the tone for the day. People shared openly from that point onwards. There were moments of laughter and relief, and a few tears too. And while every person there ran or had run a business — many now at six and multi-six-figure levels — what became clear was that growth at this level wasn’t about more tips or tools or hacks, or even more grit. These are clever, hard working people and more didn’t seem to be the answer. Instead, the answer seemed to be more about making bold ‘this way or that way’ decisions, about designing new underlying systems that lead to totally different results, about taking ownership and having the difficult conversations needed to progress.
Lunch was provided buffet-style around midday — from Olivia’s Kitchen in Newcastle and Brod’s Sandwich Bar in Leeds — and the conversation continued informally around the table. There was no rushing, no filler, no slides. Just people doing real business, coming together to reflect and map out what’s next.
“The venues were amazing”, said Lisa, “I’m so grateful to the Wizu workspaces. They’ve got offices across the country and I can just log on, find the right space and book. The team is so accommodating and we have the best range of tea and barista style coffee on tap!”
Melissa from the Wizu events team shared, “These events are a wonderful use of the spaces we’ve created. We love seeing entrepreneurs come together to support each other’s growth, and we’re thrilled to be a part of this journey with Lisa and her wonderful clients.”
After launch, Lisa walked everyone through a few key ideas on the concept of systems, how they work, and how they work together. The training gave participants a chance to sit back, to listen, to digest, before the next exercise. Each participant was then handed six A4 sheets of example systems we might come across, some abstract and some more specific, and was asked to cross out any that don’t apply and circle the ones that feel really relevant.
As Lisa noted, “One of the example systems I used was ‘the kettle system’. You can press the button to boil the kettle but if the plug isn’t in the wall, it won’t work. It’s so simple, but I used this as a metaphor for posting on social media to tick a box rather than to really convey the magic of who you are. If there’s no magic or energy or spark in your work, it just won’t translate. Another more obvious example was ‘the delivery system’, whereby you sell a course, but don’t onboard people properly. Even the best courses fail when people don’t use them. I think seeing these systems on paper like this – objectively, in black and white – helped people to see what they were doing well, what they were avoiding, and what they didn’t realise they weren’t doing!”.
Once everyone had completed this exercise, they were encouraged to map the ‘input’ and ‘output’ into sheets in the workbook broken down into strategy, marketing, sales and mindset.
“Every result has to be the result of some input”, Lisa said, “By acknowledging what system, mindset, process or decisions is going into the machine to create a given outcome, we can step back and think more clearly about how the input has to change before the output changes.”
This reflective exercise helped people to process what was happening in their business, see what they could let go of and see where the bottlenecks were hiding in practice.
“I feel totally called out”, said one participant, laughing as she said it.
Overall, attendees described the experience as “phenomenal”, “enriching”, and “empowering”.
“It really helped to clarify my next steps,” said Tanja Sharpe. “If you’re sitting in a place of knowing you need to scale but freezing in response to how to do it, these days will no doubt help clear the fog so you have direction, a plan and the motivation to just do it.”
“It’s the rocket fuel you need,” added Anastasia Waugh. “I felt a lot more confident by the end of the day. Just being around that energy was magical.”
“Exceptional,” said Allison Harrison of Hot Yoga Edinburgh. “Great people, beautiful setting and facilities, convenient access, great food and tea/coffee on tap (literally!) — all we could hope for.”
“I’d 100% recommend it,” said Sue Todd. “It’s a wonderful day to get out of your business and work on it, not in it, with like-minded individuals who also want to propel themselves forward.”
“I was really taken to my edge”, noted Sue Walker, adding: “You may discover something very unexpected, see something in a very different way, view into your blind-spot. You don’t want to let that moment pass. It might be your breakthrough. It might be uncomfortable but practise learning to sit in it.”
When asked about what she will be doing differently next time, Lisa talked about booking bigger rooms, updating the workbooks and adding more break out structure to the afternoons, but added: “overall, I left both events feeling incredibly grateful for the conversations we had and the people who chose to come. It looks like they’ve gone down really well and I can’t wait to do them again.”
New dates are now open to book the full day Mission: Scale events in Newcastle and Leeds.
If you’re at a stage in your business where you know you want to grow — but not in the same way you’ve done it before — you can read more and book your place here: lisa-bean.com/strategy-days.