If you have been in the online space or really any space for a short moment, you have ALREADY heard what monthly recurring income is.

It often gets marketed like “Don’t start at ZERO every month.” or This is how I’m making $100k this year if I don’t sell another thing

Like any business, recurring income creates a buffer so you KNOW you have money coming in. And while you may be googling like crazy – here is what I tell my clients

(this applies to coaches AND service providers)

Before you get handed paid client advice, here is one thing to consider.

• What is your income goal from your TAKE home pay for this year in a monthly amount?
• How many hours do you want to work?
• What are your current monthly expenses?

Those three simple questions allow you to know what you are working towards and then work backward.

Example: You want to make 100,000 into your bank account, working 20 hours a week. 

That would be 20 hours a week  X 48 (including your 4 weeks for vacation) weeks in a year = 960 hours in one year 

100,000 / 960 hours = $104 per hour 

$104 per hour is your hourly rate that doesn’t include your profit margin or your taxes. For this example, we are keeping it simple. 

So, if you’re working with a client for 5 hours each week, your monthly fee for them would be ~ $2100 a month. 

This makes a 3-month package paid in full $6k vs. the average $1500 early-stage entrepreneurs charge. 

If you are unsure of what your monthly rate is, take your total income for the month and divide it by hours of work. That can give you a starting point of what you are making.

Click here to get the pricing guide

No Month to Month contracts

One of my selling points when I was starting out was the fact that everything was month to month (shaking my head too). But each month I would be on a roller coaster of weather or not this client was going to sign.

(this is also why starting out I don’t recommend membership,but if you do VIP days – read through this to the next part)

Having a minimum commitment is what a responsible business owner does. Stop letting people determine how long you work with them. Even if you wouldn’t sign a six-month contract, it doesn’t mean you can’t offer it to someone else. In sales, we call that shopping in someone else pocket.

By saying yes to that client, you are saying no to future clients. This is what is called an opportunity cost, and you need to be compensated for it. (and yes, that does mean signing a contract and including a cancellation fee)

if your clients are currently on a month-to-month contract – it’s time to have the talk

Stop incentivizing Paid in Fulls over monthly recurring

When I started, the advice was tacking on like $500+ sometimes for a payment plan. While I love a good cash infusion when my revenue goes up and down… I realized that I liked the payment plans

So I stopped offering bonuses for payment plans UNLESS I needed the cash infusion and stopped overcharging for them. Truth is – I like the consistent income. I like being able to stack up payment plans, I like my clients have a chance to state their own income.

Most of the time, it’s the same price, or maybe $1-10 more for a payment plan. The only time we add more is to make it even for people, but most of the time, we don’t have to.

And guess what? It allowed my recurring it go up (currently, from the overflow mastermind, I have $8k/month in monthly recurring revenue)

Adding paying plans beyond service – NO

If you are reading this, you are like, SWEET simple – just add more payment plans to my offer. And before you do that, add payments to offers that make sense. You don’t want the payment to be too far out or on something you delivered on.

Recurring income with VIP days/ Sprints ETC

If you got this far and are like…. wtf meghan, I ditched retainer services in 2020 and went to a VIP/ Sprint model. This doesn’t apply to me… it does

Let’s recap

1. Don’t make ridiculous payment plans and have them extend far beyond the services.
2. Planning goes further than you think

Stop letting your ideal client pick start dates and figure out your capacity. Yes, go through next year and set start dates on the calendar like you would with a launch. Knowing your spaces are open means you can start selling them.

Your recurring income is going to be reliant on having the demand to fill the spots, and selling them ahead of time. What most people don’t realize with anything that is marked as passive or semi passive is that instead of spending time in the delivery, you are marketing more

When you have these days set up, you show your demand. Show people booking and snag spots ahead of time. This creates the perceived urgency that something is going to run out and if they want it.. get on it

It’s not that you could never have consistent income – it’s creating more STABLe income through planning

Rinse + repeat. You got this bestie.