I’ve made over $11m since I started my course business and here are 5 things I DIDN’T do to make it happen.
You’re going to want to listen to today’s episode all the way through because when you do, you’re going to experience a powerful shift about what it REALLY takes (and does NOT take) to grow and scale a successful online course business.
My name is Caitlin Bacher, CEO of Scale With Success®, and I’m on a mission to help course creators all over the world grow their business in a way that is profitable and scalable. I’m sharing revealing insights about what it really takes to scale an online course business to millions of dollars per year. Join me here to discover the tough decisions I’ve had to make, the biggest failures I’ve had to bounce back from, and the learnings that emerged every step of the way. I’m so grateful that I have the chance to tell you everything right here on Scale With Success®: The Podcast. Let’s get started.
Alright let’s get to it. Here are 5 things I did NOT do to make over $11m since I started this business.
1. I didn’t meet my goals every month.
When I first started my business, I had no clue what my revenue goals should be. I’d read about how much another course creator was making and then choose that as a goal – without making the necessary investments to learn HOW to achieve it.
But, over time, I got better at setting goals. I began tracking my revenue on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. This gave me a better understanding of how quickly I was growing and what things might look like if that growth rate increased.
I also learned about cash projections – which I ended up learning the hard way during my second year of business when I failed to generate enough money one month to pay myself and my team – so I just paid my team.
Making and updating cash projections were a game changer for me in my business. I was able to see where I’d land by the end of the year if I kept the pace of my current sales and where I’d be if things changed..
If I create a new product, this might happen. If I generate more leads for my existing products, that might happen. If I improve my sales process on my existing products, this other thing might happen.
Now meeting our goals each month is a regular occurrence – but it wasn’t always that way. Like anything else, I had to learn how to do it and the more I practiced, the better I got.
2. I didn’t get everything right the first time.
The good news is your course and your funnel don’t need to be perfectly perfect to serve others and grow your business. The bad news is – well, I don’t have any bad news.
Look, taking imperfect action, being willing to make mistakes, learn from them, and move forward doesn’t always FEEL easy. In fact, sometimes it can feel downright uncomfortable.
What’s helped me is to reframe my relationship with mistakes and unexpected challenges. Instead of viewing them as a reflection of my own inadequacies, I see them now as an opportunity to get stronger.
Doing that prevents me from panicking so I can solve the problem and not get sucked into a bunch of drama that leaves me feeling emotionally flooded and worst of all – stuck.
The only way to it, is through it. And while you’re going through the process of problem solving, it’s ok to have fun doing it. You don’t need to beat yourself up or make things harder than they need to be.
3. I didn’t blame other people when things went sideways.
The more pressure you put on yourself to get everything right the first time, the more likely you are to feel shame and embarrassment when it doesn’t.
And when the shame feels too much to bear, sometimes we blame others. It’s a way of protecting our ego from feeling like WE did something bad or wrong.
But, what if making mistakes or doing things wrong is just part of the process? What if it doesn’t mean we’re bad, it means we’re successful at picking ourselves up and trying again.
Now, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I’ve never blamed anyone ever…I am human after all. But, I’m good at catching myself when I feel like doing it and then asking myself what I’m feeling ashamed or embarrassed about.
Blaming others wastes time and energy, plus it prevents you from moving forward. Instead of working through the unexpected challenge, you’re complaining about it. No one is entitled to growth without challenge and the more you intend to grow, the more challenges you can expect to encounter.
4. I didn’t wait around for things to be perfect.
This one is a recipe for disaster. The key to being a successful course creator is moving forward when things aren’t perfect – so, there’s no time like the present to get started.
I know it can be easy to get sucked into the belief that conditions need to be perfect in order to take action, but doing so is putting your success in the hands of outside circumstances, which is NOT the right mindset to grow and sustain a business.
Being successful means you need to move forward EVEN WHEN things are uncertain and that takes courage.
Gathering the courage to move forward in the face of uncertainty builds confidence over time. The more you do it, the more confident you become.
When people say they’re waiting until they feel confident, what they really mean is they’re waiting for fear to disappear – but, fear never really disappears. It’s a normal human emotion just like happiness, doubt, contentment, worry, excitement, and a million others. Feelings are fleeting and if you’re like me then you experience a gazillion different feelings in a single 24 hour period.
Courage isn’t a feeling, it’s what you have to move forward no matter WHAT you’re feeling. I mean, just think about all the hard things you’ve had to do in life – that took courage!
Were things perfect? No, but they didn’t have to be.
5. I didn’t figure everything out by myself.
I’ve invested so much time, money, and energy into courses and coaches my first year of business…and my second and my third and on and on.
Sometimes I talk to course creators who feel ashamed they’ve bought “so many” courses and despite that they aren’t making millions of dollars a year. That shame becomes too much to bear and then they start blaming the course, then themselves, then the course again.
Here’s the thing. Building a business that makes millions a year takes time and continuous learning. This is not a one and done kinda thing.
When I look back at everything I’ve achieved and all the programs I’ve enrolled in – I can’t say that it was ONE program that made the biggest impact, it was all of them.
Each time I worked with a coach or took a course, I’ve had at least one key takeaway – sometimes a big one and sometimes a small one, but those takeaways were not handed to me.
I did the work, made mistakes, encountered unexpected challenges, moved forward, solved problems, made more mistakes, and MOST IMPORTANTLY took the time to reflect on what I learned. Nobody can tell you what you learned, you have to do that part yourself – and when you tell me you took so and so’s course and didn’t learn anything…I don’t believe you.
I think you did learn something, but you’ve become so wrapped up in the idea that your business is not making millions a year that you are failing to see those learnings. And you’re so focused on “being right” that so and so’s course was a bad investment that you are depriving yourself of the opportunity to reflect and FIND the learning – because that would mean you did learn something.
I should know because I’ve done that myself! And quickly figured out “being right” about being wrong is a complete waste of time.
To recap, today I shared 5 things I didn’t to do make over $11m since I started my business and here they are:
1. I didn’t meet my goals every month.
2. I didn’t get everything right the first time.
3. I didn’t blame others when things went sideways.
4. I didn’t wait around for things to be perfect.
5. I didn’t figure everything out by myself.
I appreciate you being here and make sure to tune in next week for another episode of Scale With Success® The Podcast.
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