Millionaire in a Year: Why I'm decentering myself from my business
So I can make REAL money.
Let’s get real.
Over the past year, I have been looking at my business through a magnifying glass. It’s funny because people ask me all the time: “Wait, what do you do? I know you talk about business, but what is your business?”
And truth is, that’s fair question. Especially on an internet where so many people perpetrate being experts and regurgitate information they’ve only heard, and not experienced. It’s hard to know who to trust.
Anyway, I’m a brand strategist and an entrepreneur. I’ve never considered myself a business coach, contrary to people calling me that lol. Before I even started on YouTube, Erin On Demand was a video production company helping businesses of all sizes, from mom & pop shops to corporations, with their video storytelling and content marketing.
Long story short, that turned into building my own personal brand and sharing those experiences on social media (mainly YouTube).
And my personal brand has blossomed into several revenue streams including:
Membership club
Brand partnerships
Speaking engagements
One-on-one strategy calls
Digital products
Affiliate marketing
Physical Products (my planner company!)
In total, these streams of income have generated millions of dollars over the last 5 years. But at what cost?
If you got hit by a bus and needed a year off, would your business survive?
One of my business mentors asked me that. Ouch lol. But the answer — no. Four of the seven streams solely require one thing to survive: me. And those four streams are my highest in revenue.
I am the main product. People are buying into me. And that’s the reason I am working toward decentering myself from my business. And honestly, with having to go on maternity leave soon, I feel the pressure of leaving my business alone for a bit.
A true business runs on systems — not on someone. I had to realize that just because I’m making a lot of money doesn’t mean it’s a sustainable business model. And that’s been a harsh reality to face.
Personal brands ebb and flow.
One minute you’re hot and the next you’re not. It’s a slippery slope to put all of our eggs into one basket (it’s giving back in the day dating advice lol). But when a brand is solely riding on your personal relevance, that’s when things can get tricky.
Trends dictate relevance but problem-solving generates a successful business. So long as you’re solving a problem that people have, your business will always have relevance.
Build the personal brand, then leverage it.
By no means am I saying that building a personal brand is a bad thing. It’s one of THEE best things I could’ve ever done. The modern-day business is built by first leveraging a personal brand.
Think: Donna’s Recipe by Tabitha Brown, Summer Fridays by Marianna Hewitt, or even Song of Style by Aimee Song.
The point is — how am I leveraging my personal brand? Am I biting at the first opportunity to make money by adding services that will only increase my input, orrrr am I focusing on maximizing the scalable streams that will have long-term payoffs? It’s SO easy to get trapped in the first. But that type of leveraging has not gotten me the results I need.
So now what?
Well, now we take action! I’ve been thinking hard about what makes most sense for the direction my life is heading. I’m a soon-to-be mom. I have big girl bills. Plus, I haven’t even scratched the surface with the impact I want to make.
My current main focuses:
Rework my membership club to make the program more impactful for my members and more sustainable for me. This will free me up to focus on the next few goals.
Focus most of my attention on building my planner company, Simplement & Co. Products are so scaleable. Ever since we’ve launched the Top 3 Notebook, it’s proven that it solves a clear problem: it makes planning simple. I see the brand getting into retail, having community event, well-curated influencer retreats, and being in campus bookstores.
Expand my personal brand through this newsletter. I’ve realized how easy it is for these algorithms to play you lol. Having a bussin’ newsletter community is honestly the wave. So heyyyy!
Building our investment portfolio. We have some investment accounts, but Cameron and I want to start buying properties and even small cash-cow businesses to set ourselves, and our family, up for the future. I’ll keep you posted on our investment plans!
I’ll be popping in with some shorter newsletters throughout the week with mini-updates, whether it’s about #MIAY (millionaire in a year), random things that caught my eye, or baby nursery photos (because that’s also my life right now lol). Leave a comment if you can relate to decentering yourself from your biz (or anything else in your life).
Simply put, it’s time to start taking a look at what we’re really building. I’m excited to shift my efforts to get more out of the life I’m creating!
In love & creativity,
Erin
hiiii 🫶🏾 I super love this article! It's taken me a long to get clear on what my "thing" is because I've done a lottt over the years even tho I'm only 26, but now that I'm clear on who I am and whose I am (major key!) I'm going full steam ahead.
I plan to continue to grow my personal brand to scale my consulting and coaching and once that gets to a good spot in revenue, I plan to follow exactly what you mentioned and fade into the background so I can focus on other areas of my life. It's giving work smarter not harder - thank you for this newsletter!
Needed this! Definitely interested in the cash-cow & investment portion. I help underrepresented children develop social, emotional, and intellectual skills. Currently I have two children books out and just started offering workshops to schools but, I struggle with coming up with true scalable plans that’ll both make impact in the community and make revenue