612 - Undercharging, Targeting the Wrong Audience, and What You Should Do About It with Alex McClafferty

Today’s co-host is Alex McClafferty. Alex is the co-founder of WP Curve and a CEO coach. Since selling WP Curve to GoDaddy a few years ago, he’s spent a lot of time traveling and spending time with friends and family. But like most entrepreneurs, he wasn’t about to sit still for very long. He started coaching CEOs, and runs a Consultant to CEO program.

Alex co-founded WP Curve, a WordPress support company, in 2013 and learned a lot about pricing right out of the gate. He had initially priced their service at $49/mo, and even at such a low price point, the company was profitable.

GoDaddy acquired WP Curve in 2016, and it couldn’t have been better timing for Alex. Through the lessons he learned with WP Curve, Alex was able to start coaching other CEOs on how to build a productized service much faster than he was able to.

Despite his success, Alex went through a dark period where he thought about ending his life. His defining moment came at a low point when he was sitting on a cliff and making a list of pros and cons - basically a should I stay or should I go scenario. At that moment, he realized that if he left he would leave an emotional mess behind him - so he started getting help and working through all of the things that were making him feel that way in the first place. He says that experience has made him an even better coach because it allows him to see through people, ask the right questions, and get to the heart of the issues at hand.

Today, Alex is traveling, a lot. He’s also spending time getting back to the things he used to enjoy doing before going down the business rabbit hole. He spends a lot of time at the beach and focuses on his health and wellness.

If you’ve ever dreamed of selling your startup and want some advice on how to get there, this episode is for you. I’m excited to share this conversation with you because Alex is one of the most grounded and genuine guys I know.

In this episode Alex talks about:

• Some background into WP Curve and some of the difficulties he ran into scaling the operation.
• The pricing forks in the road that many people run into.
• How his personal struggles put him on the path to where he is today.
• Why growth isn’t always what you’re looking for.

Main Takeaways

• Entrepreneurs often undercharge for their product or service.
• Products are often sold to the wrong market.
• Growth for growth sake shouldn’t always be the goal. You should be looking to build the team and resources that allow you to far exceed what you’re doing today, even if you’re making money year-over-year.
• Many people don’t know what they want when they start out, or think they know, only to change their mind. Ask yourself what you want your day-to-day life to look like instead of annual numbers, and work from there.

Important Mentions in this Episode

• Alex McClafferty on Instagram
• Alex on Facebook
• WP Curve
• Alex’s Facebook Fundraiser
• Productize.co
• Consultant to CEO