What should you do if you’re not reaching your business goals?

Seriously, what happens if you do everything right in business and still don’t succeed?

I have now been in business for eight and a half years. This feels like such an amazing feat. And most of that time, I have been full-time. I have loved being in business.

Anyone who has been in business for this long knows how much work and dedication this requires. You get to explore different services, different specialties, work with some wonderful and unique clients, and truly get to design and do business your way. It can be incredibly fulfilling, and at the same time, incredibly difficult.

I’ts not always entirely sunshine and rainbows…

Starting your own business truly is the dream, but not everyone experiences that instant success that so many on the internet showcase. And honestly, it’s it’s happened for them, then they should celebrate it.

But the reality is, for many people they’re not making 5-6 figure months, they don’t have the freedom to take two months off and still make money, they’re not making passive income in their sleep, and they’re not gaining tons of subscribers and followers every day. And following those “rules” of business? Not always a guarantee. You can do what all of the online business coaches and bigwigs say works and it still doesn’t work.

There will still be months when you finish with 4-figures (or more) in your bank account and feel great about yourself… But there will be other months when you barely make it through the month with 2 figures on the last day. There will be some months that you don’t get any new clients or new projects, and that can sometimes be okay while sometimes that feels dangerous.

There will be times when you make big, costly mistakes, that you spend months (or years) paying off, stretching you further than you feel is possible. There will be months when you feel like a total failure.

This is the truth about online business…

You don’t always have instant success.
You don’t always increase your income every month (or every year).
You don’t always have big wins to share on your social media.

Sometimes, simply getting through the month is the win.

Or maybe finding a small joy is the win.

Do we all wish that we could be the person who makes a million dollars in our first 8 months, of course we do. We all have these big dreams about what our business will be like, and that’s good. We absolutely should dream big.

Here’s the problem, though.

All over social media and in our inboxes, we are flooded with propaganda that if you just work harder, or if you just follow these 3 simple steps, or if you just purchase this obscenely priced coaching package, then your success is inevitable. Or even worse… If you just believe, then your success will be inevitable.

Let me tell you, I spent years believing my success would just magically make its way to me because I believed. Eight and a half years later, and I’m still not making $10K months. It’s not that I don’t believe in the law of attraction, but I can say, that it hasn’t helped me yet. And while I am now feeling cynical, I did spend years wholeheartedly believing.

There are people out there bringing in $10K, $20K or even $50K a month from their digital products that end up being completely garbage, and you’re left sitting there thinking, "Why not me?” You are flooded with a bunch of overwhelming and conflicting information about how to do business the right way, and when you do exactly what they say and still don’t move the needle, they come back saying, “You must have done it wrong.”

Seriously.

So, what should you do if you’re not reaching your business goals or experiencing the success you dreamed of?

1. Don’t give up right now

I am a firm believer that the time to give up, is not when you feel like giving up. If you do then you’ll always be left feeling sad and regretting your decision. You’ll always be left wondering if you made the right decision. Your business will always loom over your head like your ultimate failure.

Instead, think through your decision and make it when you feel at peace with it. When it feels like the right time, and you feel empowered making it. You want to to leave your business on your terms and be able to look back and celebrate all of your wins. You want to be able to look back with fond memories and be able to admit everything you’ve learned and accomplished.

Remember, that not everyone can even start a business, and you did that.

And sometimes the moment we think we need to give up is the exact moment we should really not give up. I truly believe that right around the corner from our lowest moments are when things turn around for us. I have experienced this over and over. These are the moments that test you, that show you what you can do, what you’re made of. Our greatest downfalls can lead to our biggest comebacks. Don’t quit before your time.

2. Stop. Reset. Realign. Pivot.

As Ross Gellar would say, “PIVOT!” But seriously… take a beat. Don’t make any rash decisions. If things aren’t working out and you’re getting desperate, it’s time to stop and reset. Maybe you’re not on the path you are meant to be on, maybe you’re doing things that aren’t actually aligned with who you are, your natural communication style, or how your audience receives information.

Do a review of your business currently. What is working? What isn’t working? Can you see the gaps in your strategy or your system? Maybe it’s time to redo your vision board. Realign with yourself and what you want both out of your business and out of your life. If you need a second brain, ask a trusted person to look over it and brainstorm with you. Sometimes another perspective can help shed light on exactly what needs to happen.

Finally, create a new plan with this information and pivot. Burn it all down if that’s what needs to happen, but start taking different action.

3. Find a way to love it again

Okay, this sounds silly, I know. But honestly, if you hate your business it’s not going to fix itself, and you won’t fix it either. And really… what’s the point? If you are okay hating your business, then you may as well go and work a job you hate. Harsh, but truly, you need to love your business.

So, go back to the beginning. What made you fall in love with it the first time? What made you want to start this business? Find a way to get back to your roots and love it again. When you love something and your passionate about it, then you fight for it. You fight harder. But if you’re hearts not in it, there’s no way you’ll do what it takes it get the success you want.

I think a big part of the problem is actually…

That we have a skewed version of what success actually means. When we think about our goals and success, we always look to those who have been the most successful. And that’s not always a bad thing.

They’ve obviously done something right if they’re making multi-million dollars every year.

But we look at them as if that is the norm. Like the only success worth fighting for is making $5M in one month. That everyone who we can call ‘successful’ is gaining 1000 new followers every month and starts making $10K their second week by posting a couple of stories every day.

But that’s not the only definition of success.

In fact, it’s not even the most normal version of it. Success also looks like the person who sells two dresses a week on Etsy, the person who leaves their corporate job and finds one consulting client their first month, the person who has made money on their own every month for eight years.

Whether you gained one new subscriber on Substack or ten this week, whether you sold one product on Shopify or sixteen, whether you got 100 views on your recent reel or 20K views.

You are still successful.
You are still showing up and doing the work.
You are still working hard and not giving up.

Those are all worth celebrating.

Sure, it’s really hard when you’re not reaching the goals you set. It can feel hard, sad, and disappointing. It can feel like you’re failing.

And sometimes the answer really is to quit. There’s no shame in that. If you’ve gone years where you can’t put food on your table with hungry mouths to feed, it might be time to try something new, and no one can make you feel bad about a choice you make.

Sometimes, things take longer than we’d like. Sometimes things take more than just believing in our own success. If you’re going through this, then I’m here to say, me too. Let’s keep going together.