3 Things Keeping You Stuck at 6 Figures11 min read
You hit six figures. Maybe even multiple six figures.
Your business is technically “successful.”
You’re making money. You’ve got clients. A small team. Big goals.
And from the outside, it probably looks like you’ve made it.
But behind the scenes?
You’re exhausted.
You’re working six days a week.
You never feel caught up.
And your to-do list? It regenerates faster than you can cross anything off.
You thought this level of success would bring more freedom.
But instead, your business feels heavier than ever.
And here’s the hard part you’re not saying out loud:
If this is what success feels like… what’s the point of scaling to more?
You’re proud of what you’ve built. But you’re also tired.
Tired of holding it all together.
Tired of wondering how you’ll ever reach seven figures without completely burning out.
Related Post: 3 Keys To Successfully Scaling A Small Business Without Burnout
Here’s the truth no one tells you:
The six-to-multi-six-figure stage is one of the hardest parts of entrepreneurship.
You’ve outgrown doing everything yourself—but you haven’t yet built the structure to support true scale.
The good news?
Breaking past that plateau is so much more possible than it feels right now.
But only if you know what’s actually keeping you stuck.
So let’s break it down.
These are the top 3 reasons six-figure entrepreneurs stay stuck—the exact patterns I’ve seen over and over again in my decade of coaching ambitious business owners like you.
Chances are, you’ll relate to at least two (if not all three).
And I’ll show you what to do differently—today—to finally start scaling in a way that doesn’t cost you your time, your energy, or your sanity.
Doing (almost) everything yourself
Ah, the high achiever, built my business from the ground up, dilemma. You’ve been so used to being the one that does it all, that you’re still the one doing almost everything yourself, even at this level.
When you build your business from the ground up, you’re the one wearing all the hats: doing the marketing, delivering the service, managing the bookkeeping, coming up with new offers, communicating with customers, etc.
As you’ve grown, you’ve probably delegated a few things here and there but I’m guessing the majority of the business still starts and ends with you.
You come up with the marketing strategy, try to learn the new techniques, write the content, delegate it to someone to schedule… then double-check their work and tweak the formatting even though it doesn’t really matter.
You deliver the service, communicate with the clients, handle last minute schedule changes, and constantly check your inbox.
You keep meaning to look at your financials but somehow it’s mid June and you still don’t know where you stand.
The biggest thing keeping you stuck at six figures is that you’re so in the weeds and trying to manage everything yourself. And because you’ve overextended, you’re usually tackling the urgent stuff and trying not to drop any balls, instead of being focused on the important stuff that’s actually going to move the needle in your business.
Even if you have a team, or you hired your first VA, you’re not truly delegating. You don’t feel fully supported.
- You feel like you’re always behind.
- You’re always thinking about the business even when you’re not working.
- Your business is starting to wear you down.
The worst part is, when we’re in this state, we usually truly believe that we can get to it all if we just manage our time better, or wait for a less busy season, or put in a few extra hours to get through the to do list.
But the reality is, your to do list as an entrepreneur will never, ever, ever, ever, ever end. So you HAVE TO find a better way of operating that doesn’t require you to just do more, more, more.
Here’s the truth:
You can’t scale a business that only works because you work.
Systems scale. People scale. Hustle doesn’t scale.
Until you build the capacity to run your business without it running you, you’ll always be maxed out.
Strategic action you can take right now:
So, this month, pick just ONE system, SOP, and or role, that you can focus on implementing in your business that’s going to make an impact on how much capacity you have.
Because what I’ve seen over and over again as a business coach is that when 6 figure CEOs finally create room in their calendars to think, huge improvements happen in their business and massive growth follows.
Trying to do everything at once
This one is SO hard. And so common. It’s the classic multi-passionate, “I’ve got 18 tabs open in my brain,” hyperachiever state of being. (And if you’ve got an ADHD-ish brain, you can certainly relate).
You’ve got a million ideas for your business. You see opportunity everywhere.
You want to launch the new offer. Build the funnel. Redesign the website. Hire the next team member. Start a podcast. Rework your pricing. Create content for LinkedIn, Instagram, your newsletter, your blog…
…and also be a better leader, plan a vacation, take Fridays off, and figure out if you should finally set up ClickUp properly.
And because all of these things feel important, and you want to grow your business so very much, you refuse to put anything off. Everything becomes half-started. But nothing gets finished. Because, after all, you only have 24 hours in a day, and you value sleep.
Related Post: The ONE Thing That Will Grow Your Business 30X
Here’s what I’ve seen over and over again with my clients: they are doing a lot. But not a lot of what actually matters.
I hear over and over again:
- My business is busy but often unfocused and haphazard.
- I feel complete overwhelm. I feel like there are so many different things I could focus on and I’m not sure how to prioritize.
- I don’t have a clear strategy in place. Mostly I feel like I’m throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks.
- I’ve got a million ideas constantly bouncing around.
This is what happens when you don’t have a clear growth strategy for your business. When you haven’t sat down and decided what goals actually matter to you right now, and what the best path to hitting them is.
You’re just reacting to your to-do list instead of executing toward your goals, because prioritizing feels hard and hustling to just try to do everything feels safer. (After all, if I’m super busy, my business will grow, right…?)
When you’re stuck in busy work, chasing dopamine, pivoting mid-project because it’s not paying off fast enough… you’re not actually moving forward. You’re just running around in circles.
Here’s the truth:
The difference between a six-figure business and a million-dollar one is often a matter of what gets left out.
Scaling is about doing less but better.
So here’s a strategic action you can take right now:
Pull out a sticky note and write down your top 3 growth priorities for the next 90 days. Just three. That’s it.
Then ruthlessly filter everything else through this lens:
Is this aligned with one of my top 3? Or is it a distraction disguised as productivity?
When you create constraint, you create momentum. When you chase everything, you stay stuck.
(And trust me, I knooow how hard it is to just pick 3, to focus on less. It’s vulnerable – what if you pick the wrong 3 things? But if you’re struggling to decide what your priorities should actually be, that’s where having an objective outside perspective in your business can be extremely helpful. And that’s a lot of the strategy work I do with my clients, so feel free to reach out.)
You’re getting in your own way
This is the hardest one to look at—not because it’s shameful, but because it’s vulnerable. But it’s also the one that will unlock everything else.
Related Post: How to Overcome Self Doubt
Because the truth is, it’s not that you don’t know what to do. You’re smart. You’ve gotten this far. You know how to figure stuff out.
But when you really get honest…
You’re holding yourself back.
You’re scared to go all in on the big goal, because what if it doesn’t work?
You’re scared to grow too fast, because what if you can’t handle it?
You’re scared to raise your prices, to step into the spotlight, to claim the CEO role… because it feels safer to stay just shy of the edge.
You say you want more—but part of you is scared of what that actually means. Scared of success, scared of failure, scared of letting people down, scared of letting yourself down.
So you shrink. You overthink. You tweak and tinker and overwork and second-guess and stay in the weeds instead of rising into leadership.
And then you wonder why your business isn’t growing.
Here’s the truth:
Scaling your business requires scaling yourself.
The version of you that can lead a million-dollar company doesn’t hustle harder. She leads differently. She decides faster. She rests without guilt. She invests in support. She stops hiding. She builds a business that doesn’t burn her out.
The most powerful thing you can do is become the kind of CEO your next level business needs.
Strategic action you can take right now:
Ask yourself this: If I were already running a million-dollar business, what would I do differently this week?
Then go do one of those things. Not all of them. Just one.
You’d be amazed at how fast things shift when your mindset catches up to your ambition.
So… which one hit hardest?
If you’re being honest, it’s probably all three.
And you’re not alone.
This is the messy, uncomfortable middle of entrepreneurship—the part where you’ve created success, but haven’t yet built the infrastructure (or internal capacity) to sustain it at scale.
That’s the work I do with my clients.
We simplify the chaos, build the structure, and scale the business—without burning out the human behind it.
Because hustle got you here. But it won’t get you there.
👉 Ready for more strategy, support, and real talk like this?
Join my email community and get honest insights from a business coach who’s helped dozens of six-figure entrepreneurs put in place the strategy, structure, and support to scale—without maxing out their time, energy, or life.
Because I promise, you can have a growing business AND a life with space to breathe.
I deeply believe the goal is growth that shows up in your bank account, your nervous system, and your calendar. Because real success is profit you enjoy, peace you can feel, and time you actually get to spend.
Imagine finishing work by 3pm with zero guilt. Walking your dog. Eating dinner with your family without checking your phone. Taking a Friday off just because you want to. That’s the version of success we’re building here.
If you’re looking for support in creating that, book a CEO Clarity Call and let’s talk about where you’re stuck, what you need to shift to scale, and how I can help you get there.
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