🎧 Listen: Apple, Spotify

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You know that sinking feeling when you spend months building something, launch it, and… nobody cares?

Yeah. We’ve all been there.

Here’s the thing: there are warning signs. Red flags that show up before you invest all that time and energy into building something that’s going to flop.

And if you know what to look for, you can catch yourself before you waste months on the wrong thing.

The Cost of Building the Wrong Thing

Look, building offers is hard enough without building the wrong one.

And the worst part? Most of us don’t realize we’re building the wrong thing until after we’ve already invested months into it.

We’ve planned it out. We’ve created the materials. We’ve set up the tech. We’ve written the sales page. We’ve designed the graphics. We’ve mapped out the whole customer journey.

And then we launch and… nothing.

Or worse, a few people sign up out of obligation and then never engage. They’re in your community or your course, but they’re not showing up. They’re not asking questions. They’re not getting results.

And you’re left wondering: What did I do wrong? Why isn’t this working?

But here’s what I’ve learned after years of building offers and helping other people build theirs: there are patterns.

Red flags that show up early that tell you “Hey, this isn’t going to land the way you think it will.”

And if you can catch these signs early, you can pivot before you waste all that time.

Sign #1: Nobody’s Actually Asking For It

You came up with the idea yourself. Maybe you saw someone else do it. Maybe you think it’s clever. Maybe it solves a problem you personally experienced three years ago.

But when you think about it… nobody in your audience has actually asked you for this.

They’re not DMing you saying “I wish you offered this.”

They’re not commenting on your posts asking about it.

They’re not emailing you saying “Do you have something that helps with this?”

They’re not bringing it up in discovery calls or consultations.

You’re just… building it because you think they need it.

Here’s the truth: if nobody’s asking for it, there’s a good chance nobody wants it.

Now, I’m not saying you should only build things people explicitly request. Sometimes you can see a need before they articulate it. Sometimes you’re one step ahead of where they are and you’re building the thing they’ll need six months from now.

But if you’re building something and there’s zero indication from your audience that they want it? That’s a red flag.

What to do instead:

Before you build anything, pay attention to the questions you’re getting. What are people asking you about? What are they struggling with? What keeps coming up in conversations?

Look at your DMs. Look at your emails. Look at the comments on your posts. Look at what comes up on discovery calls.

Are there patterns? Are multiple people asking about the same thing? Are you answering the same question over and over?

Those patterns? That’s your market research. That’s your audience telling you what they need.

If you’re building something and you can’t point to at least a handful of people who have expressed interest in this topic, you’re guessing.

And guessing is expensive.

Sign #2: You’re Building It Because Someone Else Did

You saw someone launch a membership and make six figures, so you decide to launch a membership.

You saw someone run a challenge that went viral, so you decide to run a challenge.

You saw someone create a group program that filled in 48 hours, so you decide to create a group program.

And look, I get it. It’s smart to learn from what’s working for other people. I’m not saying don’t pay attention to what’s happening in your industry.

But here’s the problem:

Their audience isn’t your audience.

Their timing isn’t your timing.

Their offer isn’t your offer.

Their business model isn’t your business model.

What worked for them might not work for you. And you won’t know until you’ve already built the whole thing.

I see this all the time. Someone watches another entrepreneur have a big launch and thinks “I should do that too.”

But they don’t stop to ask: Does my audience want this? Is this aligned with my business model? Do I even want to run this kind of offer?

They just build it because someone else made it look easy.

And then they’re confused when it doesn’t work for them.

Here’s the thing: You didn’t see all the work that went into making that launch successful. You didn’t see the years of audience building. You didn’t see the email list they’d been nurturing. You didn’t see the failed attempts before that one that worked.

You just saw the highlight reel.

And you’re trying to replicate the outcome without understanding the foundation.

What to do instead:

Stop looking at what other people are doing and start looking at what your audience needs.

Yes, get inspired by what’s working in your industry. See what formats are resonating. Learn from other people’s successes.

But don’t copy someone else’s strategy and expect the same results.

Your offer needs to be built for your people, not someone else’s.

Ask yourself: “Does my audience actually need this? Or do I just want to do it because someone else did?”

If you can’t answer that honestly, you’re probably building for the wrong reasons.

Sign #3: You Can’t Clearly Explain Who It’s For

Someone asks you “Who is this for?” and you give a vague answer.

“It’s for entrepreneurs.”

“It’s for people who want to grow their business.”

“It’s for anyone who needs help with [topic].”

If you can’t get specific about who this offer is for, that’s a massive red flag.

Because if you don’t know who it’s for, how is your audience supposed to know if it’s for them?

Here’s what happens when your offer is too broad: nobody feels like it’s specifically for them.

They see your sales page and think “This sounds nice, but is it really for me? I don’t know. Maybe I’m not the right fit. Maybe I should wait.”

And when people aren’t sure if it’s for them, they don’t buy.

They’ll bookmark your page. They’ll think about it. They’ll say “let me sleep on it.”

But they won’t pull the trigger.

Broad offers feel generic. And generic doesn’t sell.

I see this all the time with people who are afraid to niche down. They want their offer to work for everyone because they don’t want to exclude anyone.

But what ends up happening is they exclude everyone because nobody sees themselves in it.

What to do instead:

Get specific. And I mean really specific.

Not: “entrepreneurs”

Try: “Service providers who have been in business for 2+ years, have clients but feel maxed out, and are ready to scale without burning out.”

Not: “people who want to grow”

Try: “Membership owners who launched in the last year, have under 50 members, and are struggling to keep people engaged.”

See the difference?

When you get specific, the right people see themselves immediately. They think “Oh my god, this is exactly for me.”

And yes, that means some people will self-select out. That’s the point.

You don’t need everyone. You need the right people.

The more specific you are about who your offer is for, the easier it is to sell. Because the right people will know immediately that it’s for them.

And the wrong people will move on without wasting your time.

Sign #4: You’re Building It to Look Like an Expert

You’re not building it because your audience needs it. You’re building it because you think it’ll position you a certain way.

“If I have a course, people will see me as an authority.”

“If I run a mastermind, people will think I’m successful.”

“If I offer this, I’ll be taken more seriously.”

“If I have a signature framework, I’ll look more legitimate.”

And look, positioning matters. I’m not saying it doesn’t.

But if you’re building an offer primarily for your ego and not for your audience, it’s not going to work.

Because here’s the thing: your audience doesn’t care about your positioning. They care about their problems.

And if your offer doesn’t solve a real problem they actually have, it doesn’t matter how impressive it makes you look.

Nobody’s going to buy it.

I see this a lot with people who create these elaborate signature frameworks or methodologies because they think that’s what “real” experts do.

So they spend months developing this framework. They give it a clever name. They create graphics for it. They build a whole offer around it.

But nobody asked for the framework. Nobody needs the framework. They just need help solving their problem.

And the framework? It’s for you, not for them.

Or I see people who want to launch a high-ticket mastermind because that feels impressive. It feels like “I’ve made it.”

But they don’t actually have the audience for a mastermind. They don’t have the positioning for it yet. They don’t have the track record.

They’re building it for the status, not for the transformation.

What to do instead:

Build offers that serve your audience, not your ego.

Ask yourself: “Am I building this because it genuinely helps people? Or am I building this because I want to be known for it?”

If it’s the second one, pause.

Your offers should exist to serve your people, not to boost your personal brand.

And here’s the truth: when you build offers that genuinely help people get results, the positioning takes care of itself.

You don’t need a fancy framework if you’re actually solving problems.

You don’t need an impressive-sounding program if you’re actually transforming lives.

The results speak for themselves.

So focus on the transformation. Focus on what your audience actually needs. The credibility will follow.

Sign #5: You Haven’t Tested It in Any Way

You’re going straight from concept to fully built offer.

No pilot. No beta. No workshop. No challenge. No live cohort.

You’re just building the whole thing and hoping it works.

And that’s a huge gamble.

Because what if you build it and nobody signs up?

What if people sign up but don’t engage?

What if you realize halfway through that you actually hate delivering this offer?

What if the transformation you thought people wanted isn’t actually what they need?

You’ve already invested all that time and energy. And now you’re stuck.

I see this all the time. Someone decides to create a course. They spend three months building it. They record all the videos. They create all the workbooks. They set up the entire learning platform.

And then they launch it and get two sign-ups.

Now they’re sitting on this fully built course that nobody wants. And they’re trying to figure out how to salvage it.

Or someone creates a membership. They build out the whole community platform. They plan six months of content. They create all the welcome sequences.

And then nobody joins. Or people join and immediately ghost.

And they’re left with this infrastructure they built for nobody.

That’s what happens when you don’t test first.

What to do instead:

Test before you build.

Run a live version first. A workshop. A challenge. A pilot program with a small group.

Deliver the transformation live. See if people actually want it. See if the format works. See if you even enjoy delivering it.

And then build the scalable version.

If people show up, engage, and ask for more? Great. Build the bigger thing.

If they don’t? You just saved yourself months of work on something that wouldn’t have landed.

And here’s the beauty of testing: You learn so much more from a live delivery than you ever could from just planning it out.

You see what resonates. You see what doesn’t. You see what questions people have. You see what they actually need help with versus what you thought they’d need help with.

And then you can build the offer based on real data instead of assumptions.

Testing isn’t a sign of uncertainty. It’s a sign of smart business.

And the best way to test an idea? Run a challenge.

You create a short, focused experience — 3 to 5 days — where you deliver real value around the topic you’re thinking about building a bigger offer around.

And then you watch what happens.

Do people show up? Do they engage? Do they ask for more? Do they want to keep going?

If yes, you’ve validated that there’s real demand. Build the bigger thing.

If no, you just saved yourself months.

That’s your validation.

Stop Guessing. Start Validating.

If you’re seeing any of these five signs, stop building and start validating:

Sign #1: Nobody’s asking for it

Sign #2: You’re building it because someone else did

Sign #3: You can’t clearly explain who it’s for

Sign #4: You’re building it to look like an expert

Sign #5: You haven’t tested it in any way

These are red flags. And they’re showing up for a reason.

Don’t ignore them. Don’t push through and hope it works out. Don’t convince yourself that “if you build it, they will come.”

They won’t.

Pause. Validate. Test.

And the easiest way to test? Run a challenge.

Join Challenge Creator Lab (Free – Starting January 26th)

I’m hosting a free 5-day experience starting January 26th called Challenge Creator Lab: From Overwhelm to Clarity.

Tech headaches. Content confusion. Promotion panic.

Challenge creation doesn’t have to be this hard.

If you’ve ever thought “I should run a challenge… but I don’t even know where to start,” this lab is for you.

Over 5 days — January 26th through 30th — you’ll:

• Decide if a challenge actually makes sense for your business
• Clarify what your challenge could (and should) be
• Walk away with a focused, aligned challenge idea — without overbuilding or burning out

No funnels. No pressure to launch mid-week. Just clarity, strategy, and momentum.

Sign up free here: https://cocreatorsociety.com/challenge-creator-lab

Because here’s the truth: the best way to avoid building something nobody wants is to test it first.

And challenges are the fastest, easiest way to do that.

Stop guessing, friends. Start validating.