5 traps keeping you stuck below $1M

Hey Reader,

There's a pattern with creators who struggle to break through the million-dollar barrier.

You often have a lot of things working, but you still feel stuck. Sometimes it’s your tactics, but more often than not, it has to do with your mindset.

Recently, I recorded a podcast episode with Barrett Brooks where we talked about the 5 traps keeping you stuck below $1M.

Barrett helped us build Kit in previous years as COO, and he now coaches some of the biggest names in the creator world. In his coaching practice, he's identified what keeps creators stuck.

Here are the five traps:

Trap 1: Betting your business on what used to work

Launches are changing. Search is changing. Algorithms are changing.

The biggest place we see things breaking is search traffic. AI now answers questions before anyone clicks through. Another place things are different is on Instagram: it used to show posts to all of your followers. Now the algorithm decides based on interest.

What endures through all these changes is story.

Takeaway: Focus on storytelling over the tactics that used to work. Adapt to how people decide who to trust today.

Trap 2: Believing a different business model will be easier

Barrett often has coaching days where two clients wish they had each other's business model. A course creator wanting membership revenue. A membership owner tired of churn wanting launches.

Remember that every business model sucks in very specific ways.

Takeaway: Choose your hard and fall in love with the problems that come with your business model.

Trap 3: Letting risk aversion kill your momentum

If you're stuck, there's a good chance there’s some risk you've had a hunch you need to take that you've been avoiding.

Barrett was looking at buying a business. When he measured it against his assets, he knew that even if the deal went bad, he wouldn't go bankrupt. He realized he wasn't actually afraid of losing money; he was afraid of finding something he was made to do and having it fail.

Takeaway: Ask yourself what's really at stake—not the story you tell yourself, but what would actually happen.

Trap 4: Moving on too fast from what's working

You find a strategy that's really working. There's just one problem: you don't like doing it anymore.

As an example, Barrett didn’t want to be on Instagram all day. Rather than quit, he decided to work with an agency where he feeds them ideas through voice notes and they turn it into content. He only has to record once every two weeks.

Takeaway: Systematize what works instead of abandoning it. Hire to replace yourself in the things that work but feel boring to you.

Trap 5: Hiring a team without stepping into leadership

So many creators end up in the same cycle: hire someone, that person doesn't work out, hire a replacement, that person doesn't work out either. Eventually you have to ask what's the common denominator.

Creators often avoid building teams because they're avoiding the hard conversations teams require. Giving direct feedback. Addressing tension. Having conflict.

You can't just hire people and hand them SOPs. You have to lead them.

Takeaway: Learn to have uncomfortable conversations and give clear feedback.

The gap between where you are and seven figures usually comes down to one of these five blockers.

Which of these traps do you recognize in your own business?

PODCAST

How I Went From 0 To $6M Million With Short-Form Content (Instagram Masterclass)

Nicole Burke, founder of Gardenary, built a seven-figure brand on short-form visual content.

In this episode, Nicole shares the exact methodology and types of videos she creates to attract millions of followers and connect them to her products and services.

You’ll learn:

What type of content formats she uses to drive sales
How to treat Instagram as a business tool
Instagram algorithm insights

There's a lot of practical, actionable strategies in this episode for creating engaging short-form videos, even if you’re not a visual business.

Watch or listen to episode »

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