The Offer Ladder Myth: Why More Offers Won’t Make You More Money (and What to Build Instead)
A few years ago, I was running five offers at once. A membership. A signature programme. A mastermind. One-to-one coaching. A 30-day sprint.
The classic ‘offer ladder’. From the outside, it looked like a smart business model…
It wasn’t.
In this post I’ll be sharing why this model seems so appealing, the reasons it doesn’t always work, and what I did instead that finally gave me the simple, profitable business I wanted.
Why an ‘offer ladder’ seems to make perfect sense (but is actually a nightmare to run)
The logic was simple: if someone wasn't ready for my main programme, they could join the membership. When someone finished, I'd have a mastermind waiting for them. Each offer was designed to “catch” people at different stages of the journey.
And that makes sense… at least on paper.
We’re told not to leave money on the table - to have something for everyone so no opportunity goes untapped.
It sounds strategic. You end up believing that if you don’t have something for everyone, you’re missing out - that there’s money just sitting there, waiting for you to grab it.
But here’s the truth: the money you think you’re leaving on the table is usually money you were never going to make anyway. Because when you’re juggling multiple offers, you rarely have the time or focus to grow any of them properly.
The very act of chasing more is what keeps you from making more.
Inside my “offer ladder” business, it was an overwhelming mess. I had multiple ideal clients and ended up feeling sooo confused about what my message actually was. I was a classic generalist and wasn’t known for anything in particular.
Most of all, I was exhausted, constantly launching the next thing and never feeling like I was doing any of them that well. I couldn’t just pause and take a breath.
And the thing is, it really did feel logical at the time. I had something for everyone.
But what I couldn’t see back then was how much that confusion, overwhelm, and constant juggling were slowing me down from creating the kind of business and lifestyle I really wanted.
Why were always drawn to creating new offers
Let's face it: creating new things is exciting. New offers give us a dopamine hit, just like the first few weeks of trying out a new social media platform.
Clients often ask me, "Should I create something smaller before my big programme?" Or "What if people aren't ready yet?"
They want to scratch that itch. It feels like a quick win. A low-ticket membership or product that comes before the big thing.
It also feels safer. If your main offer isn’t selling, it’s easier to blame the offer than face the discomfort of refining your message or improving your sales process. Starting something new gives you a sense of control.
And sometimes, it’s just fear in disguise. We worry that if one offer doesn’t appeal to everyone, we’ll miss out, so we build more to cover all bases.
It feels easier to start something new than to stay focused on the thing that already exists.
But it’s rarely easier in practice.
The 3 key problems with always creating the new thing:
1) Split focus
The second you create a new offer, you split your focus. You pour energy into creating a new thing, often before you've nailed the marketing and sales for your main thing. You end up selling 'some' of your small thing and 'some' of your big thing, but not enough of either to create the income you want.
Your marketing focus gets split too. You're speaking to two different ideal clients with slightly different problems. Instead of building authority in one space, you dilute it across multiple audiences.
I see so many business owners essentially offer hopping and wondering why it feels so hard to grow their business to sustainable, predictable income.
Often it's because you never give one offer time to grow.
2) The positioning problem nobody talks about
Advanced clients won't work with you if they think you're a beginner coach.
If your front-facing offer is for people just starting out, the more experienced people you'd love to attract will self-select out. They'll assume you're not the person for them.
You end up accidentally positioning yourself for the wrong clients while wondering why the ones you really want to work with aren't reaching out.
3) Mental load
When I shut down those five offers, I’d spent a huge amount of time and money on branding, course creation and support. That was painful, but it wasn’t the most expensive part.
The actual cost was the mental load. The decision fatigue about what to promote when. The headspace taken up swapping between different messages. The never-ending launch cycles which left me ill and kind of hating my business.
Every offer compounds the complexity. And complexity means more things to think about and more things that can go wrong.
Why it's so hard to see when you're in it
Even though I know all this, I’ve still found myself launching other offers multiple times over the years. And usually, my brain gives me a rationale that sounds really sensible.
Something like: “This will bring in some quick cash” or “It won’t take long to promote”.
When you’re in a cash crunch, or your beautiful entrepreneurial brain sees an opportunity, it’s incredibly hard to stay the course and focus on one thing.
But every single time I’ve succumbed to the temptation of a shiny new offer, it’s always taken up more headspace and time than I planned.
And there’s your distraction.
Every distraction comes at a cost, even when your main programme is established and working well.
This also plays out with 7 and 8 figure business owners
It’s easy to assume that once your business grows, having multiple offers just makes sense - you’ve got a bigger audience, so why not sell them different things?
But here’s what I’ve seen again and again: even the most successful business owners usually make the majority of their income from one offer. They might have a full suite of programmes, but there’s usally one that does the heavy lifting.
The others are often legacy offers, experiments, or nice add-ons - not the real engine of the business.
So what should you do instead?
Become known for something
It was absolutely terrifying closing down all my offers to go all in on one thing.
Taki Moore had been telling me to do it for ages. I resisted. I had all the reasons why my business was different, why I needed the options, why it made sense to have something for everyone.
We'd just re-branded the membership and moved platforms (15K sunk). I had no idea if I was doing the right thing. I was cutting off so much revenue in pursuit of this idea of simplicity. I had to let go of being for everyone.
Here's what happened.
My marketing suddenly had a clear focus. Everything I created was around one ideal client and everything led back to the same programme.
Delivery felt easier, and clients got better results because I was pouring my energy into one system instead of five.
My business felt lighter. I wasn’t cramming 5 different group calls into my week for 5 different programmes.
And my reputation grew. I became known for one thing.
Now I get clients come to me all the time saying "so-and-so recommended you for evergreen group programmes." People go to my website and see blogs, youtube videos and all my messaging being about the same thing - I have a huge body of content that easily builds trust and credibility. In a world of scams and false promises, it's reassuring when you can see someone is clearly the specialist.
I still have other offers now. But they are typically back-end offers like masterminds or alumni programmes that aren't part of my front-facing marketing. They're private, by invitation, offered only to the people who've completed my core programme. Which means they don't split my message or confuse my audience.
And if you do create a smaller offer? It should exist to qualify people for your main programme, not to serve a completely different client at a different stage. That's where people get tangled.
Finding the idea worth scaling
Now, I'm not saying I don't see the value of complementary offers which feed each other. I do. There is, after all, a tonne of logic in it.
And when you're starting out, you absolutely should test different offers. That's how you figure out what you're good at, what people actually want, where you can get the best results. I tested loads of things in my first few years.
But there's a difference between testing to find your one thing, and attempting to run multiple established offers at the same time. Most people skip past the testing phase straight into 'I need an offer ladder' without ever giving one offer the focus it needs to work.
So how do you know which offer is "the one"?
It's usually the programme with a tangible result, the thing you could become known for, the thing people could easily refer to others. If you're the "go-to" for solving that problem, your authority compounds.
The danger of juggling multiple offers is you never give one the time to claim that space in the market.
Create an offer ecosystem but for ONE ideal client
Once you've got your core offer working and built up a marketing ecosystem that feeds it, then you can play.
Create offers that spiral naturally around your main one, not compete with it. A smaller product can work well if it qualifies the same ideal client into your core programme. An alumni offer can extend the journey after the main transformation is complete. But the front-facing message stays simple.
Final thought
If you're feeling restless, like you want to add "just one more offer," I get it. I've been there. I built the ladder, climbed it, and discovered it wasn't leading anywhere.
What really moved me forward wasn't doing more. It was choosing the one thing I wanted to be known for, and building everything around that.
The hardest part is slowing down long enough to let it grow. But the payoff is huge: simplicity, scalability, and a business that's actually fun to run.
Interested in going all in on one core offer?
If you’re curious about what simplifying could look like for you, the next step is to watch my free workshop series.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
✔ Which business model is right for you: high-ticket vs low-ticket, cohort vs evergreen, memberships vs courses vs group.
✔ How to design a group programme that works for your niche + lifestyle + bank balance
✔ How to fill your group programme sustainably every month without high pressure launches
