Ravi Abuvala – Leveraging Systems to build a 7 Figure Agency

Recently, I sat down for an Interview with my good friend, Ravi Abuvala. Ravi is a 7-Figure Agency owner, and has leveraged systems to scale and work less. We talked about running an agency, virtual assistants, systems, and much more. 

• Hey Ravi, what does your company do?

Ravi: At Prospect Social, we help entrepreneurs systemize, scale, and outsource their business so they can see month-over-month growth while working less and less.

• What systems has your company leveraged?

Ravi: Mostly O.P.T (Other People’s Time). If you can package your product or service so that it is easy to understand, duplicatable, and delivers results, you can then teach that same fulfillment method to a team of virtual assistants. 

• How did you get started building systems? What are the best systems to put in place for entrepreneurs just getting started?

Ravi: I was working 16-17 hours a day for months on end, without ever really moving the needle forward. I learned that although it is important to work hard, it is even more important to work smart. I started looking at how some of the largest companies in the world did it (American Express, Amazon, and AT&T) and realized they were leveraging overseas work to get the most important stuff done at a fraction of the price. I started training my new employees how to focus on lead generation for my company and next thing I know we have 8-10 booked calls a day and we were hit record months consistently.

• How did you start hiring virtual assistants? What skills do they possess?

Ravi: To be honest, I have a recruiter in the Philippines and we always try to pull them from the big companies over there. They have spent hundreds of hours training them and thousands of dollars updating them on the latest systems. We offer them better pay and the ability to work from home, it’s pretty much a no-brainer for them. Then once they start seeing success they tell all their old co-workers and it sort of snowballs from there.

• What things did you do to scale your company?

Ravi: Focused on two things: setting appointments and taking appointments. Everything else is secondary. Appointments are what drives every company and if you can make 8-10 pitches a day, well even someone who is absolutely terrible at sales will start to see growth. Then it’s about packaging and delivering your service or product in the most efficient and streamlined manner possible for both you and your client. At that point you can remove yourself from your business and just make the larger moves up top.

• What advice would you give to someone starting an agency? 

Ravi: Be ready to fail, it won’t be easy like all of these other gurus will have you think. That being said, if you persist and focus on what is important (setting appointments and taking appointments) it can be one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do.