Money Talks with Lynn Kitchen EP 149 with Guest Ann Carden

Why 97% of Entrepreneurs Never Break $100K and How My Guest Ann Carden Changes That.

Are you a smart, hard-working entrepreneur who feels you struggle with that glass ceiling of earning $100K or more?

You are not alone!

Here’s a statistic that might shock you: According to the Small Business Administration, only 3% of entrepreneurs ever reach six-figure revenue. That means 97% of business owners never break $100,000 in annual income.

Even more troubling? Most are working harder than they ever did when they were employees, but now, it’s for less money and no benefits. Does that describe you?

Why does this happen? My guest today, Ann Carden, shared something that will surprise you! It sure shifted how I think about business success.

The Cookie-Cutter Trap That’s Killing Your Business

Ann believes this problem exists because entrepreneurs build a business to pay bills, not one that matches their highest potential as a human being. WHOA!!

Put another way, most of you build to survive, not excel!

Ann has over four decades of experience and has built and sold five different businesses. She told me about a revelation she had early in her consulting career:

“I realized I’m not really working in my expertise. None of this that I’m doing here in their system is my expertise.”

This hit me like a lightning bolt. Think about it….are you following someone else’s blueprint instead of building on your own unique strengths?

Ann discovered this the hard way. After moving from California to the Midwest and facing limited job opportunities, she started making rabbit dolls that became internationally acclaimed. But when she tried to scale using traditional business coaching methods, she kept hitting walls. The generic systems weren’t designed for her specific expertise.

Here’s what I’ve learned as your financial advocate: Most business advice treats everyone the same. It’s like trying to wear someone else’s shoes – they might look nice, but they’ll never fit quite right, and they’ll definitely slow you down.

During our interview, Ann shared a case study that perfectly illustrates why awareness comes before mindset. She helped a client go from charging $1,500 for their services to securing $50,000 contracts. Not by working harder or longer, but by repositioning their existing expertise as a premium offering.

Think about that for a second. Same person, same skills, but a 3,233% increase in revenue per client.

As Ann put it: “If you don’t have a $50,000 offer, you cannot sell it.” The problem isn’t that people don’t have valuable expertise – it’s that they don’t see the premium potential in what they already know.

I’ve seen too many brilliant entrepreneurs undervalue themselves because they don’t understand how to position their expertise in the marketplace. They’re so close to their own knowledge that they think everyone knows what they know. They don’t realize that their “common sense” is actually uncommon wisdom worth premium pricing.

The Three-Step Formula That Changes Everything

Ann has developed what she calls the “Expert in You” methodology, and it aligns perfectly with what I’ve observed in my years of financial advocacy. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Awareness Before Mindset

Most business coaches start with mindset work. Ann starts with awareness. As she told me, “Awareness is really the first step. Mindset is secondary to knowing there’s an opportunity.”

You can’t change your mindset about something you don’t even know exists. Research from the Harvard Business Review shows that 85% of executives say they lack awareness of opportunities in their own industries. If C-suite executives struggle with this, imagine how it affects solo entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Step 2: Leverage Your Existing Expertise

Instead of trying to learn completely new skills, Ann teaches people to reshape what they already know into high-value solutions. This is crucial because studies show it takes 10,000 hours to develop true expertise in any field. Why start over when you can leverage the expertise you’ve already built?

I see this in my financial advocacy work all the time. The most successful clients aren’t the ones who try to become everything to everyone. They’re the ones who take their existing knowledge and package it in ways that solve expensive problems for specific audiences.

Step 3: Create Interconnected Value Streams

Ann doesn’t just build one business – she creates interconnected ventures that support each other. Her strategic consulting work feeds into her “Expert in You” agency, and vice versa. This approach increases efficiency while diversifying revenue streams.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, businesses with multiple revenue streams are 35% more likely to survive economic downturns. But here’s the key: these aren’t random side hustles. They’re strategic extensions of core expertise.

Why This Affects Your Wealth

You probably already know that in order to build real wealth, you must consistently increase your ability to maximize your income flow. Afterall, your income is the SOURCE of your future investment portfolio.

The more you can put into your investment portfolio every year, the greater the wealth you will build over the long run. As your financial advocate, I help ensure you capture and keep more of what you earn and position it correctly to build lasting wealth.

Quick wins don’t build lasting wealth. Ann’s interconnected business approach, combined with my financial strategies, creates multiple income streams that compound over time. According to IRS Statistics of Income, the top 5% of earners have an average of 3.2 income sources. I help you build yours systematically.

Let me share some numbers that should wake everyone up:

– 50% of small businesses fail within five years (SBA data)

– The average small business owner makes less than $40,000 per year (PayScale)

– Only 40% of small businesses are profitable (Federal Reserve Bank of New York)

– 82% of businesses fail due to cash flow problems (Jessie Hagen, U.S. Bank)

Your Next Step Starts With Awareness

If you’re reading this and thinking, “But I don’t have any special expertise,” you’re proving Ann’s point about awareness. Everyone has expertise – the question is whether you recognize it and know how to monetize it.

I’ve seen ordinary people create extraordinary businesses once they understand their true value. The plumber who becomes a premium commercial systems consultant. The fitness trainer who develops executive wellness programs. The bookkeeper who becomes a strategic financial advisor to growing companies.

The 97% of entrepreneurs who never break $100K aren’t failing because they lack talent or work ethic. They’re failing because they’re building businesses around other people’s formulas instead of their own expertise.

Don’t be part of that statistic. Your expertise is waiting to be unlocked, and Ann and I are here to help you do it.

Ready to discover the expert within you? Let’s talk.

Ann Carden Website: https://vxrworks.click/LEKAnn149

Ann Cardens Book: https://vxrworks.click/LEKAnnbook149

Join my Wealth Builder Academy: https://vxrworks.click/LEKWBA