Why I Shut Down A $1.8M Coaching Business & Started Over

About this video

Dan Martell argues for giving up something good to pursue something great. He says he shut down a coaching practice he calls Lead Entrepreneur, which he describes as a $1.8 million a year business built over about a year and a half to two years serving many different types of businesses, to start SaaS Academy focused only on software founders. He claims that four and a half to five years later SaaS Academy had grown to a team of about 45 people and around a thousand coaching clients, which he says would not have happened if he had stayed. He shares three beliefs behind the decision. First, surround yourself with great people and use mentors and peers as a sanity check — he credits a conversation with his friend Todd Herman, who told him he was stepping over dollars to pick up nickels by teaching general business instead of software, where his experience and reputation were strongest. Second, align decisions with the future: picture success ten years ahead and check whether it still lights you up, rather than climbing a ladder against the wrong wall. Third, JFDI — if a decision speaks to your soul, commit and act, as he says he did when moving to Kelowna. He closes by noting that fear is required for courage.

Key takeaways

• Ask whether you are creating more value for your customers than anyone else in the world, and whether the work still lights you up in ten years
• Use admired peers and mentors as a litmus test before deviating from or doubling down on a direction
• Focus on a niche where your experience is deepest rather than trying to serve everyone — the riches are in the niches, in his framing
• Make future-aligned decisions by imagining the successful end state and checking if you actually want that life
• When a decision feels right, commit publicly and act quickly instead of letting logic and unsupportive voices talk you out of it

Episode details: published March 21, 2022 · 11:21 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dan Martell’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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