3 Reasons Your Business Isn’t Making Money — and How to Fix it NOW

If you're working your buns off in your business, wondering "where the heck's my money!?!" you're probably making one of these 3 BIG profitability mistakes.

Hey it’s Marie Forleo and welcome to another episode of The Marie Forleo Podcast and MarieTV — the place to be to create a business and life you love. Yes! Today’s question comes from Renee, who says: 

“Hey Marie, I’m an artist in Athens, Georgia who makes fine art on silk. I turn 70 this year and I have a lot of years ahead of me.”

Yes you do!

“I’ve been doing this business full-time for 10 years since I retired. My question has to do with the fact that I still haven’t made a profit. I’m teaching, I’m selling art. I have a website, social media, and email. I’m making some sales, but I’m just not getting out of the hole. Can you help me?”

Oh my goodness, this is such a great question. I want you to know that there are SO many creatives out there, so many other business owners out there, just like you, who are struggling with their profitability. No matter how great their intentions are, no matter how hard you work, the numbers just aren’t adding up.

And when that happens, it’s natural to feel frustrated, to feel defeated and you start to lose hope. That’s because right now, whether you realize it or not, you’re stuck in what I call a SCREAM business, rather than what you deserve and what you really want, which is a DREAM business. 

Now,  you might be asking yourself a question, now what the heck is a scream business? It’s exactly what it sounds like — it’s a business that's NOT working for you! It makes you want to pull your frigging hair out, it makes you want to scream into a pillow, or do an ugly cry in the corner.  

More specifically, a scream business means – and this is an acronym so you got to pay attention — you’re always in SURVIVAL mode, both financially and in every other way, everything’s CHAOTIC - you never know what to focus on to get the best results, you work ROUND-the-CLOCK with hardly anything to show for it. Your business is Exhausting, Annoying and ultimately makes you MISERABLE. You wonder if you should just throw in the towel and QUIT this thing cause it’s costing you more money than it’s making! That would make ANYONE want to scream. 

Now we gotta contrast that with a DREAM business — which is possible for EVERY entrepreneur, including you. 

A DREAM business gives you — and get ready for it, it’s another acronym - Dependable, reliable income. Sure, I mean in every business numbers go up and down — that’s normal, but when you have a dream business you’re not digging yourself into a financial hole. It’s also REWARDING — financially yes, but in all these other ways too, like  creatively and emotionally, it’s also ENERGIZING, it’s ABUNDANCE generating and most importantly, it MAKES A DIFFERENCE to your audience and to YOU.  

In other words - your business runs like a well-oiled machine and helps you live your DREAM life. I’ve been coaching people to create this kind of business for years, so I know for a FACT that it’s possible for you – and every entrepreneur – you can have a profitable, freedom-giving, DREAM business — as long as you put a few KEY strategies in place.

Now here’s what’s the coolest thing ever. Right now, February 7thm I’m hosting a FREE Dream Business Bootcamp and you can go sign up over at DreamBusinessBootcamp.com – it’s 3 days of training with me where I’m going to show you, step-by-step how to leave that SCREAM business behind forever and get the PROFITABLE, DREAM business that you deserve. 

I promise you this, really listen to me, this is not rocket science. There’s probably just a FEW small tweaks you need to make to get profitable in your business. And look — one of the first things you’ll do in Dream Business Bootcamp is complete your Dream Business Scorecard. It’s a quick little assessment that’ll show you exactly what’s off kilter in your business, so you can start to make those changes right away. 

And get this, this is probably the best part, when you go to DreamBusinessBootcamp.com and do it with us LIVE with us, AND you participate FULLY, you’ll also have a chance of winning over $20,000 in DOPE ass prizes ever. So I want you to get registered for free right now at DreamBusinessBootcamp.com 

With all that said, let’s move onto the 3 big profitability mistakes so many small business owners make. Obviously, this is not a one on one coaching session, we’re not going back and forth. So I’m not able to suss out exactly what’s happening with your specific  business. And to be fair, these aren’t the only profitability mistakes out there — but they’re the 3 that I see again and again and again. My hunch is that your fix is hiding in at least one, if not all 3.

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Profitability Mistake #1: You’re focused on the wrong market. You may not be focusing on the right customers for you. Meaning, you haven’t clearly identified your IDEAL customers… your DREAM customers! Because I suspect your current ones either can't afford what you sell, or they’re not interested in what you offer. Which means, by default — they’re NOT your ideal customers. The good news is, is that you are in charge of choosing your ideal customers. And, if you haven’t chosen wisely in the past, guess what — you can choose again. This is the best news ever. And we talk more about this in Dream Business Bootcamp, and also in our flagship program called B-School, which walks you step-by-step on how to create your own dream business. 

Profitability Mistake #2: You’re not doing the basic math. Sounds obvious, but many people — especially creatives, shy away from really knowing their numbers and focusing on them consistently. Right now your costs/expenses are likely too high, and your pricing, sales, and profit margins are way too low. Essentially, the basic math doesn’t work – YET. But once again, we’ve got good news here, is that once you get ultimate clarity on your numbers — something I call Profit Clarity — there are countless ways to adjust those expense to revenue dials to create the profitability you need and deserve.

And finally, Profitability Mistake #3: You’re not practicing effective, modern marketing. So, I know many of you out there, you’ve got websites and social media accounts and email lists – and that’s an amazing start. It’s really great. But just because you HAVE them doesn’t mean you’re using them effectively or consistently, right?. It’s kind of like, if you said to me, “Marie — I got this treadmill in my house. Why am I not getting in better shape?!?!” The truth is, just because you have the equipment doesn’t mean you’re using it consistently OR effectively.

Same thing holds true with business. Loads of people have email lists, websites, they might have social media accounts — but most people just don’t know how to use them effectively to drive drives and profits. Once again, this is something we  talk more about in Dream Business Bootcamp and we go SUPER, SUPER deep on this in the B-School program. 

But the bottom line is this: effective modern marketing is the LIFEBLOOD, the lifeblood of any profitable business. And whether you learn it from me or you just go learn it on your own, please learn it and more importantly, I need you to practice it for LIFE. 

Last thing I want to share. So, I’ve been running my business profitably for over 22 years now and one thing I know for sure is this. Most small business owners struggle and ultimately fail — not because they don’t work hard enough, but because they’re working way too hard on all the wrong things!

My mission — for everyone and myself too — is to consistently find and focus on the critical few things that REALLY move the needle, that bring that money in, so that I and everyone else can blissfully ignore everything else. I have no interest in working 24/7/365 and I doubt you do either. And you don’t HAVE to in order to be wildly successful. 

And, I promise you, hear me when I say this – you are smart enough, you are capable enough to turn this beat around and start to profit like the pro business owner that you were born to be. 

So with that, that was my A to your Q, I really hope it helps. And for all of you, if you want to keep this business party going, come join me at DreamBusinessBootcamp.com. It's 100% free, we’re giving away over $20,000 in incredible prizes, and honestly, it has the power to change your business and your life forever.

Now if you liked this video, you got to be sure to be sure to hit that subscribe button, punch it, ding it, whatever you’re going to do, do it now so you don’t miss a thing.

And until next time, stay on your game and keep going for your big dreams, because the world really does need that very special gift that only you have. Thank you so much for tuning in and I’ll catch you next time.

Hey, are you ready to bring your dream business to life? Is it finally time to make the difference you were born to make? Good! Because we can help. Get started now at joinbschool.com.