Lumpy Revenue – Does Your Coaching Practice Hit Feast and Famine Cycles?

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<img fetchpriority= Lumpy revenue - does your coaching practice feel up and down?" width="400" height="400" />Lumpy revenue.

Uneven cash flow.

Unpredictable income.

Feast or famine.

 

If you own your own coaching business, you’ve probably ridden the revenue rollercoaster a time or two. Scary for some, and exciting for others. Join us as we explore strategies to smooth out the lumpy revenue and create stability in your cash flow, OR learn how to lean into the dips and curves so you can, dare we say, enjoy the bumpy ride!

Work With Us to Level Out Your Lumpy Revenue

BREA Roper
Communication | Woo | Activator | Futuristic | Connectedness

If you need a Strengths Hype Girl, for yourself or your team, connect with Brea at brearoper.com. She’s ready to deliver an inspirational keynote, empowering training, or transformational workshop. If you’re looking for an expert guide to support your internal Strengths efforts, reach out today!

LISA Cummings

Strategic | Maximizer | Positivity | Individualization | Woo

 

To work with Lisa, check out team workshops and retreats at the Lead Through Strengths site. For 1:1 strengths or life coaching, check out the Get Coached link. For independent coaches, trainers, and speakers, get business tools support with our Tools for Coaches membership.

 

Takeaways on Lumpy Revenue and Bumpy Profit

  • Embrace the Lumps: It’s completely normal to experience fluctuations in your income. These ups and downs are part of the entrepreneurial journey, and don’t reflect your worth as a business owner. Instead of feeling like something is wrong, let’s recognize this is a natural part of running a business. By accepting the lumps, we can better prepare for them, and even leverage them to our advantage.
  • Create Predictable Revenue Streams: Finding ways to smooth out the revenue can help alleviate the stress of unpredictable cash flow. Consider strategies like offering retainers, group coaching, or digital products to establish a more stable revenue base. This can help smooth out the highs and lows of your cash flow.
  • Nurture Relationships: Stay in touch with past clients, even if you’re not actively selling to them. Simple gestures like sending a handwritten note or a small gift can keep you top of mind for future opportunities.
  • Align with Your Strengths: Build your business around what you enjoy and excel at. When your offerings align with your passions, it becomes easier to sell and maintain enthusiasm for your work.

 

Take Action to Smooth Out Your Lumpy Revenue

  • Identify Revenue Patterns: Look for seasonal trends in your business. Recognize the months or periods that tend to be busier or slower, and plan your strategies accordingly.
  • Create Consistent Income Streams: Explore options for establishing a steady base of income, such as offering retainer agreements, creating group coaching programs, or developing digital products that can be sold repeatedly.
  • Nurture Past Client Relationships: Implement a system to stay in touch with past clients, whether through email marketing, or more personal outreach. This can help keep you top of mind for future opportunities.
  • Leverage Your Strengths: Align your business strategies with your personal strengths and preferences. Focus on what energizes you to make selling easier and more enjoyable.
  • Prepare for Lumpy Revenue: If you’re considering transitioning from a corporate job to full-time entrepreneurship, assess your appetite for lumpy revenue. Create a financial plan that includes a savings runway or a solid customer base to mitigate the stress of unpredictable income.

 

Let’s Connect – Tell Us Your Favorite Lumpy Revenue Levelers!

 

AI-Generated Transcript on Lumpy Revenue and Feast or Famine Feelings

Lisa: I’m Lisa.

 

Brea: I’m Brea.

 

Lisa: And today we’re talking about my humps, my hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely income lumps. Check it out. Priya, do you know what I’m referencing there?

 

Brea: I do. Is it Black Eyed Peas or is it just a Fergie thing or am I totally off?

 

Lisa: It’s one of the two. I mean, it is Fergie’s voice, whether it was Black Eyed Peas or Fergie solo, I’m not sure. You nailed it. If it’s music, you know I’ve got a little bit of it. If you talk movies, forget it. I’ve got songs floating in my head all day, every day. So there you go. Yes.

 

Brea: So our lovely revenue lumps.

 

Lisa: Revenue lumps. We’re talking about lumpy revenue, lumpy income, lumpy cash flow, lumpy demand. Some people even call these lumpy businesses. We’re talking about these solo practices that many of us have, or small practices that are coaching, training, workshops, and they don’t have predictable, steady, stable income, and it is the bane of the existence of many coaches. It freaks people out. They talk feast or famine. They don’t know if it’s normal. And they also want strategies for it. So, yeah, let’s talk. I know you’re going to want to define what we’re talking about, Brea. So take us down the definition trail and then let’s jump in.

 

Brea: I mean, honestly, you did such a great job. You used feast or famine. I think that’s a great, like, that clues us into what we’re talking about. It’s unpredictable. You know, this is unpredictable cash flow. Maybe another term would be seasonal. This is often seasonal business. And I think This is something that we can all relate to because a lot of the work that we do as entrepreneurs, as consultants, as you know, whatever it is that you’re doing, a lot of it is project-based, right? So obviously that’s not a consistent cash flow.

 

There’s a beginning and an end to that. And because we’re selling into other markets that have slower sales cycles. In a previous episode, we talked about selling to corporate. That’s maybe a longer, slower sales cycle than some other cycles. But there are cycles, there are seasons, there are longer lead times and shorter lead times.

 

There’s such a reliance on other people, on referrals, on things that are outside of our control that lead to this kind of lumpy, bumpy life. So today I would love to talk about what are the lumps and bumps that we’re experiencing because, first of all, I don’t think we talk about it enough. People just feel like there’s something wrong with them, you know, if they’re not perfectly consistent and that’s not true. So let’s just call it what it is and say it’s actually normal to experience this rollercoaster of revenue.

 

Lisa: Oh, rollercoaster revenue, there’s another good one.

 

Brea: Yeah, and maybe can we talk about how to create some predictable, consistent revenue streams that make the highs and the lows, the peaks and the valleys a little bit more tolerable, right? I’m just laughing.

 

Lisa: It used to be on the inside, but it came out. I was trying to think of the name of that shapewear that people wear under their pants to smooth out the lumps. What is that called? The Spanx. We are coming up with Spanx for revenue.

 

Brea: Hey, I love it. I love it.

 

Lisa: Yes. And then, okay, you also, I wanted to just call out that this topic came up because you and I were talking And you were like, I don’t know what’s going on, but are you seeing this trend? There’s a mega activity right now. And you were talking about the good, you know, the lumps, the ups, the good part. And I was laughing because I had just been on a call where people were like, have you seen this trend? There’s such a retraction.

 

Everyone is freaking out and, you know, killing their budgets. And that is such a truth. in the peer groups that I’ve been in over a decade of doing this work, you get one person who is on a high and they are on a roll.

 

Then the next person is thinking the world is ending and we tend to assign our personal truths like that’s what’s going on for everyone and in every time, every time this goes on, you can look around and you can find examples of someone who’s on the upper hump and somebody’s on the lower hump.

 

Brea: Yes, and we need each other so much. That’s why these communities are so important. Hopefully this podcast is helping to fill that need to recognize that when I’m down, someone else can lift me up or I can be so excited that someone else is having a good day, even if I’m not.

 

Then I can offer that energy when I’m on a high to someone else who might be on a low. And if we’re both on a high, then we’re sharing in that. And if we’re both at a low, then we’re sharing in that. So true.

 

Lisa: Mm-hmm. OK. Well, should we get right into smoothing the lumps? Or is there more to talk about before ideas and business models and strategies for getting some predictability?

 

Brea: Yeah, I want to talk about smoothing the lumps. I think Spanx for revenue is a very cool topic. And also, I kind of want to normalize the lumps. As a business owner, I don’t mind the lumps. And I think part of that might be looking back and seeing, are there some patterns? Do I see that there are some seasons that are really high, some seasons that are slower?

 

Can you find those patterns? And if you can, let’s just, let’s, let’s just call it what it is, you know, and then lean into the highs and, and figure out some strategies to make sure you’re, you’re covered during the lows. It’s okay to be lumpy and bumpy, is what I think I’m trying to say. Lumpy revenue happens. Yeah. I remember in 2023, I was expecting about three months of, I knew it was just going to be slower, where I’m not traveling as much, is what I mean by that.

 

The work that I was doing was pretty much all virtual at the time. And I was like, you know what, I’m gonna go home to Kansas City and I’m gonna be near my family. I’ve got five nieces who I just love to pieces and why not go be near them for little things like baking cookies, going to pumpkin patches and showing up for sports games and Christmas recitals and all the things that I don’t normally get to do when I’m living states away. So that’s what I mean is sometimes the lumps and bumps can be to our advantage if you can just accept it and then make it work for you, you know?

 

Lisa: Yes, I like that. And you were also making me think about how some lumps become predictable. So I would say over my 11 years in business, There are a couple of patterns that are pretty common, and that is October is super busy. People are using up their budgets, their corporate budgets, and they’re trying to cram it in before the holidays.

 

Then, and it might be 4x a typical month. Then November, you get a little bit of that carryover, and then it drops off for US Thanksgiving. And then, forget it, December is just going to be low. So that has been something I accepted from the beginning because I knew that from being in talent development teams and learning teams in corporate. I just knew that was how it went as far as workshops and events. And that was fine. And so December was either restful family time or if you have a month to develop something, oh, I want to create an online course, that December would be a great time.

 

I know if I want to leave the business for three weeks and not reply to an email, that’s the time of year to do it. Especially, yeah, that week between Christmas and New Year’s and then January is going to explode. So that’s a trend – even though it’s lumpy revenue, it feels very predictable to me at this point.

 

Brea: Yeah. Yeah. And also that week between Christmas and New Year’s, that’s a huge week for me because the individual customers that I’m working with are not working at their jobs. You know, they have free time that they don’t normally have. They have downtime and they have mental space in a way that they don’t normally have when they’re in the hustle bustle of the nine to five workday schedule. So they’re much more open. Like that week is like, huge for VIP days or retreats or whatever it is that I’m offering that year.

 

That’s one of my biggest weeks every year because I lean into it, you know, and I create an offering for that. So it really is just kind of looking at the lumps and bumps of the market and looking at the lumps and bumps, you know, in your own business and just deciding, do I want to smooth this out? Do I want to lean into it? Do I want to make the peaks and valleys even greater? You know?

 

Lisa: Yes. Yeah, the deciding. Oh my gosh, you’re hitting on it. It’s so important because the same phenomenon that is going on the week between Christmas and New Year’s, you’re taking it and using it to make an uptick. And I’m using it to say, oh, if everyone’s gone, this is amazing. No one will expect an email.

 

This is a time I can really go dark and no one minds. So we’re doing an opposite thing with it, with the lump. And that’s good. And we both love what we’re doing with it. That’s such a cool one because it just proves that point out where one person is like, wow, are you seeing this mega bump? And the next person is like, whoa, I’m taking such a dip. Is everyone seeing this?

 

Brea: Yeah, that’s right. That’s right. If you’re experiencing some lumps and bumps, just know that you’re not alone and you’re not without hope. There’s always an opportunity.

 

Lisa: Yes. Well, let’s talk about some of the things we’ve done to smooth lumps. So if you have ups and downs, but you have a bread and butter level that comes in, you don’t mind the lumps because the bottoms become what used to be the top. That is a key to my strategy in I’m not caring as much about smoothing out lumps.

 

I’m caring about raise the bottom level so that there’s no freak out about bare minimum. There’s no freak out about the bottom. I want the bottom to be steady and then the spikes at the top, that’s great. That can come in. That’s okay with me. How about you? What’s your perspective there?

 

Brea: Well, I agree, and this is something that I’m not naturally good at, and I think you are naturally good at and have just done such a great job of smoothing out that base. I mean, there were a couple years in my business when I didn’t even know what that base was. So if you haven’t started your business yet or if you are in the beginning stages, start there. Figure out what is your bare minimum and find some more consistent income, some passive revenue or some evergreen stuff or whatever to like give you that base so that the low doesn’t feel as low.

 

Lisa: Right, right, right. OK, so let’s talk what we really did. I’ll also throw in some ideas of things that I didn’t do, but I see other coaches do that I love. But personally, what I did, so again, this is like Lisa strengths aligned. So as a listener, think about your strengths and match it up. For me, I love workshops. Those were my bread and butter. Also, speeches are great. So think of me as an event based person.

 

I knew the downside to that is if I’m doing a bunch of one off events, That’s not a consulting engagement that I have a contract signed for four years. If you could do that, that would be a version of consulting that would smooth the lumps. But I knew that isn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want to do that level of project management. I wanted to be in, be out, be done. And that feels enlivening to me. But I knew that would mean selling over and over and over again.

 

One of the things I did with that strength in mind and that desire in mind is I targeted corporate where I could find customers that have big talent academies or learning academies. And they could book many events at a time. So I would get people who would say, OK, let’s book 20 for the year in January. And I had several of those customers. So I would have dozens of events just lined up ready to go from these academies because we would offer the same program over and over again to different audiences.

 

And that was a way for me to be a spark and not have projects to manage and not have deliverables hanging over my head, which didn’t feel like they aligned with my strengths and desires. and also kind of have that base come in where I felt really comfortable that the base revenue was going to be great. So there’s one strategy, talent academies.

 

Brea: Yeah. Anytime you can sell one thing and have it repeat over time. I mean, what a great strategy, right? I’m like you, Lisa, you know, I love events and I like getting in and getting out and not having those long commitments.

 

I love retainers when you can get them from a sense of, I love working with internal coaches who are, you know, they’re championing the strengths effort at their company, but it’s just one of the hats that you’re wearing, you know? You’ve got so many other things going on. I love being that person in your pocket, that coach that you can rely on when you need a coach, when you need, some extra hands when you, you know, you’re onboarding a lot of people and you just need a few extra coaching hours, but you’re not looking to bring a coach on, you know, for long term.

 

You just need a little bit of extra juice for a little bit of time. I love being that person and I can create a retainer for that. and just kind of level out that bottom floor, like you’re saying, and still honor my talents of being able to flex and adapt and respond as needed, gives me the variety and the consistency, you know, at the same time.

 

Lisa: Beautiful. Yeah. And Retainer, endless creativity there. You could do so many things on Retainer.

 

Brea: So fun. So fun.

 

Lisa: OK, that also made me think of filling a coaching book of business for one-on-one coaches. If you have packages and you’re a one-on-one coach, you could fill your book of business and get to the point that you’re filled and you have a waitlist. And that would be a way of smoothing the lumpy revenue issue.

 

Of course, it would require selling and marketing and ongoing work. You can’t sit back on your laurels when you’re full or close to full. You have to kind of overdo it to keep people on wait lists, but that’s a really good way to smooth it out if you’re a one-on-one coach. Of course, you could do group coaching that has longer programs.

 

Like if you have a year-long program, maybe they’re on a payment plan that charges them once a month for the year instead of a one time. And just think of the image of that revenue. If they paid you in January for 12 months worth of work, would you rather have that spike of having it up front or would you rather have it leveled out over a 12-month payment plan?

 

That’s up to you to decide what you prefer there. Some would much prefer to have it up front. Some would much prefer to have the steadiness. So it doesn’t mean lumpy revenue is bad. I mean, a lump can be a super spike and that can be amazing and you might desire that.

 

Brea: Yeah, getting people to pay up front. I love that.

 

Lisa: Okay, another one that popped up for me is digital products. One of the things that I started doing years ago is if I created a cool workbook or some activity guides or some resources that would be follow-ups to a workshop, if I’m already going to create content that is new, which my individualization loves to do.

 

One of the things I decided to do with myself is kind of like rules for life is, hey, you’re going to indulge this individualization that loves to create new stuff. You better make it worth it. And maybe Maximizer’s kicking it. Make it worth it. So can you resell this as a standalone product? Then those things are living on and serving customers and they’re smoothing for you.

 

Brea: Mm-hmm. You know, something else that I did not do very well for a while that when I started doing it made a huge difference is nurturing relationships with past clients. My talents are just, you know, high futuristic, high strategic, high activator, high a lot of things that are thinking forward, moving forward. So looking back is just not something that that I do naturally.

 

Once I was done, I was done. So again, learn from my mistakes and stay in touch with people, even if you’re not selling to them. I love sending handwritten cards. I love just a a small like Starbucks e-gift card, you know, I can text that to someone and just say, hey, like coffee’s on me today, or even just an email or, you know, it doesn’t have to be a gift.

 

It could be anything to just kind of stay in touch because you never know when they might want to be sold to, you know, or they might, might need you again. And if you don’t stay top of mind, then you’re not on their mind. Whether that’s an email list, you know, like Lisa’s really great at or I have my own creative relational ways of staying top of mind, like put in the effort. It’s worth it.

 

Lisa: Yes. Okay. I just have to build on that one. because I am the evergreen queen and I love email marketing software and how that can be used to deliver. You can use that software to deliver training. So I have the rest of the training, these activation courses that are delivered from my email marketing software. It’s just a way of sending content out.

 

From there, I have these nurture sequences that stay in touch for more than two years. after that initial contact. And I can’t tell you how many times someone is way into it. They might be over a year into receiving a thing and then they go, Oh, we’re doing a team summit. Are you available on June 15, 2027? I mean, they just pick a date out of it. It feels like it comes out of nowhere, but it didn’t come out of nowhere. It’s systematically in there. And that has been incredible for me, smoothing out the lumps.

 

Brea: Oh gosh, there’s just so much on my mind right now. I think I just want to say when we’re talking about revenue, when we’re talking about income, when we’re talking about the highs and the lows and all of this conversation, it’s so easy to attach our worth to the numbers that we’re seeing on the screen or that we’re not seeing on the screen.

 

I just want to encourage anyone that’s listening to detach who you are, just to detach that from the data that you’re seeing on the screen. Like you are not your business, you know? And if, if the market is changing, if the politics are changing, if, if you’re seeing a down month, that doesn’t mean you’re a bad person or you’re a bad business owner. It just means that this is happening and that’s okay. So I guess I just am feeling inspired to speak that over people that are listening.

 

Lisa: Because you know it happens so often. When I’m listening, I hear what you’re saying and I’m thinking of the words and I’m like, lumpy revenue happened. Lumpy income happens.

 

Brea: Yes.

 

Lisa: Lumpy. And that’s a thing. Like, you can just look at it and go, OK, that is a picture. It’s on a chart. And there are plenty of business strategies that can address it. So if you see a trend you don’t like, cool. You can come up with a business strategy that can smooth it out. Work with a coach who can help you smooth it out. Great. We all have the ability to build these businesses that are incredible and serve us. It’s just an experiment.

 

I feel like all of this is an experiment in aligning what makes the business go and what makes you go with your strengths and your values. It’s just that constant messing with the dials and finding the experiments so that the business strategy, the revenue that comes in, your personal preferences, they can all find alignment. And sometimes it takes several years to play around and find all of that. And meanwhile, yeah, give yourself a break.

 

You’re building your selling skills. You’re figuring out all this software. You didn’t know you were going to become a full-time marketer and salesperson and you’re delivering on the work and you’re trying to find a business strategy that there’s a lot going on when you’re in those first years of business. So have a play with it.

 

Brea: Yes. And yes, all of that, rewind, listen to it again. Yes. And realize that even when you think you finally got it, like things will change. What worked for me seven years ago doesn’t work for me today. You know, like not all the time, not in all the ways. So when things happen that are different, like the whole impetus for this conversation was my Vox to Lisa that said, Why all of a sudden are these people that have been ghosting me for literally years?

 

I have a client that I can now call them a client because they have paid me to come and do some work for them. But it’s been eight plus years that I have been pursuing them, nurturing them. And then all of a sudden it’s like, boom, we’re ready. Some of those people are coming out of the woodworks. And so you just never know why some things hit when they do and some things don’t. So just expect the unexpected, know that lumps and bumps are part of it.

 

It doesn’t mean that something is broken or wrong. It just means that this is happening. And how do we approach it? How do we respond? Those are the skills and talents to learn and to grow in yourself as a human and as a business owner because everything else is changing. Technology changes so fast. You know, what works with the algorithm today, in a few months it’s going to be different.

 

Build your offerings around things that you enjoy delivering and want to sell because if you like it and you want to do it, then it’s easier to sell, you know? So, um, that’s it. I’ll get off my pedestal, but I love this conversation so much. Yes.

 

Lisa: Yeah. The mind exploding emoji. Like if you love it, you’re going to bring an amazing energy around it and it’s going to make it so much easier to sell if it aligns with you. So yeah, I think that alignment part and the worthiness thing that you brought up is an important undercurrent in this thing.

 

Okay, I thought of a closing thought and it’s a new idea, so I think it is important for those people who are side hustling or they are still in their corporate job but they have been dreaming of leaving and doing the coaching, workshopping, speaking kind of thing full time. This idea of lumpy revenue and whether you have an appetite for it is a consideration that’s valuable to have before you decide to leave and put that in your plans, whether that means you have a longer savings runway.

 

If you can get that level one covered so that the things that are on top of it are good, get that level one customer base. Prove to yourself that you can sell something, that you know what your product is, that you have your basic website up, those kind of things. That can be very helpful in bolstering that fear part that comes when people launch and leave.

 

It feels like The lumps are smoothed out before it’s all on the line. So that’s not something everybody needs to do but for someone like me that that would have helped a lot if I had two years to Make my business idea get things sold get the strategies going get all the nurture going that would have been Incredible for me to get rid of a lot of stress and fear. I had just going straight out of the gate

 

Brea: Yeah, totally. My crowdfunding campaign did a little bit of that, you know, in the fact that I was able to launch with a hundred coaching sessions paid for, you know, but nothing else was done. I mean, it was just completely building the plane as we tried to get it off the ground.

 

A hundred percent, if I would have had the opportunity to give myself more runway, I mean, my goodness, I could have gone so much further faster. So two thumbs up, like I’m raising all my hands and all my feet, all my toes. I’m scared of two toes up.

 

Lisa: What did I even say? I don’t even know. Two thumbs up. Two toes up. I mean, drop the mic with that. That is where you end, just with that visual. We’ll see you all later. I’m thinking of Bria’s toes right now. Bye for now.

 

Brea: Bye.

 

Let’s Connect!

 

The Fine Print: This podcast is not sanctioned or endorsed by Gallup in any way. Opinions, views and interpretations of CliftonStrengths© are solely the beliefs of Lisa Cummings and Brea Roper.