I chose to refund $84,000. Here's why...
Last year I launched my business coaching program for designers.
Less than 6 months later I decided to close it down and refunded my clients $84,000.
Why?
Because for the first time since launching my business nearly 8 years earlier I was dreading Mondays.
This had literally never happened to me since I left my corporate job!
Here’s what had gone wrong…
This was a program designers in my community @thelittledesigncorner had been asking me for over and over again.
Almost every day I would get messages from people asking for more access to me and more help growing their design businesses.
I was getting so many requests that it felt like the natural next step for my business and something that I definitely should do.
But at the same time I was skeptical about creating the program because:
🤔 I was worried about ending up on a content treadmill that would lead me to burn out
🤔 I have always rebelled against having anything in my diary and I knew I was going to have to do regular coaching calls and meetings as part of the program - i.e. lots of set meetings in my diary!
🤔 I was worried about taking on the responsibility of other people’s businesses when I didn’t know the level of design talent they had or how hard they were willing to work to reach their goals. I could only control my part of the process (i.e. providing great content).
But despite these concerns I decided to launch the program anyway and in less than 6 months guess what happened?
🤯 I had burnt myself out by over-delivering content for my clients and never getting a break.
🤯 I had too many meetings in my diary (after being used to having complete freedom and flexibility in my work days)
🤯 I felt too much responsibility for other people’s businesses. I could fully control the content I was delivering but I couldn’t control how much work people were willing to put in or the amount of talent they had as a designer.
🤯 I took everything way too personally. I stressed about every person coming in or going out of the program - even though a membership program will always have natural attrition and people will always be coming and going - it’s completely normal!
🤯 I didn’t like seeing money coming out of people’s bank accounts each month when I could clearly see they hadn’t completed their coaching material. It wasn’t up to me for people to do the work but I hated people paying for something they weren’t using. It just didn’t sit right with me.
At the same time I was also diagnosed with some serious health complications (I have 3 brain aneurysms that need dealing with) and it all just felt like too much to continue with.
Many of my clients had trusted me and put their faith in my program and had purchased a full year in advance.
So I really didn’t know what to do.
I am a real people pleaser and I was worried about my reputation within my community. I didn’t want to let anyone down and I knew many of the designers I was working with were getting a lot of value from the program.
But after months of consideration I eventually came to the conclusion that if delivering the program wasn’t making me happy then I should close it down.
I decided that the best thing to do was to tell the truth to my clients and to refund the money people they had paid me.
That ended up being about $84,000 in refunds.
And although this was obviously a big financial hit, I was willing to do this to regain the enjoyment I had in my business.
I felt immediate relief (which confirmed to me that it was the right decision to make).
I also decided to restructure the way I delivered content around starting, growing and scaling a design business by creating a platform of business short courses.
This meant I could repurpose the content I had already made and turn that in to an evergreen courses model instead.
And so that’s what I did and have since created my business short course platform - which now outsells my membership coaching program by about 5:1 each month.
Plus I love delivering and creating online courses - it’s one of my super powers!
As a sign of good faith I also decided to give all the clients who were still in my coaching program at the time of transitioning it over to the new platform lifetime access to all the content in there.
So they essentially got it for free, forever. And this felt like a good way of closing down the program but also keeping the relationship with my community strong.
So what’s the reason for me sharing this story with you?
It’s to tell you that the most important thing when you’re running your business is to trust your gut and only do things that make you happy.
If you try something and it doesn’t work out how you want it to or how you expect it to then you always have options.
In most cases if you tell the truth and explain your position then people will understand.
That’s what happened to me and my business community inside the new short course platform is now stronger (and bigger) than ever.
Plus I now make content on my own terms and have meetings when I want to - not just because they are locked in to my diary.
So always be trying things in your business but if they don’t work out then don’t feel like you’re a failure.
The great thing about having your own business is you are the boss and you get to run it how you want to.
This was such a hard lesson for me to learn and made 2021 a really difficult year for me in many ways.
But I definitely don’t regret launching my coaching program as I think if I hadn’t ever given it a try I would never have known if I enjoyed it or not.
My main lesson for you is this…
This is your business and you should run it in a way that suits you and in a way you enjoy.
Otherwise what’s the point in having the business in the first place??
You may as well go and get a job. 🤷🏻♀️
If you’re stuck in your business doing work you aren’t enjoying then I hope this lesson I’ve shared with you today has helped in some way. :)
Courses and Templates for Designers and Architects
DO YOU WANT TO….
Improve your professionalism?
Find more clients?
Bring in more revenue?
Create better systems and processes?
Then check out my business courses and templates for designers and architects.
These courses and templates leave you with work done - not just a long list of things you need to do next. We have a really strong focus on taking action and getting things created that improve your business.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy