Why Group Communities Aren’t Enough: Building Value Through Strategic, High-Impact Consulting

Just had my first cancellation for the Strategy Growth Circle program. 📬

(This was the lowest ARR member as well!)

I’m losing money on this startup program (my regular advisory plan is $1,800/mo) so it’s anything BUT a loss. And I absolutely wish him well – and shared some communities he can join instead.

The reason for canceling?

💌 “Looking for a program with more video calls, templates, and community engagement.”

I have a handful of folks in my circle building “communities” – Eric and Neil in the Agency accelerator, Greg with the Startup Empire, Joe from Fatjoe with his SEO circle, and many, many more.

👉 I’m in 21 Slack communities myself, 6 Skools, and God knows where else I get notifications, Substack emails from, and other pings.

Half of these communities are $150/mo each for just Slack access and resources. And they are SO quiet – you can hardly see anyone posting there (B2B leaders don’t openly share problems or discuss challenges in public).

Meanwhile, my mentor James charges $1,500/mo for a fully async program, 1 weekly group coaching call, everything else text. The group one is with other folks – not a private one you can dive into P&L statements. 👇

My other advisor Steve charges $350/hr (with larger packages for specific initiatives).

I have made 5-6 calls on Intro this year alone for $1,100 each for 15 minute calls.

Access to individual and strategic advice is 10X to 50X more expensive than group communities for a reason.

🧑‍🏫 Generic advice and group conversations don’t dive deep into particular problems. It’s a good “reality check” of what the industry cares about or talks about, maybe exchanging some tools or courses. And hosting some calls with guest speakers every now and then.

But it’s not consulting.

🚀 My goal with my agency, consultancy, and even that startup program is to deliver 10X+ ROI on any plan.

The Strategic Growth Circle is so cheap ($297/mo) that it amounts to half an hour of my time for a Clarity call. And that’s for an entire month of Monday syncs on Slack and 2 more quick check-ins through the week, a folder with P&Ls, accountability charts, and more in-depth analyses for the business.

Delivering $35K+ in added value over an entire year with me is so damn simple that it’s practically sending over ONE client and we’re set. 🧳

And all the clarity work, uncovering sales channels, running email campaigns, helping recruit & delegate, integrate the proper tooling, intros in the right leaders, shared case studies, PR, data pool of 500+ other businesses.

Again, my SME advisory is $1,800/mo for a reason. I do the startup plan because I’m passionate about education more than anything.

But people are in different stages of their professional life. Some need courses and playbooks, others need a Slack group with 300 other people, some need video courses.

Others unlock growth based on their unique strengths and positioning, with higher profitability and better diversification.

That’s my realm.