Enemies of your course business

You know when you can just feel change coming?

Not the small stuff.

I’m talking about the big shifts where you know the ground is moving under you.

That moment came for me a few years back.

I had built up a library of courses with a publisher, and the arrangement was great - for them and for me.

The equation was simple: As the company grew, the profits were shared with the authors.

This incentivized product quality and loyalty to the publisher.

But then, almost overnight, things changed.

Contract changes were coming. The company was focusing more toward profit margins.

Look... I have no problem with companies making profits - big fan.

But I remember telling my wife, “This has been wonderful, but it’s not going to last forever.”

And that’s the thing about success - today’s wins don’t guarantee tomorrow’s survival.

So today, I want to show you:

• Why comfort is an arch-enemy
• How to spot shifts before they hit
• What you can do about it today

Let’s dive in…

The Trap

You know what’s interesting about comfort?

It’s sneaky.

When everything’s working - sales are flowing, students are happy, testimonials are rolling in - it’s easy to settle into a groove.

But that groove can become an enemy.

One of the hallmarks of ​my clients​ is that they're fighting that enemy on a daily basis.

Pushing yourself beyond your boundaries takes guts, but more importantly - it takes attention.

Rather than hoping one day that their business runs on autopilot...

(which no true business does)

They're constantly evaluating their offers, their customer's experience, and looking for ways to build a business that serves their goals.

This doesn't come easy.

Is it rewarding? Absolutely, but it simply doesn't come easy.

The Early Warning System

Here's a statement you don't need me to say (but I'll do it anyway)

Markets change, sometimes at lightning speed...

And other times over months and sometimes years.

But you have to know where to look.

And no, it’s not about watching your competition or obsessing over new technologies.

It’s about your customers.

But not in the way you might think.

Most course creators I know simply don't talk to their customers.

But the ones who do tend to ask surface-level questions about completion rates, price, and over emphasize on success stories.

These are important, but the gold?

It’s in the non-obvious questions like:

• What was going on in your life before you decided you need this course?
• What problems were they trying to solve before they heard about you?
• How were they solving these problems before they found your course?

These conversations reveal the critical information about who you serve.

This is your lifeblood.

This is how you spot change.

Look, I don't know any other way to say it:

If you're not talking to your customers...

You're doing it wrong.

The Path Forward

Look, I get it.

Change is uncomfortable. Especially when what you’re doing is working right now.

But the course creators who thrive long-term aren’t just the ones with the best content or the biggest audiences.

They’re the ones who stay eternally curious.

They know in their bones that today’s success is tomorrow’s starting point.

So what can you do today to fight these enemies?

1. Collect (the right) stats. We're swimming in information, but you need to be able to spot trends in not just revenue, but average order values (AOV), and customer lifetime values (LTV) and anything else that makes sense for your business. Find the handful of datapoints that matter and chase them down weekly.
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2. Talk to your customers. Grab a copy of The Mom Test and adapt Rob's approach to your business and your courses. Push yourself to thing and question your business in non-obvious ways. Resist the temptation to follow the crowd and lean into what's true about your business.
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3. Get real feedback. Be humble enough to put your ideas and your business under a microscope with people you trust. Find a fellow course creator, a mentor, a current customer, and a prospect to help you see what you can't. Because trust me - our blind spots are huge.