An income plateau is one of the most frustrating things to experience in your business. Try as you might, you can’t reach your larger income goals when you’re stuck on a plateau. I’ve found that hitting an income plateau doesn’t have as much to do with your skills as it does with your mindset.
Breaking through an income plateau means breaking through your comfort zone. The obvious way to increase your income is to increase your rates. However, increasing your rates with current clients isn’t always possible. There are other ways you can bring in more money from your business.
Cut the Dead Weight
Break an income plateau by putting a big focus on where the most money is currently coming in.
What type of client pays you the most? What’s the type of work that pays you the most? What type of work takes you the least amount of time to do but is the most lucrative? Think of ways that you can bring in more work and clients that pay you well to increase your income.
Work on removing the tasks in your business that take you a lot of time but don’t make a great profit. These tasks suck up your time and make it harder for you to look for new opportunities that will help you break the income plateau.
Stop Playing Small
I found when I reached an income plateau in my business that it was due to me falling into a cycle. I would break up with old clients as soon as I took on a new client. It’s something I did subconsciously.
Whenever I onboarded a new client, I worried I would have too much on my plate. The fear of being overwhelmed caused me to create an income ceiling for myself. I pushed through the ceiling by tightening up my workflow so I could accommodate more clients. More clients at once meant more money.
Experiment With New Offerings and Diversify
If you’ve been hitting an income plateau for many months (or even years) doing what you’ve been doing the whole time isn’t going to get you different results. You’re going to have to make some changes in how you’re operating to see a change in your bottom line. This usually means doing something you’ve never done before and pushing through any fear or self-doubt you feel.
Often the idea for another lucrative service or product you can offer is an obvious choice that you’ve been too scared to try. What’s a service people always ask you for? What service do you know there’s a need for that you just haven’t had time to flesh out? Doubling down on a new offering can help you push through the dreaded income plateau.
Take Some Time Off
When you’re stuck doing the day to day work of your business it’s harder to see the bigger picture. Take a break from your business so that you can look at it through new eyes. Overcoming an income plateau will take some strategy on your part. Sometimes it’s hard to see solutions to a problem when you’ve been staring at it for so long. If you’ve hit an income plateau, don’t feel alone. It’s a problem that you can solve.
