Tips on Running a Profitable Business, from Lana Surnina

If you want to listen to this conversation and get all the great info, listen to the Money with Alpha Podcast here.

Recently I spoke with Lana Surnina from On Tap Digital about business - her own journey and how she helps her clients convert more leads into sales and then become more profitable, faster.  Here are some of the highlights.

Lana’s career journey is a fascinating one. Starting with a local business, she eventually transitioned into the digital world, driven by her desire for more freedom. She explains how her business evolved, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which acted as a catalyst for many entrepreneurs to rethink their business models. For Lana, the key driver was creating a lifestyle that allowed her to work from anywhere in the world, ensuring her family had the flexibility to travel and enjoy life while managing a thriving business.

One unique aspect of Lana’s story is how she built her business alongside her husband. She explains the challenges and rewards of this partnership. Her husband, originally working in a hands-on role, had to transition back to office work after ten years. This shift came with its challenges, but it also brought a layer of creativity and support to their business. Together, they even built a custom caravan, further emphasizing their love for freedom and exploration. While Lana admits that working with a spouse isn’t always easy, she stresses the importance of understanding each other's strengths and interests to create a harmonious working relationship.

One of the key themes Lana emphasizes is clarity—both in personal life and business. She believes that understanding what you want and the problem you're trying to solve is critical for success. For her, the combination of digital marketing and fitness was a natural fusion of her expertise. She saw an opportunity to help fitness professionals improve their online presence, recognizing early on that many businesses needed help with basic marketing strategies.

As their business grew, so did their clientele. Today, Lana works with a range of clients, from fitness studio owners to kitchen renovation businesses. Despite this growth, she remains a firm believer in the importance of niching down when starting out. According to Lana, focusing on a specific area allows you to become an expert and build confidence in your results before expanding into other markets.

Lana also highlights the importance of leveraging advertising to scale a business. Her background in marketing, including running million-dollar campaigns for Procter & Gamble, gives her a unique perspective on how advertising can be far more powerful than organic marketing. She’s passionate about helping her clients convert leads into sales through well-crafted advertising strategies, emphasizing the psychological aspect of consumer behavior in her work.

For those just starting out, Lana offers this advice: clarity, leverage, and systems. Understand what you’re building and why, leverage tools like advertising and automation, and build solid systems to support your growth. She believes that hiring help early on is crucial to avoid burnout, and stresses the importance of creating a sustainable, long-term business model.

Lana’s story is a testament to the power of blending personal passion with smart business strategies. If you’re looking to create a business that gives you freedom while maintaining profitability, her insights are invaluable.

You can find Lana on social media or through her agency, On Tap Digital, where she offers consultations and performance-based campaigns designed to help businesses thrive.