The Wave Method
Success in business is like surfing—you need to build momentum, ride the waves, and stay balanced to keep moving forward. Just as a surfer reads the ocean and positions themselves to catch the perfect wave, entrepreneurs must recognize opportunities, adapt, and execute strategies to achieve success.
I’ve put together the WAVE METHOD to outline the core principles of riding the wave of business success:
W – WANT: Desire for change and growth
A – ACT: Taking decisive action
V – VISUALISE: Creating a clear vision
E – ENERGISE: Maintaining momentum and sustaining success
The Breakdown: Why Businesses Stall
Many businesses stagnate because they’ve ridden the success of a past wave but failed to prepare for the next. Just like surfers who paddle back out after a ride, business leaders must continually seek new opportunities and build momentum to stay relevant.
Barriers like fear, uncertainty, and outdated strategies can prevent growth. However, using the WAVE METHOD ensures continuous progress and resilience in ever-changing market conditions.
The Height: Riding the Right Wave
The height of a wave represents the level of success your business can reach. However, your ability to ride it depends on the strength, experience, and cohesion of your team. A skilled team with the confidence to take risks will be able to tackle larger waves of opportunity, whereas an unprepared team may wipe out before reaching their goals.
When you are putting together case studies to showcase how you have helped your clients, you can describe their path as “A Journey Through the Wave”. Follow this sales flow:
Approach: Identifying the need or problem
Birth of Need: The size and significance of the challenge
Presentation of the Product: How your solution addresses the problem
Deal with Concerns: Overcoming objections with evidence and trust
Closure: Action steps for long-term success
By communicating success stories effectively, potential clients and partners can determine if your business is equipped to help them ride their next wave.
Use the six parts of the wave as pointers to help you when you are looking to structure your case studies into stories of your clients’ success in business:
- The Peak, Predicting the Wave Break
At the peak of the wave, businesses must demonstrate:
The Pain: Understanding the struggles their customers face
The Promise: What success looks like when they work with you
The Purpose: The broader impact of solving the problem
- The Lip or as I call it, “Breaking Through the Noise”
The lip of a wave is its most powerful part, representing your unique value and authority in the market. To stand out from the competition, businesses must establish credibility through:
Experience: Years in the industry
Insight: Thought leadership via blogs, newsletters, and social media
Awards: Industry recognition and accolades
Authority: Public speaking, books, and high-profile contributions
Resources: Podcasts, tools, and content
Referrals: Trusted networks and partnerships
- The Barrel: The Process towards a trusted relationship
Just as surfers rely on their technique to navigate the barrel of a wave, businesses must have a proven framework to guide success. Scalable, repeatable processes enhance credibility and trust.
Frameworks provide structure and direction. Whether it’s a circular model for community-building or a rectangular model for vision boards, shaping ideas into structured approaches leads to better execution and impact.
At Cre8ion, we’ve developed a Framework Workshop to help businesses build customized structures for their products and services, ensuring consistency and effectiveness.
- The Spray: Maximizing Influence
The spray of a breaking wave represents additional opportunities that stem from core success. This is diversification—extending your impact beyond the initial business model. Examples include:
Branding agencies expanding into video production
Coaching services offering merchandise
Beverage companies transitioning from hot to iced drinks
However, diversification should only occur after mastering the core business. Expanding too soon could cause instability and dilute your primary success.
- The Shoulder: Consistency Through Retainers
The shoulder of a wave provides a stable ride, just like a retainer-based business model provides sustainable growth. A predictable revenue stream is achieved through:
Subscription services (e.g., monthly coaching, SaaS)
Regular content creation (e.g., blogs, podcasts)
Ongoing brand consulting
Consistency is key to trust-building, and businesses that show up regularly create long-term relationships with their audience.
- The Length: Playing the Long Game
Waves are measured not just by height but by length—just like long-term relationships in business create sustainable growth. While some projects are quick wins, others require patience and sustained engagement.
Referrals and networking deepen relationships over time, enabling businesses to grow through trusted partnerships. With 30 years of experience in brand leadership and software, my network has been instrumental in scaling businesses through strategic alliances.
Long-term investments, such as B-Corp certification or partnerships with firms like Hum4ns and Lexus, illustrate how consistent networking and collaboration lead to sustained success. Strong relationships also generate unexpected opportunities, like helping my daughter secure a job she loves!
Make Waves
Like surfing, success in business is about adapting, improving, and staying prepared for the next wave. While conditions may change—sometimes stormy, sometimes calm—the key is to be ready to ride every opportunity that comes your way.
Ready to Ride the Wave of Success?
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