10 Lessons Learned in Simplifying My Business

I recently celebrated my second anniversary as the owner of Roadpreneur and third anniversary as owner of Cruisin’ + Campfires. 

Before that, my journey to the Roadpreneur life was wildly windy. Here’s it in a nutshell:

Do you see a few patterns there? It’s been a rollercoaster of a ride in the entrepreneurial space for sure, but over the past two years, I’ve finally felt more settled into where I’m meant to be.

What does this have to do with you? A lot, especially if your journey has looked or currently looks pretty windy. And, from the sounds of it, 2023 has been the year of steep declines, loop-dee-loops, and steep uphills. 

So many online entrepreneurs have burnt what they’ve built to the ground this year.

So many online entrepreneurs have taken 90-degree shifts in their business.

So many people are in calibration mode, trying to find alignment again.

As the creator of Roadpreneur, I’d be remiss if I didn’t encourage those adjustments. You see, 2020 was the year everyone put their business or themselves online (myself included). 2021 was the year everyone started launching ALL THE COURSES AND MEMBERSHIPS because that was the fastest and easiest way to make money. 2022 was the year when those courses started to level out and sales started to feel harder, but we pressed on. 

Now, in 2023, online entrepreneurs have realized that things have shifted drastically, and so many are talking behind-the-scenes about what’s next. Very few are speaking about this publicly, though. If you’ve asked yourself any of these questions recently, you’re in the right place. 

Like you and so many others, I’ve been mulling over those questions for the last few months. What I came up with led to a lot of shifts in my business. Maybe they’ll lead to the same healthy shifts for you too.

This lesson is obvious on the surface, but it’s not something we allow ourselves to feel. 

As humans, we’re not used to carrying the weight of the world. We’re not used to seeing all of the stories of both hardship and joy from across the globe. We’re allowed to take a step back and give ourselves grace when our mental health suffers from holding the weight of things we can’t influence.

When you’re working the 1:many model, it’s easy to forget that you’re still in the driver’s seat of your business. Yes, you’re serving hundreds or thousands of people. No, you don’t owe it to them to create courses or products, produce content, or show up live every day for them. 

You get to pick where and how you show up. You get to decide what business looks like for you. You’re still in the driver’s seat.

Growing up, I was taught that the path to success was to get a college degree, then get a 9 to 5 job and never leave. Leaving was perhaps the worst thing you could do because it would show the boss you’re flaky, untrustworthy, hard to hold down.

Now, the corporate norms have shifted. Entrepreneurs can follow suit, shifting their product offerings to align with their lifestyle and the lifestyles of their customers. You’re allowed to close the doors on something that’s not working and open the doors on something better.

Having coached hundreds of people along their business journey, I’ve found one thing to be true — we often make things too hard. I’ve found myself falling into the same trap way more times than I should admit, too. 

Give yourself permission to keep it simple. I’ve seen a huge trend in signature courses taking the backseat. People are overwhelmed. They either want all of you (which should come at a large price tag) or they want a hyper-specific offer. This is why I shuttered the doors on Roadpreneur School, my signature course, and why I’m starting to create and offer more on-demand, financially approachable courses instead. 

You can still make a difference with smaller offerings and simpler solutions. 

I loved running a membership and will likely bring one back again. But, it was causing confusion and burnout from everyone (my students and myself) while I ran it alongside my course. 

Since shuttering the doors on both the course and membership, I found myself exploring ideas that I could do. Things that I could offer. Still, I return back to the phrase, just because you can doesn’t mean you should. As you’re working to simplify your business, keep that phrase in mind. 

You don’t have to do everything, even if you can do everything.

I’ve yet to see a marathon runner cross the finish line looking sideways at the runners next to them. Instead, their laser focus is in front, on the prize, at the destination they’re sprinting toward.

Just like your car tends to drift in the direction you’re looking while driving, your business does too. If you’re spending your time looking sideways, you’ll drift into someone else’s lane, creating things that aren’t aligned with you, that don’t connect with the lifestyle you want to lead, and aren’t conducive to your own happiness.

When the RV LIFE Entrepreneur reached out to me to be a guest on their podcast, I was honored. When they invited me to speak at the RV Entrepreneur summit, I was pleasantly surprised. And when they brought me on as a co-host to their podcast, I was delighted. 

Our brands serve the same audience and are on the same mission — to help RVers and entrepreneurs enhance their RV LIFEstyle through business ownership. Both of us could have shied away from the competition, but instead, we embraced the same missions. It helps that neither of us have the same offerings, so we truly do compliment each other well. 

Who could you collaborate with to expand your reach and further your business’s why?

Success is a word that’s tossed around like confetti. It’s used so often that it’s become weighted down with expectations, other people’s definitions, and confusing meanings. 

You’re allowed to redefine what success looks like for you. It doesn’t have to be a seven-figure course (like I had put on my shoulders). It can be something as powerful as being able to take the summers off to be with your kids while they’re young, bringing in the fun money for your family, and finding new friendships that you wouldn’t have away from the entrepreneurial journey.

I’m not immune to the fact that there are people out there who don’t like me. Yet for years, I’d try to appeal to everyone like the chronic people-pleaser I am. It crushes me to hear negative things being said about me online or in side conversations (see my first point), but when you show up to the world fully as you, it’ll happen.

Since taking some of those crushing blows, I’ve realized that I don’t have to appeal to the masses. Allowing for authenticity in the face of adversity is easier said than done, I’ll admit. Still, I’ve felt tugged to infuse more of my faith (a big part of me), my vulnerability, and my lessons learned along the way to help others avoid those same pitfalls. Will it cause some trolling? Of course. But that trolling is par for the course, so I’m putting on my duck feathers and letting the negative roll off me like water from a duck’s back. (Strange analogy, but it works, doesn’t it?)

Ultimately, owning two businesses, making loads of mistakes, and walking in faith through some pretty big changes has taught me this — I get to design this life I’m living. 

Better yet, I get to design it alongside God through prayer and listening to nothing else but the Holy Spirit buzzing inside of me. 

That’s a pretty freeing thought and an encouraging one on an otherwise chaotic journey. 

Whether you pray about your entrepreneurial path, lean on a collaborative group of people along the way, or both, may these lessons help inspire you to keep going. 

I’d love to hear a few of your lessons learned along the business journey in the comments. Care to share?