Top 8 Lessons I Learned in my 1st year as a 6-Figure Business Owner
December 31st was my 35th birthday, yes, the last day of a crazy year for the entire world. And 2020 is also my first full year as a business owner. I had so many shifts and evolutions in the past year that I want to share. So let’s take a look at my business’s 2020 timeline. I’ll also share the top 8 lessons I learned in business on my road to 6-figures.
In my lifetime as an American, I have never been so scared and unsettled outside of September 11, 2001, until 2020 with its infamous Coronavirus outbreak and all of the black lives matter revelations.
But I don’t choose to reflect on the worst of the year, I want to reflect on the best and the things that led to positive growth and evolution in my business (and how it can help you in your own).
I promise that you’re going to walk away with the top 8 lessons I learned running a solo high-ticket done-for-you service and coaching business.
2020, The Year of Growth & Constant Evolution
First, let me share with you my business timeline for 2020 because I went from 2019 where I only made $6,090 (I started freelancing again in June 2019) to make $132,531 in cash collected in 2020.
This isn’t one of those posts where I just share money, although as women, we need to get comfortable with talking about money and making more money in 2021.
But this is a timeline of the biggest milestones and pivots in my business from 2020.
Once I share the timeline, I’m going to share those top 8 lessons I learned running this business this year. And stick around, because tomorrow I’ll give you some helpful resources I shared this year to help you take action in your own business for 2021.
Atelier Latesha (formerly Latesha Lynch Designs) 2020 Business Timeline
January 2020
This is the month where I did my 1st big rebrand where I did a brand photoshoot, updated my website, brand colors, fonts, and website copy. I also increased my prices for the first time for my services! It was a proud moment to finally share this rebrand after all the hard work I put in creating it. Take a look at my announcement back in January 2020.
This rebrand is hands down the reason I saw business growth at the beginning of the year. People automatically took me more seriously and I gave my business a more professional look.
Below I is a post where I revealed the look of my updated site.
March 2020
This is the month I made my biggest single investment to date ($15,000) into my 1st business coach. Looking back on the investment in my coach, it was so scary to invest more than 50% of my monthly income on a coach. The only thing that helped me move forward with the investment anyway was the fact that I had the safety of my full-time income to keep me afloat and the hope of a brighter future in my business with guidance.
Some notable things that also happened that same month (besides being on lockdown due to COVID) was that I failed my DIY Professional Business Branding course launch AND successfully launched my new coaching services.
To make this long story short, I tried to launch the course, nobody bought it, so to get testimonials I did a 3,000 follower giveaway on Instagram.
Check out the post below where I announced my giveaway which included that failed course and my coaching program.
May 2020
I had gained confidence in my business and built more visibility through video content. So I increased my prices for all my services.
Unfortunately, that same month I failed my course launch a 2nd time and took it away as an offer. I believe that you have to try to make something work for at least 90 days and if it doesn’t and you’ve been consistent and vocal about it, then it may be time to reevaluate the offer.
This opened my mind to experimenting with ideas for new offers for June. This was also the first month I hit a high 4-figures ($8K+) income. This is when I learned the true value of niching, branding and high-ticket pricing for profitability.
Below you’ll find a post where I shared how I hit my highest income month at the time and what I learned.
June 2020
This was the first month that I really intended to grow my 2nd business, The Business Branding Academy. This official launch of the business was a huge success (despite the failure of my course launch), because I successfully hosted my first 2 LIVE events: A free workshop (it is now a paid mini-course) and a paid masterclass under that business. I had over 220 people register between both events. Had a $7K masterclass launch and hit my first 5-figure month ($16K+).
This was the first month where I felt truly confident in my brand authority as a branding expert and as a coach, because I was engaging and teaching hundreds of people. I was also so shocked at my income, a figure I would have never seen from my professional life unless I become some sort of VP or C Suite executive marketing person, so I felt comfortable quitting my job to focus on my business.
My justification was that if I could make this much while working a job on the side, then how successful and happy could I be if I just focused on the business 100% of the time.
Below you’ll find the post about my Instagram Branding Accelerator mini course when it was just a little free workshop.
July 2020
I officially quit my full-time job at a Fortune 250. This month was admittedly a scary one for me. I became a salaried employee of my business as of July 11, 2020 and I was scared shitless. Honestly, I had never thought about the possibility of failure until my entire livelihood relied on the success and growth of my own business.
But I got smart and niched all my services to focus on coaching and 2 design services only. They were not only my highest ticket offers, they were my most successful and value-packed services. I also officially started planning out my mastermind.
Click on the image below to view the Instagram highlight reel of my last day at work.
September 2020
This is the month where I revealed my 2nd rebrand with new fonts, colors, and brand photos. This was an important move for my business, because of all the major growth and shifts I had made all year. I felt like I had truly embodied my dream CEO and now my brand needed to reflect it.
I also had a major win as I sold out of spots in the very 1st launch of my mastermind. This brought my 1st multi 5-figure launch and cash month ($24K). This is a milestone I NEVER could have imagined coming from making $65K as an annual salary. Now I work for myself and making 1/3 of that annual income in 1 month.
Below you’ll find the post I shared about the new branding.
November 2020
November was the month of specialization and niching again. I finally niched my services down to exclusively coaching programs and eliminated design services and 1:1 coaching (for now). I feel like the key to getting to the point of a multi 6-figure business as a solopreneur is niching and specializing.
This is important because the less programs and services you offer, the better you can perfect the ones you have. Processes are easily streamlined and manageable. Launches are simple because everyone already knows what you sell and where you’re an expert so if they need your specialty, they’ll invest faster.
When you offer too many things, it confuses your audience. This forces you to plan more elaborate launches and prep for those launches further in advance. I chose the simple life.
I also skipped the Black Friday/Cyber Monday/Small Business Saturday craze. Instead, I surprise launched my first group coaching program, the Empowered Profitable CEO.
One of my coaching clients announced that she had quit her full time job! And personally, my biggest milestone of all though was that I hit 6-figures in my business!
Below you’ll find the announcement post of my group coaching program, the Empowered Profitable CEO. It’s about to get a new name…
December 2020
This month was a big deal for me because I finally took my first vacation as a business owner! Obviously, with the pandemic, I didn’t go anywhere but I took time off which I hadn’t done. I was able to do this because I had a steady income coming in from my high-ticket program offers that I niched. For most of the year, I was working 16-hour days to grow this business. My goal is to have more work/life balance in 2021, and this was the start of that.
A huge client milestone was announced and that was that my first ever coaching client, Dr. Micaela Herndon hit 6-figures in her business. As a new coach, this is the goal and my biggest dream realized. I’m so proud of her and look forward to having more clients hitting this huge milestone as solopreneurs.
Click on the image below to watch a highlight reel of my favorite coaching client wins.
Top 8 lessons I learned in 2020
What a freaking year, huh? But really, here’s what I actually learned from all this evolution and growth this year…
- People pay high-ticket to solve big problems and low-ticket to solve very specific pain points
- Confidence is a force of habit, not a genetic trait
- Perfectionism is paralyzing you into inaction in your business growth
- Plan for the future so you are prepared to enjoy it when you arrive
- Instead of letting the fear of all the things that can go wrong stop you from investing in yourself and your business, let the fear of the unknown wins pump you full of the adrenaline rush you need to push you and do it anyway
- Work with people who are experts and specialize in the things that you lack that are stopping you from hitting your ultimate goals
- Do not sell just anything to make money, sell what you’re an expert at doing to make a difference
- Create products to solve the biggest problems your ideal clients have that your expertise can solve
Come Back Tomorrow for Part 2
Be on the lookout tomorrow for some content I created this year that will help you take action now that you have these 8 lessons in mind.