Hello everyone,
I’m one of the co-founders of The Club Palm Beach, a health and wellness events company. We host large-scale community experiences that combine fitness classes, DJs, cold plunges, saunas, and wellness vendor markets. The concept has gained strong traction locally our early momentum came from social media virality, influencer partnerships, and community hype.
That momentum carried us for a while, but lately, growth has plateaued. Attendance is consistent but not increasing, new audience acquisition feels harder, and ticket sales aren’t scaling the way they once did. We’ve built a strong brand presence and loyal base, but I don’t want us to just coast. I want to figure out how to break through this stage and expand further.
My questions for those who’ve been here before:
1. What strategies helped you overcome a plateau in an events or community-driven business?
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How do you determine when to double down on what’s working versus when to pivot into new offerings, markets, or revenue streams?
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What signs helped you tell whether the stall was temporary versus a real ceiling in your model?
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If you were in my shoes, where would you focus first: sponsorships, marketing, new cities, or doubling down on existing markets?
I’d love to hear actionable advice and real-world experiences from entrepreneurs who’ve scaled past this phase. Thank you in advance for any guidance!!!
Seeking advice: How do you break through a business plateau?
byu/Ordinary_Magazine938 inEntrepreneur
Posted by Ordinary_Magazine938
3 Comments
I’ve helped several event companies break through similar plateaus. Before considering expansion or pivots, you need to understand WHY the plateau happened. Here’s a diagnostic framework I use:
**Quick cohort analysis to identify the real problem:**
Look at your attendee data in cohorts:
* What % are first-timers vs returning? If returning rate dropped below 40%, you have a retention problem, not acquisition
* Map the customer journey: at what point do people drop off? After 1st event? After 3rd?
* Check your NPS by cohort – new attendees vs 3+ events attended. Gap >20 points signals product-market fit issues with new audience
**The “invisible ceiling” test:**
Your “consistent but not growing” attendance might indicate you’ve maxed out your current addressable market. Quick way to check:
* Total wellness-interested population in Palm Beach area: ~X
* Your unique attendees last 12 months: Y
* If Y/X > 5%, you’ve likely hit natural market limits and need geographic or demographic expansion
**Most likely issue based on your description:**
You rode the “novelty wave” initially. Cold plunge + DJ was new and shareworthy. Now it’s expected. I’ve seen this pattern with similar wellness events in Austin and Miami.
What worked for them:
1. Programmatic differentiation: rotating monthly themes that give people a reason to return AND share (think: specific workout styles, guest instructors, cause-tie-ins)
2. Membership model overlay: keep one-off tickets but add VIP membership for guaranteed entry + perks. This stabilizes revenue and creates FOMO
3. Strategic venue partnerships: instead of new cities, partner with hotels/resorts who want to attract wellness travelers. They promote, you execute
The sponsorship question is interesting – wellness brands are throwing money at events right now, but only those with proven affluent demographics. If your average attendee HHI is $100k+, that’s your fastest revenue unlock.
Happy to elaborate on any of these if helpful. What’s your current return rate percentage?
Remember client acquisition is a diseconomy of scale. The easy ones to get to are cheap harder are more expensive and need to be more creative.
Have you tried increasing cost per sale with your existing marketing?
I’ve historically had to remodel full business / commons to staff during these phases. A good accountant can be helpful to rework numbers.
I’d potentially try that and see if it’s just cost per acquisition or not.
If I were you, I will change my approach, strategy and think creative to spike the interest. And mainly add something negative to the event as well so to catch attention on large scale. 🙂