For 13 years I’ve been studying online businesses, most of which have failed. During that time we’ve also grown our own business to over $3 million a year in revenue. The principles of building a successful business have become really clear to me. And this is what I’ve observed.
1. Consistent relationship building.
The businesses who have succeeded over time build relationships. Sometimes that looks like 1-to-1 calls with customers. Other times it looks like having a podcast where you connect with industry professionals by inviting them on your podcast. Whatever it is, the compounding effect of building relationships in an industry over time pays off after a few years. The people who do this end up having “wow, this is getting easier” moments. On the flip side, the business owners who chase tactics and don’t focus on relationship building end up in “why can’t I get traction” purgatory, perpetually.
2. Doing one thing really well.
When you lock in and focus on one thing, it forces you to really become an expert. People can tell when you are an expert. There is a certain easiness and reassurance that you’ll have when talking about your area of expertise. In 2025, with AI in the mix, being an expert matters more than ever. If you stay focused on one problem for a really long time, you will begin to see all the potential problems and questions that can arise. Then, when a customer comes to you asking very specific and nuanced questions, you will have an answer. That’s what sells people on your idea, they want to know that you know what they are going through, and the only way to do that is to stay focused on one area long enough to know everything there is to know about it.
3. Have a customer onboarding funnel.
You need system for how you acquire and onboard new customers. Knowing your system, and all the pieces within it, will make is so much simpler to make edits and optimize your funnel. If you don’t know how you acquire customers, or the method is different every single time, it keeps you stuck. The businesses who succeed over time have a funnel that they know every element of and constantly iterate on.
4. Create content based on customer questions every week at a minimum.
I’m focusing this point on answering customer questions because the world of content creation has gotten very muddied with other types of content. The business owners who I have seen be successful are creating content that answers customer questions consistently. Do this over time, and you’ll build a library of all the answers to customer questions. Then, when people go searching for answers to their questions, they will find you. Or ChatGPT will recommend you.
5. Build your reviews.
Delight the living daylights out of your customers, then ask them kindly to leave you a review. Reviews are vital in building trust and scaling. Someday you’ll want to go beyond talking to every single customer, and you need your reviews to speak for themselves. Make a practice out of it, even if it’s uncomfortable.
6. Know your numbers.
If you’ve seen the show Severance, where the workers look at numbers and can interpret meaning, that’s what you need to get to. You need to know that if your Reels start to get 20% more views that’s going to translate into 10% more revenue six months from now. You don’t have time to wait for everything to show up nicely in your actual analytics, you need to be able to predict what’s going to happen when you make changes in your business, or else everything will take way too long and you’ll burn out.
7. Ads are for boosting what is already working.
If your content doesn’t already convert, running ads to it will not fix that. If your landing page does not convert, running ads to it will not fix that. If you don’t know why someone would convert, running ads will not fix that. I’ve seen more businesses die because they get stuck in an endless loop of trying to figure out ads than I would like to think about. Do not, do not, think that ads will fix a business that is not already working well.
8. Adapt to the platforms.
When we started in the online world, SEO on Google was the top way to get discovered. Today it’s either Instagram Reels, TikTok, or ChatGPT. In between it was Facebook. If you get stuck on any particular platform, and don’t figure out how to get discovered on the new platform, you’ll get left behind. Too many people make that mistake and it is a rough one to recover from.
9. Know where your energy comes from.
If you are energized by talking to customers, do that every day. If you are energized by creating content, do that every day. Businesses don’t die because of bad strategy, they die because founders run out of energy. You have to know what gives you energy and make that a priority every day. Of course in reality you’ll have to do a bunch of stuff that’s not energy-giving, but if you never do what gives you energy, rest assured, your battery will run out.
10. Think about what you want 80% less.
I’ll leave you with this one, because it’s the most important. Stop thinking about how you want to be perceived. Stop thinking about how much money you want to make. Stop thinking about what kind of legacy you want to leave. Start thinking about how your customers want to be perceived. Start thinking about what your customers want to achieve. Start thinking about the legacy your customers want to leave. Help your customers get those things, and you’ll get everything you want, guaranteed.