$100K Months Made Simple: The 3 Phase Framework for Scaling without Burnout

Avery Ford
May 12
6 min read

Most online business advice is built on one assumption: you want to go faster.

But in the spring of 2023, after a major health scare, life forced me to slow way down. Going faster wasn’t an option anymore. After five years abroad as a digital nomad, I had finally settled in Chicago. I was determined to work harder than ever before. I was pushing myself in many directions at once: writing my first feature script, consulting for multiple businesses, scaling my own company, hitting the gym every day and trying to build a life in a city where I didn’t yet know anyone.

Everything was going well, until I hit a wall. Hard.

One evening, I stayed late at the office. I’d had a headache all day, tension in my jaw, tightness in my body.

Something felt off. I closed my laptop and stepped into the elevator to head home.

But I never made it home that night.

I ended up in the hospital after what I can only describe as a complete nervous system collapse.

In an instant, my mind and body turned against me. I lost all sense of identity. I didn’t even know who I was or where I was. I couldn’t tell the doctor my name. It was terrifying.

I was stabilized and eventually released.

When I got home, I crawled into bed, curled up next to my cat and sobbed. I felt lost, alone and scared.

I didn’t know what had happened. I didn’t know if it would happen again.

But something extraordinary happened in the weeks that followed:

The people in my life showed up.

Friends from across the country- people I’d met through the business world, through coaching, through years of traveling- took shifts FaceTiming with me, keeping me company during long days of recovery. They checked in. They stayed on the line while I rested. They made sure I was never alone.

Three months later, on my birthday, many of those same friends gathered in Chicago for a live reading of my screenplay. I looked out at the room and saw my life in front of me. All of them part of this strange, beautiful family I’d built through work, travel, and entrepreneurship.

I’ve never felt more cared for. (The good news : I’ve since made a full recovery, the doctors identified the cause, and this is not something I expect to experience again.)

Here’s what shocked me most about this entire thing: Throughout all of it- my business held. I had to slow way down that year. And yet...

Clients were still served. Revenue still came in. The business sustained itself even when I needed to step away. And when I was ready to keep building, I didn’t reinvent the wheel. I used the same structure I’ve been teaching for nearly a decade. Over the next 30 days, I want to share that structure. My entire methodology. Every strategy, framework, tool, and template.

It’s helped clients scale to $10K, $30K, even $100K+ months:

Without being chronically online
Without building bloated teams
Without burning themselves out

It’s simple. It works. And it didn’t just save my business. It saved me.

That period of recovery changed everything, because it forced me to see what was essential. Not just for me, but for the hundreds of entrepreneurs I’ve coached over the last decade.

What works isn’t hustle. It’s structure. What creates real freedom isn’t doing more—it’s doing what’s appropriate for the stage you’re in.

These three phases didn’t come from theory or tactics. They were shaped by what actually works. They'll hold you during the hard seasons, and support you when you're ready to scale again.

So before you chase another strategy, or assume you're behind…Take a deep breath. Orient yourself. And ask:

Where am I in the journey?

Because once you know that, everything else gets simpler.

Phase 1: Monetize

(Direct Enrollment)

This is where it begins: validating your offer and enrolling your first 10+ clients through direct conversations. Not content. Not funnels. Not perfection.

The goal here is to:

Get people results
Document those results
Refine your process
Master enrollment
Build your confidence

This isn’t about going viral. It’s about becoming undeniable.

Most common mistake? Trying to copy and paste the strategy of someone who's 20 steps ahead of you. Posting content or trying to build a funnel at this stage is usually an exercise in frustration. You want to focus on having real conversations with real potential clients.

Until you’ve served real clients, you probably don’t even know what your message is.

What works in Phase 1:

Direct outreach
Free strategy sessions or demos
Enrollment via sales calls
3–6 month 1:1 or done-with-you offers
Serving powerfully and tracking your wins.
Collecting case studies and testimonials

You can absolutely grow beyond $30K/month doing just this- ESPECIALLY if your offer is high-ticket and your results are top-notch.

But if you want to reach more people, make a bigger impact, or build a brand, it's time for Phase 2.

Phase 2: Leverage

(Leveraged Enrollment and Community Building)

Now you shift from direct enrollment to leveraged enrollment.

This means filling a room (virtual or in-person) and making an offer to a group.

Instead of 10 clients in 6 weeks…You learn how to enroll 10 clients in one afternoon.

How? Through conversion events:

Live workshops
Free challenges
Zoom intensives
Small, in-person gatherings

You’ll likely begin building your email list, maybe even launch your first group program, and begin developing a clear body of intellectual property.

One of my core philosophies: Start with high-ticket offers. Don’t launch courses or memberships until you’ve validated your message and built the audience to support it.

At this stage, you’re learning how to:

Write hooks + emails that convert
Deliver live content that inspires action
Fill rooms with the right people
Develop a retention offer or back-end experience
Get in front of other people’s audiences via guest teaching or interviews

You’re not just selling now. You’re starting to lead.

Phase 3: Scale

(Automated Enrollment)

You’ve proven the offer. You’ve filled the room. You’ve created momentum.

Now it’s time to productize and scale without cloning yourself.

This is where you move from:

Manual delivery → Evergreen materials
Live launches → Signature frameworks
1:1 selling → Marketing systems that do it for you

But let’s be clear: “passive” income requires active asset creation.

In Phase 3, you’re building:

1. Program Assets

Courses, tools, templates, and trainings that help clients succeed without needing direct access to you 24/7.

2. Marketing Assets

Lead magnets. YouTube content. Evergreen webinars. Newsletter sequences. Assets that generate inbound demand and warm up leads. Knowing which assets to create and what sequence to place them in is important here. The last thing you want to do is pour a bunch of time into content that isn't going to get you clients.

3. Sales Assets

Docs. Sales pages. Chat scripts. Potentially a sales person or setter. Speaking to you directly is no longer the only way clients enroll.

You’ll likely invest in:

Paid ads
A content engine or media team
Evergreen funnels that keep working while you rest

Important: Direct enrollment never fully goes away. Even 7- and 8-figure entrepreneurs still send personal invites. Scaling doesn’t mean letting go of the reigns. It means building systems that can carry your vision even when you're not there.

TL;DR

Monetize: Conversations. Clients. Proof.
Leverage: Rooms. Events. Group enrollment.
Scale: Systems. Assets. Sell in your sleep.

The business that held me when I couldn’t hold myself? It wasn’t built on content. It was built on this framework.

What’s Next: $100K Months Made Simple

For the next 30 days, I’m teaching everything I know about building a business that supports your life (not the other way around.)

Every framework. Every strategy. Every system.

You’ll learn:

Offer design + pricing
Message + hook writing
Sales systems + conversion events
Lead gen without burning out
Retention + client experience
Scaling with ease, not stress

It’s free. It’s proven. And it starts this Tuesday on Youtube. You can watch each lesson on Youtube. And follow along behind the scenes on Instagram. I'll also be sending each lesson by email.

P.S. If you missed the Hell Yes Offers + Hooks Workshop, the replay is still up:→ [Watch it here] See you this week. -Avery