It's time to break the feast-or-famine cycle

How to move beyond survival mode in your business.

Aug 27, 2025

Last week, I wrote about the art of saying no to clients and work that no longer align with the vision you have for your business.

Getting to the place where you’re in a position to choose whom you’re working with, and how, means you’ve established yourself as a go-to resource for a particular set of people with a particular problem. This is a great place to be. The opportunity to up-level is the byproduct of your success.

But what if you’re not there yet? What if you’re still in survival mode in your business?

The realty.

In the first year or two of operation, you’re constantly learning what works and what doesn’t, across all aspects of your business. And making adjustments. You’re getting a sense of who can best serve and how you work best. You’re identifying when and where you want to show up — on social media, in networking groups, on podcasts or speaking engagements, doing outreach — and what isn’t a fit for you.

It’s a process. And the truth is, it most often takes longer than you expect or hope. This can be incredibly frustrating, especially when it comes to revenue growth and covering your operating costs and basic needs.

And it can be a scary place to be. You know you’re onto something, and yet you’re not quite in a comfortable place with your business. And the only way to move through the fear is by taking action, especially when it’s the last thing you feel like doing. Small, thoughtful moves, made one after the other.

So what are the steps you can take to graduate from feast-or-famine?

An 8-step reset to break the cycle.

This is a simple framework designed to get you to clarity so you can take thoughtful action.

1) Name where you are

Look at the last 3-6 months: where did revenue come from (offerings and clients), which projects energized you, which drained you.
Decide one thing to stop doing (e.g., discounting your fees to close a client, take on too-small one-off projects, scope creep).

2) Create breathing room

Collect what’s owed (any open invoices) and make paying you easy.
If you don’t have one already, create an offer that provides a quick win you can deliver fast (audit, VIP Day, implementation sprint).
From today on:
- For projects – take a 50% deposit up front and set up milestone billing.
- For retainers – send invoices so you’re paid at the START of the month you’re billing for
- Create recurring invoices for these retainers.

3) Simplify your offers

Keep one core transformation offer and one “entry” or “quick-win” offer (see above); pause the rest.
Make inclusions/exclusions clear when it comes the scope of work clear so delivery stays tight.

4) Narrow your lane

Choose a specific client type and the problem you’re known for solving.
One sentence: “I help [who] go from [pain] to [result] in [timeframe].”
- You don’t need to use this in your marketing, but it will help you get clear and give you a base from which to build your messaging.
- Use this when you meet people networking (online and IRL).

5) Simplify your message and show proof

Update your headline and website hero with the sentence above (or some version that speaks it in your voice and brand ethos).
Publish one short case result (before → after → outcome) and a clear “Book a call” CTA on your website and occasionally in your social media posts.

6) Choose to places to market yourself

Pick two channels your buyers already use (e.g., LinkedIn + email, or partner introductions + webinars).
Weekly cadence: one helpful post, five thoughtful comments, one value email or live video.

7) Make sales simple

Keep a short list of 20 warm people to follow up with weekly.
Use the same discovery questions every time.
- And if you’re not already doing so, send proposals within 24 hours (whether it’s a Canva deck or a simple, thorough email).
Ask happy clients, “Who else is working on this right now?”