Ten Things No One Told Me When I Reached $20M In Sales

Welcome to Million Dollar Grit, the podcast that dives deep into the world of entrepreneurship, where tenacity meets strategy and dreams meet reality. My name is Julie, and I explore the raw, often overlooked truths of what it takes to succeed in business and in life. It's not just about the glossy success stories, it's about the grit it takes to get there. Hey everyone, this is Julie, and today I want to talk to you about 10 things I've learned as I approach $20 million in sales. Now, I don't, I don't know exactly when that moment will be that I hit that number, but it's an absolutely absurd number to me. I, if you had told me 6, 7, 8 years ago that in my business career, over my businesses, that I would do $20 million in sales, I just, I would've laughed in your face. But obviously there's a tremendous amount I've learned. So, If you follow me on social media, you might have seen the post I wrote called 10 Things No One Tells You Once You've Cleared $20 Million. I want to go a little bit deeper into it just because, you know, it, it would be too long for a post. So number 1, even if you try as hard as you can to keep your cost of living down, it's nearly impossible to not let your expenses rise as you make more money. And many of you know that I hit my first million somewhere in 2017, and I did do a pretty good job of not expanding my lifestyle for quite a while. I lived in a, you know, a 2,000-square-foot, you know, yellow farmhouse in a decent, you know, decent neighborhood, but it wasn't like my dream town or anything like that. It wasn't until 2021 that I went and bought this, you know, big farmhouse in this shoreline town, right near the water, and I really expanded my lifestyle. So, you know, it had been 4 years of making good money where I thought, okay, this is not just, you know, a phase, like this is a new reality for me. And I had a good amount of savings. All that being said, what people don't realize is that the performance level that you have to have in order to make that kind of money means that you have to stop doing things that maybe you're doing now. Stop things like cleaning, like cooking, like buying your own clothes, like booking your own travel. It's not something that you stop doing because you're too good for it. It's something you stop doing because the demands on your time and on your brain running a company that requires, you know, as much infrastructure as it does to make that much money means you're literally out of time. And so you don't have time to do all of those things and all of those things cost money. So your expenses do rise. And obviously there are people who just throw caution to the wind and they end up, you know, in debt and they can't get out because they just go full board. They're not just thinking about that. They're thinking about, you know, designer clothes and designer vacations and things like that. And I'm not judging anybody who's in that situation because it's very, very difficult to manage money, especially when it comes fast. Okay. Number 2, the weight of responsibility for employees and team members is not to be underestimated. Once you're hitting around $20 million, it is both a privilege and a huge responsibility. Now I have 2 companies. I have the Digital Insiders, and then I co-run, co-CEO Funnel Gorgeous with Cathy. And between those 2 companies, there's about 15 or so, you know, near full-time people. And That's a heavy responsibility. These folks are depending on you and the company to do well for their livelihood. And I always think of, you know, It's a Wonderful Life and George Bailey, and he's trying to keep the building and loan open and just that weight of responsibility. If you are not interested in that, definitely stick to a lifestyle business of about $350,000 a year. Top line, because once you leave that, you're going to be faced with that. And in fact, the more you scale, the more it's really just about people and hiring and operations and systems. And I find that, you know, people clear that $350,000 top line revenue mark and they keep going and then they're like, wait, this is all about people and I really don't want to do this side of it. I just want to go back to my craft. And they left that lifestyle business, you know, threshold. And unfortunately, you know, then they have to kind of pivot. Number 3, there are few people who will be able to relate to the problems you now face, and your method for getting and receiving advice might be outdated. This is a really like nice way of saying it's kind of lonely. And it's not that there aren't other people out there making the money you wanna make and can be a support, 'cause there totally are. There's coaches, there's mentors, there's masterminds, there's networks of people, But if they're all kind of at that level, they're all super busy too. And friends and family and children and employees and contractors and customers are not going to understand the problem. They might be able to understand it logically, but they're not gonna feel the problem in their body the way you do. And so you're going to feel an increased sense of loneliness. So that's just something that I've learned. Number 4, slowing down a machine in motion is much harder when you're bigger. The lean phase of a business might be hard and full of hustle, but you can pivot fast if you need to. And this is the, you know, classic example of the Titanic, right? The Titanic couldn't move fast enough once they saw the iceberg coming. This is why the government is so slow because it's enormous and why startups are faster. And, you know, really lean, mean startups are even faster. This is just the nature of scale creates more system infrastructure, people, and then more, you know, more complexity. And because of that, things are going to have to go more slowly. And if you're an impatient type, that's going to be a struggle. And if you have to switch gears, you know, you're going to have to think very carefully about it. I mean, right now at Funnel Gorgeous, we can't just throw up a sale and like, watch what happens, right? Why? Because we have lots of customers and we have lots of different plans that people are on. And we know that anything that comes out of our mouth, the ramifications of that on customer support are going to be significant because there's 60,000 people in our audience. We have at least 25,000 customers across both courses and software, right? So we, we don't get the the flexibility of, "Oh, let's just try this." I mean, yes, we do experiment, but it comes with a lot more caution. All right, number 5: The people who yell the loudest often have more to hide than you might think. Do not be convinced by their certainty. It doesn't mean shit. Sorry for the swearing. But it is incredible to me how many folks I watch on social media and at conferences and events, and I look up to them and I think, "Man, what would it be like to be in their to have their income, to have their business model. And then I scratch just inches below the surface and I realize that things are not what they seem. And usually the more certain someone is, the more there is kind of to hide. And I use the example of someone who, is like a lifelong learner and they are studying, I don't know, whatever, let's just say maple trees, right? I'm staring at a maple tree right now outside my window. I can appreciate the tree. I think the tree is amazing, but I'll tell you what, there's not much going on underneath the hood with me and this maple tree because I'm not a maple tree expert. Now, if I go to a college and I find some arborist who's like, not just an arborist, but like a maple tree arborist, they're going to see 100 things that I don't see. Not only that, they are going to have a respect and an awe for that which they do not know. And so a sign of increased wisdom, increased intelligence, increased success, increased understanding is actually less certainty, not more. And so the people who think they've got it all figured out and have all of those like, you know, amazingly strong opinions about everything, that's usually a sign that they're not as far developed as someone who's going to be like, yeah, this is what I believe, but you know, I understand there's more to this. And you know, I remember when I started growing tomatoes a long time ago, and I just like threw the tomato plant in the dirt and it grew. But then I started to read about tomatoes, and then I got less and less certain of my method as I went. I was like, oh man, there's a lot going on underneath the surface that I didn't realize. And so that's kind of the clue there. Number 6: Making money and keeping it are two very different skills, and most people who can make it have no idea how to keep it. And I don't have tons to say about that without going into an entire new podcast, and maybe I will, but keeping money, managing money, growing money is like the introvert exercise, and the making money is the extrovert exercise. And if you think about how different an extrovert is from an introvert, And you think of, you know, the most extroverted person, you know, and how much they can't stand, you know, the aloneness. And then think about the most introverted person, you know, and how much they can't stand, you know, being in a big group of people for a long period of time. What are the chances that you're gonna find someone who can be an amazing extrovert and be an amazing introvert? There are ambiverts out there. They are. If you're one of them, congratulations. But most people lean one way or the other, and the more they lean, the better they are at making money, chances are they're more extroverted. Let's say I'm not actually saying they're extroverted, just please hear me out. I'm an introvert and I make great money. I'm just using it as an example, right? They're more on the extreme end of like being able to make money. They think that way. It's probably a farther distance to the expertise of keeping money. Likewise, if you find someone who's really, really good at managing and keeping money, they might be risk-averse, they might be more cautious, they might, you know, be protecting downside, chances are it's going to be hard for them to be really, really good at marketing because they see all the risk and downside. Okay, so it's the people that are sort of in that radical middle that are able to do both. And so, you know, using these analogies of extroversion and introversion just for the sake of the story, if you find someone who's, you know, they're not totally the life of the party, you know, sometimes you recognize them in the crowd, sometimes you don't, but they also are fine home alone, that person is going to be probably with both feet in the extroversion and introversion and might be pretty good at making money, pretty good at keeping money. And so that is sort of the, um, idea that I have come to understand about this. And I do think that I tend to be more of that middle person. You know, people say, oh my gosh, Julie, you're a great marketer. And I am. I'm a good marketer. I really am. Am I the best marketer in the world? Absolutely not. Like, I see too much downside. I see too much risk. I tend to be more cautious than the average internet marketer. I'm pretty good at keeping money and managing money and growing money as well. Am I as good as the hardcore, you know, wealth architect type people? No, no, I'm not. So I think I have found that radical middle and I really like it and I want to stay in it. Number 7, lawyers and tax accountants, wealth advisors, wealth management will blossom into a full-time job at some point and will cost you a lot of money. So this is part of that whole your expenses rise, right? When your business grows, when your revenue grows, now you're going to need more complicated tax strategy. You're going to need legal advice around copyright and, you know, HR, and you're going to need help managing your portfolio of investments. At some point, this becomes the majority of what you do. I am not there yet, but even just this past year, I think I spent you know, someone who's like, oh my gosh, it's, you know, $300 a month for my bookkeeper and then, you know, $1,000 for my taxes. You know, it's hard for me to like separate it all out at this point. But I know that between the two businesses paying somewhere in the ballpark of $7,000 to $8,000 a month just for the financial management of the two companies. And then on top of that, an additional $10,000 just to do taxes. So, you know, it's a, it's a much bigger part of my expense line and also my brain and energy. Number 8, revenue is not profit. I repeat, revenue is not profit. If you want a healthy business and you want a 6-figure take-home salary, do you actually know what the top-line revenue for your business needs to be? Most people have no idea, and it's easy to be fooled by revenue, right? It's an admirable metric. Obviously, you know, when I put the post about what I, you know, what I learned at $20 million. It got a lot of engagement because it's a pattern interrupt and it's a cool metric, but it means nothing if profit is low. And so if you can hold, generally speaking, a 30% profit margin or higher in your company as it scales, and not only that, that you can then have that money that comes into your personal life then grow and not get all spent. That's a whole different ball game, right? So if I said to you, you know, hey, I'm making $350,000 a year in a salary, you're impressed, right? But you're not as impressed as like, oh, I made $20 million in sales. But actually the $350,000 salary is technically probably a more impressive marker because it is accounting for a business that has a lot of expenses to run. And I'm able to pay myself such a healthy salary as a CEO CEO, and that's signaling the health of a business, right? Okay, number 9: the number one job of a high performer is to regulate your nervous system. Without a sound mind and body, you will surely crash and burn. I am not like an exercise nut. I'm not like a health nut that's always on, you know, the latest diet train. I am not someone who is into like biohacking. I, I carry a nice solid extra 30 to 40 at all times. You know, I'm ready for the apocalypse. However, I have learned the hard way what happens when your nervous system is dysregulated. This could look like a lot of things. It could look like digestive issues. It could look like hair loss. It could look like panic attacks. It could look like insomnia. It could look like agitation. If you're a woman, it could look like a, you know, a missed cycle or an irregular cycle. When your body is in a persistent state of fight or flight, when you are not able to be at rest, you greatly tax your system. This is how you start to age. I mean, I'm not gonna lie, like, when I look at pictures of myself prior to 2022 and then after 2022, there's a significant difference. Yes, I grew older. However, the stress of 2022 was— it's, it's hard to explain just how stressful and difficult 2022 was, and it's, it's, it's obvious on my body. So if I want to live a long life, if I wanna stay successful, if I wanna be happy and successful, my number one job is to regulate my nervous system. What does that mean? It means good sleep. It means therapy. It means good food. It means lots of time outdoors. It means eliminating with ruthless, like with ruthlessness, any relationship or project that is going to stress you out. Okay. And number 10: ignore most things. And I have a great gift of ignoring. It does get me in trouble, but as you grow and as you scale, you're going to have to say no more than you're going to say yes, and it's going to like exponentially grow. Being able to ignore the majority of stuff that people want to put in front of you is going to take a lot of practice, but this helps you stay focused on your Anyway, I hope that was helpful. I will talk to you guys soon. And there you have it, folks, another dose of Million Dollar Grit. I hope today's episode has left you feeling inspired, equipped, and ready to face your own entrepreneurial journey with resolve. Remember, until next time, embrace the struggle, harness your grit, and keep pushing forward. You're stronger than any challenge you face. I'm Julie, and this has been Million Dollar Grit.