Business Coach Strategy

Client came to me stuck at $280K revenue for 3 years. Same problems. Same revenue. Different year. Here's what we changed: The Stuck Business Owner: Business: Marketing agency Revenue: $280K/year (stuck there for 3 years) Owner: Sarah, working 65 hours/week Profit margin: 12% (barely surviving) Her Question: "Why can't I break through?" First Coaching Session - The Diagnosis: Me: "Walk me through your average client." Sarah: - Average project: $4,500 - Typical client: Small local business - Payment terms: Net 30 (often 60) - Project length: 6-8 weeks - Clients/year: ~60 Me: "There's your problem. You're trading time for money at low margins." Her Resistance: "But these are the clients I can get." My Response: "No, these are the clients you're CHOOSING to get." The Transformation: Month 1-2: Pricing and Positioning Old Offer: - Website redesign: $4,500 - SEO package: $2,000 - Social media: $1,500/month New Offer: - Marketing strategy + execution: $8K-15K/month retainers - Minimum 6-month commitment - Only 3-5 clients at a time (vs 12-15 before) Her Panic: "No one will pay that." My Challenge: "Find out. Raise prices 100% tomorrow and see what happens." What Happened: Sent new pricing to 8 prospects in pipeline: - 2 said yes immediately - 3 said no - 3 asked for payment plans (we structured them) New clients: 3 at average $10K/month. Month 3-4: Niching Down Her Old Positioning: "Marketing for small businesses" Probleem: Everyone else says that too. New Positioning: "Growth marketing for SaaS startups $1M-10M ARR" Why this worked: - Specific audience she understood - Higher budgets - Recurring revenue model (SaaS clients get retainers) - Less competition Month 5-6: Systemization Built systems so she wasn't the bottleneck: Hired: - Full-time strategist ($65K salary) - Part-time designer (freelance) - VA for admin (15 hours/week) Her Resistance: "I can't afford to hire." My Response: "You can't afford NOT to. You're the $200/hour CEO doing $25/hour work." Month 7-12: Scale the Sales Old Sales Process: - Wait for referrals - Hope someone calls - Scramble when revenue dips New Sales Process: - Outbound to target list (50 SaaS companies/month) - Weekly webinar for lead gen - Structured sales process (demo → proposal → close) - Close rate: 35% Month 13-18: Optimize and Grow Added: - Second strategist - Raised prices again ($10K → $14K average) - Expanded service offering (added paid ads) - Built content marketing engine (this attracted inbound) The 18-Month Results: Voor: - Revenue: $280K/year - Clients: 60/year (low-value, high-churn) - Team: Just Sarah - Hours worked: 65/week - Profit margin: 12% - Sarah's take-home: $45K Na: - Revenue: $1.2M/year - Clients: 12 retainer clients (high-value, low-churn) - Team: 4 people (strategist, designer, VA, Sarah) - Hours worked: 35/week - Profit margin: 32% - Sarah's take-home: $285K What Made This Work: 1. Better Clients, Not More Clients - Went from 60 small clients to 12 great clients - Higher revenue, less complexity - Recurring retainers vs one-off projects 2. Premium Pricing - $4,500 projects → $10K+/month retainers - Raised prices 3x over 18 months - Confidence to charge what she's worth 3. Clear Positioning - "Marketing for small businesses" → "Growth marketing for $1M-10M SaaS" - Instant credibility in niche - Easier to sell, easier to deliver 4. Team Building - Hired to free up her time - Focused on $200/hour CEO work - Delegated $25/hour tasks 5. Predictable Sales System - Stopped waiting for referrals - Outbound + content marketing - Consistent pipeline The Business Growth Framework: Phase 1: Fix Pricing - Charge what you're worth - Premium positioning - Value-based pricing Phase 2: Niche Down - Specific audience - Clear positioning - Own a category Phase 3: Build Team - Hire for leverage - Delegate low-value work - Free up CEO time Phase 4: Systemize Sales - Predictable lead generation - Structured sales process - Consistent pipeline Phase 5: Scale Delivery - Systems and processes - Repeatable excellence - Leverage team What Sarah Told Me: "I wasted 3 years being stuck because I was afraid to charge more, niche down, and hire people. Those were the exact things that unlocked growth. I wish I'd hired you 3 years earlier." The Truth About Breaking Through Revenue Plateaus: You're not stuck because you don't work hard enough. You're stuck because you're doing the wrong things very efficiently. Change the strategy. Change the results.