What happens when you get to the top of a mountain? You climb back down.
In hiking this is called “summiting” in gymnastics it’s called “peaking.”
In competitive gymnastics girls begin training at a young age with the intention that they will “peak” near the Olympics at around age 16.
You’ll notice that not many gymnasts (especially from the U.S.) make it into a second Olympic Games, even if they’ve won multiple gold medals from their first.
When a gymnast peaks, their skill level either stays the same or they begin to decline. Some of this is from physical growth and limits (a body can only take so much) but a big piece of it is actually mindset.
There comes a point where the pressure is too much and instead of gaining confidence, they begin to lose it. Once they’ve lost their confidence, a gymnast’s brain will begin to work against them and prevent them from learning new skills.
This happens for business owners as well.
When you’re starting out trial and error is expected and failure isn’t really considered failure.
When you’re successful and have “peaked” at the top of your game, usually at the six figure or multi-six figure level failure is NOT expected and strikes a much harder blow to your self confidence.
And just like a gymnast, this broken self confidence can lead into a downward spiral for many incredibly talented coaches and service providers.
Here are 5 signs that you may have peaked in your business:
1. Revenue Plateau or Dip
If you’ve seen growth year after year and find yourself looking at your yearly revenue realizing that it’s plateaued or even begun to decline, you may have peaked. Over time you may find that the decline becomes more prominent until you’re fighting to keep your business going.
2. Solving the Same Problems
Problems like raising your prices, then slowly adjusting them back to what they used to be in order to keep clients coming in. Or, only being able to sell programs and packages at a certain price point. Another problem might be taking on clients that you know are going to drive you crazy because you need the money, then recommitting to never doing this again. If history is repeating itself, then you may want to take a look at what’s really going on and how you can break the cycle.
3. Less and Less People Signing Up
You used to have X number of people in your programs, and now you’re consistently getting less. Even though you are more skilled and have a larger audience than you used to, you seem to be converting less people. This is a sign of a peak, you’ve outgrown the business you started with and it’s time to up-level.
4. Your Peers are Surpassing You
This one is especially frustrating because not everyone peaks in the same way. So while you may have reached your limit, your peers don’t seem to be phased and are continuing to grow, charge more, get better opportunities which can make you feel like something is wrong with you.
5. You Feel “Stuck”
You have the same audience and same offers and any time you try to deviate (because let’s face it, you have more to offer now than when you started with this audience and those offers) you don’t get traction and have to go back to your “tried and true” which is yielding less and less. Not a fun place to be.
If you’ve peaked, it doesn’t mean your business is over.
What it really means is that you’re on the cusp of your next level of growth–personally and professionally.
You have the opportunity to take everything you have learned and built to this point and start your next chapter, better than before and aligned with who you are now.
~Holly
P.S. Do you recognize that you’re at a peak in your business and want help figuring out what’s blocking you from reaching your next level?
If you are ready to answer “the call” and step into what’s next in your business, then I’d love to help.
What we can do together:
- Get clear on YOUR new vision and what your business could look like within YOUR definition of success
- Say “no” to blueprints and cookie cutter strategies and create a plan that only YOU could pull off
- Show up as your most authentic self and change what you’re known for
- Create real leverage in your business through creative business models and automated systems
- Feel like a freaking rock-star because you’re confident in your decisions
- Serve clients that inspire you to play a bigger game and grow with you
- Remove anything from your business and/or life that isn’t serving you
- Get to know yourself and where your patterns and pitfalls lie so you can overcome them
- Know your numbers and where you stand in relation to your goals at all times
- Step into your role as a business OWNER and take command like never before
Sound like what you need? Let’s talk.
