Why You’re Stuck At $18K/mo.
And how to get over the hump
When you’re running a business, there are times you’re going to stall. Sometimes it’s not your fault (worldwide pandemic anyone?), other times it’s because you’re missing something. You may be thinking that you need new skills, and sometimes that’s the case. But most of the time it’s something more subtle.
Having spent the last hour walking a client through his particular block to getting over this hump, I thought I might share what might be in YOUR way if you’re finding yourself stuck at a particular revenue level.
- You have an internal income set point — For some people, there is an income level that they won’t let themselves go past. This may be the amount of money that Dad makes, or it could be the amount of money that would make them feel rich and they don’t like rich people so they can’t be one. For each person, the reason is different, but if you keep hitting the wall at pretty much the same dollar amount, this may be the reason. In this case, you have to identify and unwind the belief that is holding you back.
- You only want to work so hard — you may want to make more money, but when it comes right down to it, you’re unwilling to put in the extra effort it will take to get you to the next place. In this case, it’s important to find ways to be more efficient or to outsource some of the work so you can get more work done without doing more yourself.
- Your inner child is throwing a temper tantrum — if you’re an overachiever (workaholic), then you probably don’t give yourself a lot of downtime. And you probably don’t have a lot of fun. Your inner child may be rebelling and quietly sapping your energy, throwing up roadblocks, and whining every time you start to do something new to bring in more revenue (and create more work for yourself).
Sometimes you’re just fried and need to take some time off to recharge. Sometimes, this can be solved by negotiating with your inner child. Perhaps they would like a new toy. One client of mine had been having a dry spell in sales and then bought himself the i-Mac he didn’t need, but really wanted and before the end of business the same day he had made $7K in additional sales. - You’re not open to receiving more money — If you’re finding that the money is going out as fast as it comes in, then you may be having trouble receiving. In this case, you’ll manage to increase your expenses as fast as your income, or flatline your revenue growth to keep you at “just getting by”.
- You can’t own the identity you have to adopt for the next level — If going above your current level of income means stepping into a new role in your business, for example from business owner to CEO and you’re not comfortable taking on the new role, then you’ll get stuck. It may be that the new role is intimidating, or you feel like you’ll lose your freedom if you become better known, or perhaps you believe that level requires power brokering and you don’t want to do it. Whatever the reason, your refusal to step into the new role will freeze the company’s growth in its tracks. Not until you accept the new role — and everything that comes with it — will your income begin to climb again.
- You feel guilty for making too much money — If you grew up in a home where there wasn’t enough, making a lot of money can be a big challenge. You may feel like you don’t deserve so much, or that you should give it away, or that someone else needs it more. This financial co-dependency can hamstring your ability to bring in more income. You have to be able to accept that it’s OK to have more than enough to get back on the revenue growth track.
These are just a few of the possible reasons that your income has hit a plateau. As you can see, the issue is rarely that you don’t know enough. It’s more often that you’re not totally in alignment with taking the next step in your success journey.
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