Time is leverage. But don't sell yours.
The Four Levels of Business Leverage and why most designers get stuck at Level 1 and how to climb to Level 4.
Let’s be clear, if you run an independent creative business, you are always at one of four different levels of leverage. Most creatives are trapped selling their hours instead of building assets (and real leverage). Today, I’ll show you the 4-level framework that changed how I think about business and how I started to scale my businesses this year.
Level 1: Personal Labor
You do everything. Income = hours worked.
Where you are: Charging by the hour, doing custom work, trading time for money directly. This is the golden times where it all starts. Great time, but also very tough.
What you need to reach Level 2: Systems and documented processes. You can't delegate what only exists in your head.
Action step: Document your workflow for your most common project type. Create templates, checklists, and standard operating procedures. If you can't explain how to do your work, you can't scale it. Take what’s in your head and make it sharable for others (so they can help you out).
Level 2: Other People's Labor
You manage others. Income = team output.
Where you are: Hiring contractors or employees, building an agency, delegating tasks to expand capacity. Leverage not just your, but also other’s time. Multiply your output.
What you need to reach Level 3: Standardization and productization. Stop doing custom work and start building repeatable solutions.
Action step: Identify the 20% of your services that generate 80% of your revenue (Pareto principle). Package these into standardized offerings with fixed pricing. Custom work should become the exception, not the rule. This helps you to scale the same offer to a multiplying amount.
For some people, who run an agency for example, and optimized it in a way that they are not needed in the actual business anymore, you might find that this level is enough and sufficient to be happy and life a great life. So technically, you can stop here. Want more autonomy though? Check level 3.
Level 3: Technology & Systems
Your systems work without you. Income = market size.
Where you are: Selling software, templates, info products, and automated services. Building once, selling many times.
What you need to reach Level 4: Capital accumulation and investment mindset. Take profits from your systems (businesses) and deploy them strategically to multiply them.
Action step: Set aside 30% of profits from Level 3 activities. Don't spend it on lifestyle inflation, invest it in assets that generate passive returns.
Level 4: Capital & Assets
Your money works for you. Income = compound returns.
Where you are: Equity positions, royalties, investments generating income without your active involvement. This is the pro league. It’s very hard to get here, any probably only 1% are reaching this level. But when you do, you get true abundance.
The goal: True wealth and time freedom.
So, what does this all mean?
Most creatives think the game is "charge more per hour". But this is not true. The real game is "build assets that generate income without your time". Because every person has a ceiling on how much can be earned per hour. Might be $50, $100, $250, or $500. But it’s nearly impossible to scale beyond that.
I spent 10 years optimizing Level 1. Made decent money, hit a ceiling.
I spent 18 months building Level 2 and 3. Revenue quadrupled while working fewer hours.
Your time is finite. Your ability to build leveraged systems isn't.
Stop selling your calendar. Start building assets instead.