If you think building a coaching business is all smooth sailing, think again. Even after 20+ years online and millions in sales, I still managed to screw things up in 2025. Big mistakes. Costly mistakes. The kind of mistakes that burn through millions.

But instead of covering them up, I want to put them out in the open. Because I don’t want you to waste time, money, or energy making the same errors. Consider this your front-row seat to my seven biggest coaching business fails.

These are the seven things you must stop doing right now if you want to grow faster and stress less.

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1. Charging the “No Man’s Land” Price

We launched an offer at $2,000. Sounds fine, right? Not too cheap, not too expensive. Except it was the worst of both worlds.

At $2,000, the price was too high for people to just click and buy on a webinar or sales page. But it was also too low to justify a personal sales call. Which means it sat in no man’s land.

We tried different tactics to save it, like offering a $500 deposit first and letting people choose their payment plan later. That helped a little, but the truth was the price point itself was the problem.

Lesson: either raise your price higher than $3,000 so sales calls make sense, or lower it so people buy directly. Do not stay stuck in the middle.

2. Dropping the Fast Action Bonus

I thought I could be smart and “classy” by removing the classic fast action bonus from webinars. You know the deal: buy today and get this extra gift. I wanted my offers to feel calm, not pushy.

Sales collapsed.

When there’s no reason to act right now, people delay. And when people delay, they don’t buy.

Lesson: Urgency still works. Always include a bonus or extra incentive for fast action.

3. Hiding Status Content

The internet is crowded with faceless offers. Anyone can use ChatGPT to create a fake framework and launch a course. That means the only way to stand out is with your real experience and credibility.

But I wasn’t sharing mine.

I’ve spoken on stage with Ali Abdaal, Stephen Bartlett, Ryan Deiss, and Perry Belcher. I’ve been featured on the front cover of Mensa magazine. I’ve been in mastermind rooms with legendary copywriters. Yet I avoided mentioning it because it felt like bragging.

Lesson: share your achievements. People need to know why you are different from the sea of copycats.

4. Forgetting to Celebrate Client Success

I love helping clients get results. But I was guilty of keeping those wins quiet.

Andy made $140,000 by resending an old email campaign we built. Kay Marie made $500,000 with her program. Incredible results, yet I didn’t celebrate them in public.

That was a big mistake. Client success stories do three powerful things: they prove your system works, they attract new clients, and they make your current clients feel recognized and valued.

Lesson: always share client wins. They inspire, they sell, and they strengthen relationships.

5. Juggling Too Many Offers

This one cost me months of wasted effort. I kept testing new offers, hopping from one to the next, instead of doubling down on one clear winner.

What you need is a “Roam Offer.” This is the destination you want every client to end up in. The one main offer that everything points toward.

Lesson: simplify. Find your Roam Offer and align everything with it. Don’t scatter your energy across endless experiments.

6. Skipping Value Stacking and Price Anchoring

You’ve seen the classic sales tactic.

• Module 1 – worth $997
• Module 2 – worth $1,497
• Bonus training – worth $2,000

Total value $20,000… but today it’s only $1,997.

I thought that was all hype and nonsense. So I cut it out of my webinars and sales pages. And sales dropped fast.

Here’s why. People need perspective. Without seeing the full value of everything they’re getting, they can’t understand why your price makes sense. Value stacks and price anchoring aren’t tricks. They’re tools that help people process what they’re actually buying.

Lesson: Don’t dismiss value stacking. It gives context and makes your price look small compared to the mountain of benefits.

7. Neglecting Brand Building

This one stings the most.

For years, I obsessed over offers, funnels, and launches. But here’s the truth. Products come and go. Tech changes. Markets shift. AI is rewriting the rules faster than ever.

The only thing that lasts is your brand.

When you have a strong brand, you create zero competition. People stop asking “should I buy from you or someone else?” and instead ask “what should I buy from you, and when?”

Lesson: Build your brand relentlessly. Show your face, share your story, put your values front and center. A brand outlives every product.

The Bottom Line

These seven mistakes cost me millions. But the real tragedy would be if you repeated them too.

Here’s what to stop doing right now:

1. Don’t set prices in no man’s land.
   
2. Don’t skip fast action bonuses.
   
3. Don’t hide your credibility.
   
4. Don’t ignore client wins.
   
5. Don’t juggle endless offers.
   
6. Don’t dismiss value stacking.
   
7. Don’t neglect your brand.
   

If you stop doing these things, you’ll grow faster, sell more, and stand out in a noisy marketplace.

Progress doesn’t come from doing everything right. It comes from avoiding the biggest traps and making smart moves over time.

So ask yourself: which of these mistakes are you making today? And more importantly, which one will you stop first?

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