There’s a lot of talk about growth in the online business world–and most of it gives me the willies. In fact, I’ve grown so tired of the “hustle, grind, and launch” mentality that is taught online, that in 2020 I decided to flip the script of everything that’s taught about scaling and go on my own little adventure.
The question that I used in 2020 to make all business decisions was this:
Could I double my revenue (and triple my profit) and work half the time?
Now, I think we can all agree 2020 was a DOOZY. Enter the Pandemic. Enter the fear around everything–including an election, a recession, and a virus spreading throughout the world. Enter a botched surgery that almost killed me.
The Guiding Question for Growth
And enter my crazy thought: Could I double my revenue (and triple my profit) and work half the time?
What a fantastically fun year it turned out to be, despite all the drama and trauma and fear. Despite a surgery that went south. Despite my mind telling me I was crazy to step into “growth mode” based on my three non-negotiable values.
My Three Non-Negotiables for Growth
There are three non-negotiables I use to make all decisions in my business: more joy, more revenue, and more time off. These are the very same values that attract other coaches and consultants to my community. (Feel free to join us if you want to learn how to grow and scale your business in a way that feels good, too.)
In fact, we have a mantra that continues to bring awesome people my way: “If it ain’t joyful, we ain’t doing that sh*t.”
We rally around this mantra when it comes to growth strategy, planning out joyful marketing, and thinking about how we are going to create a bigger impact in the world. Let’s be real: No one wants to do anything that isn’t joyful. It’s just not in our human nature–and running and scaling your business should be no different.
The Growth Results Are In: 2020 Was The Best Year in Biz Yet!
It turns out that you CAN grow your business without buying into the hype of ads and launches and other things that many of us find just downright exhausting.
Here’s the stats for you (because I am all about sharing REAL data):
- I worked 168 days last year.
- I took 197 days off.
- I increased my annual revenue from $250k to $440k.
- My expenses are $11k/month (team and tech). If you do that math, you’ll discover that I kept $25k per month, on average, after everything was paid, including my salary.
- I didn’t use ads of any kind. (They bring me zero joy.)
A New Paradigm for Scaling Your Coaching or Consulting Business
Here’s what I want you to walk away with after reading this article: Most of the talk around scaling leads many online business owners to burnout, burn-through (cash) and burning bridges. I’ve tried what the online gurus have said to do in the past: certification models, Facebook ads, launching, low-ticket funnels, pain marketing, coach the coach models, and working more hours than I care to even disclose.
All of that led to bitterness, exhaustion, pockets of unhappiness, and a disbelief that I was doing a lot of things wrong, when in fact, I was doing SO MANY THINGS RIGHT. Things like: prioritizing joy and time off and travel and marketing that is focused on story and relationship and stepping into the possibilities (and not beating people up with their pain).
I just knew there had to be a better way! And I’m so happy I asked that guiding question and followed my intuition in 2020.
More is not better. Better is better.
One of the biggest lessons I learned in 2020 as a CEO was this: More is not better. Better is better. I spent quite a bit of time talking to my team about this concept, and we got to work and focused not on creating more, but making the two things that we prioritized for selling better. We focused on better leads, better sales, and better results for our clients. AND increasing our joy and positive energy around it all.
We Are Celebrating and You are Invited!
To celebrate, we hosted a party and I pulled back the curtain in this educational + celebratory event to share with you the three things I did to create the best year yet, and the three things I didn’t do. Click here to catch this educational replay—and let’s grow that coaching and consulting business of your dreams!
