Why I Spent 8 Months Building a Business That Made Zero Dollars (And How to Avoid My Expensive Mistake)

I spent eight months building the "perfect" business. Perfect logo, perfect colors, perfect fonts, perfect website, perfect brand. I had 50+ logo variations saved in Photoshop and spent hours on Pinterest creating mood boards for my brand aesthetic.

Meanwhile, my mentor kept saying "Fail fast and fail forward, Kathryn. Just launch the offer." But I didn't listen. The safe place for me was staying in creative mode—playing with designs, tweaking copy, perfecting everything behind the scenes where no one could reject me.

Then I sat in a room full of successful online coaches sharing their launch stories, and I realized the truth: I'd spent eight months avoiding the one thing that would actually tell me if I had a business—putting my offer in front of real people who could say yes or no to it.

This episode is about that expensive mistake that almost every high-achieving entrepreneur makes. We perfect everything except the thing that matters most: validating whether people actually want what we're selling.

BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL DISCOVER:

• Why focusing on branding, websites, and "looking professional" before validating your offer turns your business into an expensive hobby (and the backwards approach that's keeping you stuck in the building phase).
• The exact moment I realized I was doing everything wrong—and the conversation that finally made me launch my first beta program with 4 people (even though it wasn't "perfect").
• How to identify when you're hiding in the "safe" creative tasks versus doing the scary work that actually moves the needle (plus the specific activities that create real revenue vs. the ones that just make you feel busy).
• The brick-and-mortar business analogy that will completely shift how you think about building your online business—and why you'd never open a physical store the way most people build their online offers.

And while you’re here, follow us on Instagram @creativelyowned for more daily inspiration on effortlessly attracting the most aligned clients without spending hours marketing your business or chasing clients. Also, make sure to tag me in your stories @creativelyowned.

Selling the Invisible: Exactly how to articulate the value of your cosmic genius even if your message transcends the typical “10k months” & “Make 6-figures” types of promises. 

Free on-demand training >>> https://www.creativelyowned.co/watchnow

 To find out how to own your unique edge, amplify who you truly are (& get paid for it), take your business to cosmic proportions, and have fun doing it, grab it here!!

 https://www.creativelyowned.com/quiz

Offer Architect: TURN YOUR ‘INVISIBLE’ WISDOM INTO A COMPELLING OFFER THAT WILL SELL WITH A SINGLE EMAIL. 

>>>https://creativelyowned.com/offer-architect

Join the waitlist for the Selling the Invisible AI-Powered Conversion Copywriting System and be the first in line when the doors open again! 

>>>https://www.creativelyowned.co/waitlist