EP 69: Feast or Famine Is Killing Your Business—Here’s How to Fix It
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hey everybody happy new year welcome to 2025. okay 2024 was quite the year and if you had any issues in your business where you were attempting to get out of the feast or famine sort of cycle this episode is for you so listen up i'm going to be pulling back the curtain on how i got out of the feast or famine cycle

And it wasn't that long ago, if you can believe it, even though I've been in business and this will be 2025 will be my 13th year. And you could call me a little bit of a late bloomer, whatever you want to do. And I know a lot of people can do this sooner in their business. I wasn't there. I just I had a lot of different things I needed to process and go through and

I had a lot of skills I needed to uplevel. Also, I had a lot of personal development work to go through before I felt ready to do some of the stuff that I've done in 2024. And I think everything was leading up to that. Now, I won't say that

I haven't been diversifying before and we're going to talk about that. I will say that I have tried it, but I haven't been as successful as I was in 2024. And this is why I feel confident in sort of sharing the story with you and giving you some really salient points on how you can make sure that you're not in this feast or famine, right?

So if you're feeling like you're on that business roller coaster where you either have too many clients or not enough clients, and then you're scrambling, this is what I'm going to break down for you. And you're going to really get something from this. I promise you, you're going to have sort of a feeling as to what you can do. And I'm going to inspire you for 2025. This is my goal. Okay. So let's get into it. I'm going to sort of share a little bit of the background, and then I'm going to share how you can start.

break out of this cycle. Now, the feast or famine cycle is for any business owner that is sort of a service provider, this happens, right? So you're either launching a course or you have a product where you're a virtual assistant or like me, you were offering online summits. I've been known for online summits for over a decade. I've produced over 450 of them. And so that's been my bread and butter. Now, I have tried over the years to do many different things.

And I've done OBM, online business manager. I've been a VA, that's how I actually started the business. And I've done a ton of different things to try and grow. And occasionally I've been ready for that and it's gone well, but then also just like everybody else, when I try and venture too far, I get a little bit of a smack back.

And, uh, and some of that is personal development side. And some of that is, you know, just not having the right tool, like the right tools or skillset, or it wasn't the right time. And then occasionally just like everybody else, I have run into some pretty, uh, terrible clients that have kind of smacked me back on my, on my butt a little bit. And I've had to reevaluate, you know, what, what did I do to get to that point? What did I do to attract that client? All that kind of good stuff. Right. So let's set the stage here.

Because if we're relying on one revenue stream, even if you're niched in completely in your marketplace, this can be really risky for long-term growth, right? So I'm at a place in the business now where I'm thinking, I don't want to just do summits, right? I've had that feeling for a long time, but it's been the bread and butter and I've been a little scared, right? Just like a lot of people to...

to expand outwards. So here's where I started. This is probably going to sound really familiar to you. My business was primarily focused on one product that was online summits. I had one core offer that I was known for and I was deeply niched in, which I love being niched in, and that was summits. The benefits of this were I became the absolute go-to person for summits. My name came up in those conversations and I gained notoriety and credibility in that space.

So I was called upon to be the expert to talk about summits and list building and lead generation in that space. I love that. I still love that. And I still love that space. And I'm never probably going to leave that space because online summits are a fantastic list building and lead generation opportunity. You already know this is the hill that I'll die on and, and, and so be it. Right. But what wasn't sustainable about this? Why wasn't that sustainable? Well,

My hands-on approach to summits, I am very hands-on with clients, means I was involved in every detail of every project. I did all of the client calls. I did a ton of the front-end work. I did a ton of the back-end work. I did have a small but mighty team that would do things like graphics because I'm not a

This meant for me that scaling really wasn't possible. I mean, at one point, I did try to scale with just me. And I will tell you that I was doing 18 summits at one time. And it almost I mean, it made me sick, like I was physically ill.

just illness and it was total burnout and I don't recommend it and I completely cut that back. That was a really crazy year. That was a long time ago, but it was a really crazy year, right? So I realized that scaling was not possible and so

You only have two choices in this, right? So you either raise your prices or you add in other revenue streams. And I tried raising my prices and that did work and it still works. I have a premium summit service and people pay that price to have a really premium experience, which is great. So I don't have to do as many summits to make same, if not more money. Fantastic. Awesome. But if I wasn't actively working on summits, um,

I wasn't earning revenue, right? And so you're always in this, I've got a full, you know, I've got a full set of clients, I've got X amount of clients I'm doing summits for,

I can't take on anybody else right now, but I was always thinking like, okay, the summit ends in May, this summit ends in June and so on. And I still had to keep pulling on, pulling on, pulling on. Okay. And that is exhausting and it's stressful. So, and the risk of having one revenue stream, I mean, what if, what, and I don't believe this ever to happen, but it could happen in your industry. What if some has lost their popularity? What if the client pipeline dried up? And what if Lord forbid, um,

I got hit by a bus and I was not able to perform at the level that I've been performing at for over a decade, right? I'm a high performance person. I work at a higher level. I put in a lot of hours and a lot of work. And so I really had to think about this. Like, I'm not going to lie. Everybody's getting older and me included. And I really wanted to make sure that I am set up for success. And I really wanted to take my foot off the gas sometimes just like everybody else, right? So this probably sounds really familiar to you. So

recognizing the need for change has been there for years. The turning point was in 2023. Okay. I realized I needed to diversify my business staying completely niched in, but I needed to diversify it and create consistent income that I could scale for long-term growth. Right? So the importance of not waiting until you feel like you're desperate to start finding clients and

And then trying to figure that out because that's really, really challenging, right? And diversifying your revenue means if one thing dries up, then you've got something to fall back on. And so that focus shift was happening all throughout 2023. The thought was there. The seed was there for years. But I just found it too difficult. There's a lot of reasons I found it too difficult. The pandemic just made it way too difficult. And I really hunkered down on summits. And that was like the saving grace. Before that...

I will tell you that my mom had passed away in 2018, the end of 2018, like right after Christmas, the day after Christmas. And then there was a lot of personal development work that happened after that.

Before that, there was just a lot, right? So even though I've been doing this for a really long time and you might be going, Jenny, seriously, like it took you this fricking long, you know, whatever. Not everybody's journey is linear. Mine was definitely not linear and it's been challenging. I'm not going to lie, but I've managed this whole time. This whole time I've been managing to be very successful, but just not at the way I want it to be, right? So back at this.

Shifting my focus meant I started to explore how I could leverage my skill set and my experience in different ways. And I had conversations with different people, a lot of conversations. And that was, you know, I did a lot of talking in 2023 to figure this out, right? I evaluated my existing offers. I looked at my client base. I saw what was opportunity. I identified gaps, right?

And then I really started to hone in on what I should be doing. And at the end of 2023, I felt like I had a really good plan. It was a step to diversification, to scaling, to building new products, to expanding, right? So I did build new products before the end of 2023. No, yeah.

Before the end of 2023, I had two brand new products. They were the Summits Made Simple products. They were two different courses, and those have been serving a broader audience for the past year, and they required no hands-on once they were developed, right? So they are a hands-free course. People take them. I have well over 600 students having gone through each of those courses, and

in all of 2024. So it was really successful. And so that was fantastic. Um, that, that revenue, those new people that's, I mean, that's been stellar. I've loved that experience. And I've also gotten some done for you clients from people who bought those courses. I've gotten other clientele from people who have bought those courses. It's been great. The other step that I took that is essential, hands down essential is becoming more visible, right?

I participated in more bundles. I participated in more summits as a speaker. I actually did some traveling in 2024, which I had not done for the four years previous. I went to Orlando. I went to Washington. Where else did I go? I went to, yeah, I went to Washington. I went to Seattle. So I went to three different places in 2024 and all of those helped me gain visibility and helped me grow, right? So I was establishing myself in that way.

And the result of every time I went on these trips, and trust me, I didn't enjoy the travel as much as, you know, I mean, I enjoy it, but I don't love being away from home. I'm a bit of a homebody that way. The result of every single trip was clients. From the Orlando trip in January, I got a steadfast...

like retainer client and that was that person I had that person for 2024 the result of going to Washington meant I actually got another client right and so I really kept pushing to get more visibility and I was pushing myself really outside of my comfort zone because like a lot of people I think the pandemic helped well with some people I think the pandemic really sort of

helped people to create community. And there was a lot of, there was a lot of things that kind of came from it. I'm not going to say good things because it was a terrible, terrible thing.

But for me, it increased my anxiety, right? And so those things were elevated. So traveling for me was a bit of an anxiety thing. And the other thing that I did, so this was the third thing that I did, is I started expanding my services, right? So I began offering fractional operations and fractional CMO services to companies that were already making seven figures, okay? So these are companies between, you know, five to 35 employees making, you

5, 10, 15, 35, whatever million dollars a year that need operations work, that need marketing work, that need strategic marketing coaching, basically, to grow and, you know, exceed in their operational efficiency. So I was looking for operational opportunities, places where I could go and create a really big difference. So this actually allowed me to work with a diverse range of clients, like from, you

I worked with a law firm. I've worked with in the healthcare industry now. And those that's really been a really interesting area. And I'm a Canadian and I'm helping people in the American healthcare industry. Total eye opener. Can I tell you? So that's,

It's allowed for, it's really allowed for me to expand my services out. And it's been incredibly rewarding on my side. I've absolutely loved it. So I've sort of reignited that joy in my business that was sort of lacking from just doing the summits.

And so heading into 2025, I have a more diverse portfolio in terms of what I'm doing. Now, summits are still a cornerstone in my business and will most likely remain so because they're just part of a larger strategy. I now leverage those summits for other opportunities. Now that I'm doing that, I'm getting, you know, fractional CMO, fractional operational clients, and

And this has become a significant revenue stream. This is diversification on a larger front. And so I can support and service various clients on a fractional basis and have a really deep impact for them. They get a ton of positive impact from that. They get a ton of revenue. You know, they see all sorts of really great things happen. And I get to play in other people's businesses, which I absolutely adore doing.

And then nearing the end of 2024, one of the biggest things that I did that isn't going to pay off for a little while, but this is really me planning ahead, is I took an ownership stake in a company that is currently being expressly built to be a, hopefully, a viable company in a few years, right? So I am now a owner in a company that I am actively trying to grow with the other owners

So that we can make it very attractive to other people who may want to buy that company in the future. And that's an exit strategy, right? So that's build a company, invest time, effort, etc. And then when that company hopefully is purchased in a few years, there's a really good payout from that. So this is just one of the expansion techniques that I'm using to create different revenue streams so that I'm never relying on just one.

And it has been a challenge, but I love it. And here's what else is coming in 2025 that I think that you should also consider when you're looking at your diversification plan for 2025. I'm going to launch a new course in Q1. That's going to be for Many Bundles. So Many Bundles is a brand new venture that was started in November of 2024 with my partner. And that is an ongoing online bundle, a digital bundle, a ultra bundle, if you want to call it.

And that is going to continue. And so that's growing and we've seen really positive results. And that launched November 18th of 2024. And we're early January of 2025 and it has been spectacular. So that's going to continue to grow. I'm going to have this new course coming out in 2025. I do have some travel planned for 2025 already, even up until August of 2025. And so these are the expansion techniques that I'm currently using that are going to lend value

and support my growth, my revenue goals, my desire to have different, you know, different people that I'm working with, different businesses that I'm part of. And it really allows me to leverage my skills, my interests, and it continues to help me grow. Like I am, I'm not stagnant. I'm growing. I'm learning new things. I'm meeting new people. And this has been fantastic, right? So I'm, and I'm scaling without compromising. I'm not

I'm not going outside of my niche. I'm not pushing beyond my ability. I'm really creating strategic offers that are scalable within my niche. So I've been able to grow and add personal touch, increase the client value, all these things.

And so when you look at your own business and you're looking at 2025 and you know, you're thinking about all the things that you should be doing, then I want you to really assess your business. I really want you to take five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, whatever it takes you to assess your business and think about, are you relying too heavily on any one income stream? And if that income stream was to dry up tomorrow, what would you do?

Or if you are the person in your business that is the front, like the face of the business, the front of the business, and tomorrow you were incapacitated in some way, shape or form, and I pray that you are not, what would happen? Because as somebody who has been the face, the front, you know, if something happened, I had to plan for that. I still had to plan for that. I still am planning for that. And so I want you to look at also how you can start small,

If you don't already have this ability to do this, you don't have to overhaul your business overnight. You don't have to like burn it down and start it from scratch. Look at adding a new offer or a new way of creating new income and exploring one new opportunity at a time. I like looking at adding something every quarter. It's very doable.

And so I plan out every quarter what I'm going to do a little bit differently. What am I going to bring in? So Q1, I'm bringing on a brand new course for many bundles, and that's going to teach people how to have a successful bundle product, right? Q2, there's going to be some travel in there. So I have to account for the travel. And I'm also supporting...

a couple of my clients with big projects that they're doing. So I have to account for that, but I'm also going to be adding in my goal for Q2 is to add in another fractional client. And I've been planning out my quarters this way. And so when you look at the total picture of your business, I really want you to understand, I really want you to sort of think about these ideas of diversification, different revenue streams, and how this is going to impact your business, how you can make it work for you. Right? And so I hope

I hope this episode gave you the nudge that you needed to start thinking about diversifying in your own business, breaking free from the feast or famine cycle. And remember that growth doesn't happen by chance. It really only happens by design and it is never linear ever. It's up, down. I mean, it's all over the place.

And if this episode resonated with you, please take a screenshot, share it on Instagram, share the link with friends, let them know what we're doing over here with Acquire and everything that's coming up in 2025 is going to be outstanding, I promise you.

And I'd love for you to tag me. Any sort of help, support or cheering me on would be amazing. I do love it. So thank you so much. Keep showing up for yourself and keep coming back to listen to more episodes of Acquire. Again, I'm so grateful for you listening. Thank you so much. And we'll talk to you all soon. Take care.