Jump to Youtube Video

The 3 Non-Negotiable Levers for Massive Growth

If you’re a wedding professional who’s heading into 2026 tired of the hustle, still undercharging, and just hoping next year will be better, I’m going to stop you right there.

Hope is not a strategy. Luck is not a business model.

Every year, thousands of wedding pros tell themselves the same lie: “Next year will be my year.” But as I always say, “It simply being a new year doesn’t change you. Just because it’s all of a sudden January doesn’t change anything. Only the action that you take will change you.”

The wedding pros who scale—the ones who go from $60k to $250k, or $150k to over half a million, and even past seven figures—don’t rely on viral reels or magic referrals. They get obsessed with focusing on what actually creates growth.

I’m breaking down the three non-negotiable levers you need to pull right now to radically transform your sales, marketing, and profit in 2026. The last one? It’s the single most ignored factor that will determine whether you thrive or burn out. You absolutely can’t skip it.

Let’s dive in and start building your breakthrough year.

---

1. Audit Your Reality: Data is Your New Best Friend

If you want a dramatic change in 2026, you cannot plan based on “vibes” or “gut feelings.” You need to anchor everything in real numbers and cold, hard data. This is where we stop guessing and start executing strategically.

Your Action Plan:

• Calculate Your Average Client Spend (ACS): Take your total 2025 revenue and divide it by the number of events you serviced. That number is the truth.
  
• Set a Big, Scary Revenue Goal: I want you to think bigger than a 10% or 20% bump. Hardly anything has to change for those minor increases! I want you to double, triple, or even five-times your current revenue. Why? Because you’re about to get the strategy to actually achieve it.
  
• Reverse Engineer the Math: Based on your ACS, calculate exactly how many events you need to book to hit that massive 2026 revenue goal.

I love when I see our students have this aha moment… “You need to reach harder. You need to think bigger because most of the time we downplay what we’re actually able to do.”

This math moment is the most eye-opening part of the process. For some, the math reveals you’ll burn out long before you hit your goal (meaning your prices must change). For others, it reveals you’re much closer than you thought, and you’ve been keeping yourself small for way too long. The clarity gained from this audit will fundamentally change the way you run your business.

---

2. Fix Your Leaks: A Strategic Sales Funnel Audit

You cannot hit a huge revenue goal if your sales funnel is leaking customers at every stage. We need to identify exactly where revenue is slipping through your fingers so we can patch the holes and start controlling your bookings every single month.

Your Action Plan:

• Map Your Conversion Rates: You need three numbers to tell your entire sales story:
  
  1. How many leads did you get per month?
  2. How many leads booked a consultation?
  3. How many consultations turned into bookings?
     
• Diagnose the Leak:
  
  • Low Consults: Your messaging is unclear, or you aren’t following up nearly enough.
    
  • Low Bookings (Closing Problem): “Your sales process is inconsistent or you’re not confidently articulating your value.” You need to master the art of assuming the sale right in the consult.
    
  • Low Leads (Marketing Problem): You have to be honest: are you even getting enough leads to make your revenue goal math work? If your goal requires 80 leads and you only get 35 a year, “your math is never gonna math no matter how good your work is.”
    
• Double Down on What Works:
  
  Stop trying to be everywhere. Find out where your best leads actually come from—vendor referrals, Instagram, paid directories—and put all your effort where the data says it matters. Control your revenue by fixing the leaks, not by chasing every lead that crosses your path.

---

3. 💸 Price to Profit: Capacity is Your Ultimate Limit

This is the lever that most wedding pros ignore, and it’s the one that single-handedly determines whether you soar or crash.

Once you know the required number of events from Lever 1, you have to ask the hardest question: Do I actually have enough hours in 2026 to deliver that many events?

For most, the answer is a resounding “No.” Your current pricing was built on guesswork—what you thought people would pay—not what the service actually costs you in time, energy, and labor.

Your Action Plan (The Only Three Options):

When the number of events required to hit your revenue goal exceeds your capacity, you have three choices:

1. Raise Your Prices: This is the fastest way to scale. If your average client spend increases, you need fewer events to hit the same massive revenue goal. You change your profitability instantly.
   
2. Add Team Members: You free up your own capacity, allowing you to serve more events without burning out.
   
3. Both: This is the key to scaling sustainably and quickly.

“Your capacity isn’t just hours. It’s your mental load, your weekends, your health, your family, and your ability to show up at your highest level. You cannot build a profitable, scalable wedding business on a model that requires you to be super human.”

You cannot out-hustle the math. Accept this truth, and you stop being a hamster on a wheel and start building a real, scalable business. When you audit your pricing and capacity honestly, you gain complete control over your entire business trajectory. Ignore them, and you stay stuck, no matter how hard you run.

---

Before You Go, CEO…

If you want 2026 to be your breakthrough year—the year you look back on and say, “Wow, that’s when everything changed”—you have to audit your current reality, your sales funnel, and your pricing with brutal honesty.

A year from now, you’re either going to be celebrating the best year your business has ever had, or you’ll be repeating the same patterns. And that decision starts right now.

I invite you to stop guessing and start building with confidence. Book a free Gap Assessment with my team. Our business consultants audit hundreds of wedding businesses every year. We will audit your business, find your specific revenue leaks, and map out your personalized 2026 plan so you can finally scale with confidence.

👉 Book your FREE Gap Assessment now: weddingproceo.com/application

I have absolutely loved being part of your week. Thank you so much for being part of this community.

I’ll see you in 2026!

Follow the Journey:

• Brandee Gaar: @BrandeeGaar (Instagram, TikTok, Youtube!)
• The Podcast: The Wedding Pro CEO Podcast (Subscribe/Follow on your favorite platform!)

---

FAQ

Q1: What is the biggest lie wedding professionals tell themselves?

A: The biggest lie is, “Next year will be my year.” As I mention in the podcast, “it simply being a new year doesn’t change you… Only the action that you take will change you.” Growth requires strategic action, not waiting for a calendar date to magically shift your business reality.

Q2: How do I calculate my Average Client Spend (ACS)?

A: It’s simple math that provides immense clarity. Take your total annual revenue and divide it by the number of events you serviced that year. This number shows you the true average amount your clients spent with you.

Q3: What should I do if my calculated event number (Lever 1) is too high and will cause burnout?

A: If the math shows you’ll burn out, it means your current business model is unsustainable. You only have three options, as detailed in Lever 3: Raise your prices, add team members, or both. You must adjust your pricing to increase your Average Client Spend, which means you’ll need fewer events to hit your revenue goal.

Q4: I get a lot of leads, but few of them book with me. What is my problem?

A: If you’re getting consults but not enough bookings, you likely have a closing problem. This is usually because your sales process is inconsistent or you’re not confidently articulating your value. This is where mastering the sales consultation, knowing how to do proper discovery, and learning to assume the sale is key to closing contracts faster.

Q: What is the most ignored factor that determines business growth?

A: The most ignored factor is the intersection of Pricing and Capacity (Lever 3). Ignoring your true capacity—which includes your mental load, your weekends, and your health—and relying on unsustainable pricing means you are building a model that requires you to be super human. Real, profitable growth requires auditing these two elements honestly.

Check out the video version of the podcast below. 👇
Subscribe, comment and share to support the channel.

💌For business inquiries: sayhello@weddingproceo.com

Heads up, CEO! Some of the links I share may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase—at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools and resources I actually use and love, and that I believe will help you grow a profitable, sustainable business you’re obsessed with.