One Size Does Not Fit All

imaginethegoodlife May 26, 2019


Business Modeling in the coaching and entrepreneurial world.

We hear the term Business Modeling thrown around a lot lately and a lot of the time inaccurately.  I don't know about you, but I am pretty tired of hearing self-proclaimed gurus telling me or my clients that "their process is the ONLY process" or "follow my model to the letter and you will achieve the results I achieved." Whether it be arrogance or pure manipulative mind tweaking, it simply is not true.

This is one of the biggest lies that has permeated the business development and personal growth industries over the last 20+ years.  Many of these gurus point the finger at you and tell you that your inability to follow THEIR model is the sole reason you are unsuccessful and that the problem of your failure solely resides with you.  Really?  Do they really think this or is it a ploy to break you down so they can squeeze you for money?

This is not empowerment to me.  This looks a lot like mental slavery and co-dependent programs being installed into entrepreneurs who are truly seeking education and mentorship to make their worlds a better place.  But unfortunately, many are being taken for a ride and given empty promises of wealth, abundance and freedom all while these gurus drain the joy of being an entrepreneur right out of them.

It's like these gurus are success vampires.  Yep, I said it. The systems that have been erected in this industry are DESIGNED to suck the entrepreneurial lifeforce out of people and use it to make the established guru more powerful, more wealthy, and more out of touch with those that claim they serve.


They do this by claiming their proven model is perfect for everyone - the elixir of life, so to speak. Since most entrepreneurs are dying on the vine and desperate, they gravitate towards a leader that tells them everything is okay and that they alone have the magic pill to solve all of their entrepreneurial woes. Many have traversed this path and only a very select few have found massive success with it or any success at all.

Why is this so?

The guru elite would have you believe that you are unsuccessful with their model because you didn't follow it to the letter or the entire block to your success is being generated by you and only you.  This is a pompous attitude to have, but it has been taught, re-taught and then taught again to aspiring gurus all over the world...and it is a major factor to the depletion of wealth consciousness across the globe. 

We have been taught that if that guy or girl over there can do it, then I can do it too!  This assumes that we are all the same, have the same drive, the same gifts and the same personalities to "go do what they did." And we are shamed by the establishment and even our peers if we can't achieve it as easily and effortlessly as the guru and their disciples.

Business success models are designed for ONE person's goals in mind. They are perfectly crafted to match and accentuate the creator's world view, personality, support structure and foundational business acumen. Let me make this clear...the business success models that are being peddled to you these days were NOT MADE FOR YOU. They were designed to work perfectly for someone else.  This is a major problem when the creators of these models claim that one size fits all and that everyone should be able to copy exactly what they did and achieve the same success.  This is a half truth at best that entrepreneurs have swallowed hook, line and sinker and it is causing havoc in their endeavors to become self-sustaining business entities.

Have you ever wondered why we don't hear about more mega success stories coming out of the guru's camp?  Have you ever noticed that the gurus consistently highlight a select few that have gone through their programs and give them time on their stages to give testimonials and tell their story about how the guru's success model changed their life?

I have attend hundreds of events and retreats and workshops, and many of them multiple times, because I wanted to see what these so called gurus were doing that was bringing them success.  And I have seen the same testimonial and the same student over and over again give the same pitch on stage about how awesome the guru's business success model is.  Don't get me wrong, I completely believe the testimonials; I actually know a lot of these people personally, but I always asked myself why I wasn't seeing more testimonials, and new people on stage telling their stories of success with the guru's model.

And then the obvious reason presented itself. There aren't any! Makes me go hmmm.  And it should rattle you too. But these gurus keep selling these programs one after the other and more and more entrepreneurs get disenfranchised every single year. It is one big circus act played over and over again to dazzle the audience and lure them into a euphoric frenzy that compels them to pull out their credit cards and buy until they can't buy anymore.

This isn't conscious entrepreneurship. It's not even moral in my book, but it is the norm in the business, self-help, and personal development industries today. The industry is rampant with models and promises and false pretenses and it is making money hand over fist at the expense of those they claim to serve.

The big reason this continues is FEAR.  Fear of changing their business practices.  Fear that revenue will go down.  Fear that they will be exposed for the charlatans and brainwashers they are.  This is what they rely upon.  Without their groupies the "value" of their programs diminish and their sway on the masses decreases, or so they think.  It's what a lot of people call "drinking the Cool-Aid", but what they don't realize is that those that say this have also drank the Cool-Aid somewhere else and have been indoctrinated to think and act in certain way, thinking that a model or a process will bring the success they seek.  Yet, it rarely does.

Models are just that... they are models to see what is possible.  It's great to hear testimonials and see other people's success, however, claiming that those success can be yours too is a very slippery slope.  Models by definition are a starting point; a place on the map to begin your journey, not something to follow to the letter all of the time.  The model that you follow in your business MUST be customized to you and only you for it to have any chance of success. The self-proclaimed gurus created a CUSTOM model from themselves. That's why it works so well for them.  But that is not a prerequisite for it working for you.

Models are activated by personality, drive, gifts and inherent talents. Not everyone has the exact cocktail of brilliance that you bring to the table. And you most definitely do not have the same mojo as the guru on stage peddling their model to you as the best thing since sliced bread. I will say it again... the guru's model works for THEM and people that are have a very similar composition to them in the areas of personality, drive, gifts and talents.  Without that nearly exact match, success with any model will be very difficult to come by.

As leaders, teachers, trainers and coaches, we need to strive to create learning platforms so our students can develop their OWN MODELS based on our expertise, education, and guidance, but it is designed solely for them and the success of their business. The industry, as it stands now, does not want this because they fear that their people will LEARN TOO MUCH and then NOT NEED THEM ANYMORE.  Well, that's the point isn't it?  We need to become obsolete to those we are called to serve.  If we are not raising up new leaders, then all we are doing is feeding off of our followers, all the while claiming that our model is not at fault, but the student doesn't want it bad enough.  We can do better than this.  We NEED to do better than this.

Models are not one size fits all. It's time to teach people how to think for themselves and stop relying on someone else's model to bring them success in business.  It's time to pave the way for a new version of entrepreneur that can be self-sufficient and develop into a leader, maybe even surpass the teacher.

Dan Fowler, The Imagination Engineer

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