In this episode, I sit down with Tim Grahl to map out how he broke through a 3-year business plateau and scaled his education company from $695K to over $2M.
We unpack how Tim made the leap by completely rebuilding his business model, delivering better outcomes for students, and building a variable-cost team that scales with revenue.
He also shares how he ran 600+ customer interviews, built a coaching program around accountability, and used YouTube and SparkLoop to drive steady growth.
If you’re stuck at a growth ceiling, this episode is a blueprint for getting unstuck.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:13 Breaking through the $1M ceiling
03:12 Revenue history from 2021 to 2024
06:37 The wake-up call promotion
08:00 600 customer interviews in 18 months
12:24 The mindset shift that changed everything
13:03 Why Tim rebuilt the entire business model
17:55 Forecasts vs. goals
20:36 Profit margin and personal runway
23:15 Why most courses don’t deliver transformation
25:18 How Story Grid’s coaching model works
30:08 Team structure and mentor compensation
34:10 Pricing strategy and program design
35:18 Using SparkLoop and YouTube to grow leads
38:02 Tim’s content process and YouTube habits
43:07 The emotional dip before the breakthrough
47:18 Burnout, self-doubt, and freight train focus
51:22 Why building a team unlocked freedom
57:11 Hiring mindset and building lean
01:00:12 The path from 2M to 5M and beyond
01:03:40 The power of product-market fit
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Learn more about the podcast: https://nathanbarry.com/show
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Follow Tim:
Website: https://www.storygrid.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@storygrid
X: https://x.com/storygrid
Tim’s latest book: https://www.storygrid.com/product/the-shithead
Featured in this episode:
Story Grid: https://www.storygrid.com
The Shithead (book): https://www.storygrid.com/product/the-shithead
SparkLoop: https://www.sparkloop.app
Kit: https://www.kit.com
