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How do you build monthly recurring revenue (MRR) when you’re tired of starting every month at $0? The short answer: the same boring way you build anything that lasts—a little at a time, on purpose, without chasing the next shiny object. You don’t wake up with $25,000/month in recurring revenue. You start with your first $450 month, then you stack another few hundred, then another, until every month starts at $5,000 before you make a single new sale. That base is what makes $10k, $25k, even $50k months possible—not one viral launch. The catch? Building it is unsexy. It’s consistent, daily selling of the same offer, not overnight explosions. But it’s also the exact thing that lets you stop rebuilding your income from scratch every 30 days—and actually stack income while you stack memories. Here’s how it works.
In today’s episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on the reality of building monthly recurring revenue—and why the journey is far less glamorous than most people make it seem.
Everyone wants the $10K, $20K, or even $50K recurring revenue months, but very few people talk about what it actually takes to get there. I share real examples from my own business and my students to show why consistent, incremental growth always beats chasing the next shiny object.
If you’re tired of starting every month at $0 and wondering how to create more predictable income, this episode will help you shift your focus toward building a sustainable revenue foundation that compounds over time.
In this episode, I cover:
- Why building monthly recurring revenue feels “unsexy”—but creates the biggest long-term payoff.
- How small monthly gains compound into consistent high-income months.
- The biggest mindset shift that keeps entrepreneurs from building predictable revenue.
- Why recurring offers and one-time offers both have a place in a healthy offer suite.
- How to evaluate whether your current marketing strategy actually supports your recurring revenue goals.
The truth no one tells you about building monthly recurring revenue
Let’s talk about monthly recurring revenue (MRR)—specifically, the journey of building high-income monthly recurring revenue. Because here’s the thing: no one really talks about what it actually takes to get there.
The end result? The $10,000, $20,000, or even $30,000+ months in recurring revenue are pretty dang sexy. The journey? Not so much.
And honestly, that’s part of the problem. It’s difficult to market something that isn’t flashy. It’s much easier to sell overnight success stories than it is to talk about consistency, patience, and compounding growth.
But if your goal is to build a sustainable business instead of constantly starting from zero, then this conversation matters.
I want to share the honest reality of building monthly recurring revenue through a few examples—both from my own journey and from my students—because I hope it helps you truly understand the compounding effect of committing to recurring revenue offers. Whether that’s one offer or several, the principles stay the same.
Why the first few hundred dollars matter more than you think
One of my recent students joined Scalability with exactly $0/month in recurring revenue. Every Scalability student receives a private two-week onboarding experience that includes a one-on-one strategy call and two weeks of direct support to kickstart their scaling journey.
After just those first two weeks, she was at $450/month in monthly recurring revenue.
Some people hear that number and immediately think, “Okay… but that’s not $25,000 a month.” They’re right—but they’re also missing the point.
Because you don’t wake up with $25,000 in recurring revenue overnight.
You build it.
If she simply continued growing at even half that pace—adding around $250 in recurring revenue every two weeks—she’d be sitting around $5,000/month in recurring revenue within three to four months. (That’s the same compounding math behind how one Scalability student scaled to $140k in a year.)
And here’s what’s important: that’s before accounting for the one-time sales she’s already making from guides and courses, which currently generate around $3,000–$4,000/month.
She didn’t join Scalability because her business wasn’t making money. She joined because she hated waking up every morning feeling like she was starting over.
She told me she’d open her sales dashboard each morning and immediately feel anxious seeing $0 staring back at her. Every day felt like pressure. Every week felt like pressure. Every month felt like pressure.
When your revenue depends entirely on making today’s sale, everything feels heavier.
The goal isn’t just bigger months—it’s building a bigger foundation
Instead of beginning every month from zero, she’s now building toward a future where every month starts at $5,000 before she makes another sale.
Think about that for a second.
Now every additional sale builds on top of that base. That’s how you create $10,000 months. That’s how you create $15,000 months.
Eventually, that’s how you create $25,000 and $50,000 months.
The question isn’t simply, “How do I make more money?”
The better question is: “What revenue base do I need to build so those bigger months become inevitable?”
Because if I personally had to start every single month from $0 and somehow build to $50,000 every 30 days, I’d have to work exponentially harder. I’d need longer hours, I’d likely need a much larger paid advertising budget, and I’d constantly be chasing new sales.
Monthly recurring revenue changes that.
It doesn’t eliminate the work, but it makes scaling dramatically easier because you’re no longer rebuilding your business every single month.
Why building MRR isn’t sexy (but it’s worth it)
If you’ve followed me for any amount of time, you know this is my thing. Monthly recurring revenue is my bread and butter. It’s one of the biggest reasons I’ve been able to scale the way I have.
And I’ll tell you something most people won’t: building it is boring. The process is unsexy. The result is exciting. The build is not.
It’s not explosive overnight growth. It’s consistent, daily progress. And if we’re being honest, it’s much more exciting to sell a one-time offer and see a notification come through that you just made $200… or $300… or $400 in a single day. That dopamine hit feels incredible.
Selling one new member into a recurring offer for $47/month doesn’t feel nearly as exciting. But over time, only one of those sales keeps paying you. Only one stacks.
Recurring revenue doesn’t replace one-time offers—it strengthens them
I’m not saying you should eliminate all of your one-time offers. Not at all. Both have a place inside a healthy offer ecosystem.
But here’s where most entrepreneurs get distracted. They compare a $200 one-time purchase versus a $47 monthly membership. On the surface, the $200 sale wins.
But if that member stays, their lifetime value eventually surpasses that one-time purchase. That’s where retention becomes everything. Average customer value matters far more than today’s payment notification.
How I built my first $50K months
People ask me all the time, “How did you scale to $50,000/month during your first year?”
Here’s the answer: it’s not glamorous.
I spent an entire year doing one thing. I sold the exact same offer every single day. Every day, I showed up on Instagram Stories, I sold daily, I didn’t skip days, I didn’t constantly create new offers, and I didn’t chase every new strategy.
Was it exciting? Absolutely not. It was boring as heck. Selling the same offer over and over gets repetitive.
But it worked.
I built IG University, which at the time was a $47/month membership, to over $25,000/month in recurring revenue. That recurring revenue became the foundation that made $50,000 months possible—not because of one giant launch, but because of consistency.
How one client grew her recurring revenue 600% in a year
One of my mastermind clients increased her monthly recurring revenue by 600% in under a year. Yes, six hundred percent. Today she’s consistently generating $15,000–$20,000/month in recurring revenue. How? We didn’t chase shiny objects. We didn’t build endless new offers. Instead, we made every business decision around one objective: building monthly recurring revenue.
We simplified her offer suite. We removed offers that weren’t serving her long-term goals. We restructured her funnels. We adjusted pricing. We refined her messaging.
Everything pointed toward one outcome: recurring revenue.
And it worked. Not overnight, but steadily.
The biggest mistake entrepreneurs make with recurring revenue
The biggest challenge isn’t strategy. It’s distraction. It’s incredibly easy to get excited about launching another course, another program, another offer that brings in a big burst of cash. (If that’s you, I did a whole episode on how to beat shiny object syndrome.) Those launches feel good. They create momentum. But they also end. Recurring revenue requires patience because today’s payment often looks smaller. You see the $47 instead of the $497. What you don’t immediately see is the compounding effect. One member, then another, then another, then another. They stay for one month, then two, then three, then six.
Before long, you’re no longer relying on today’s sale to survive because yesterday’s work continues paying you. That’s what creates a sustainable business. That’s what creates freedom. That’s what allows you to stop rebuilding your income every single month.
One question to leave you with
Here’s your homework. Ask yourself: Are your marketing efforts actually aligned with your monthly recurring revenue goals?
My guess? Probably not.
So identify one thing you can do today to better align your marketing with building recurring revenue. Because while the journey may not be glamorous, the business you build because of it absolutely is.
FAQ: Building monthly recurring revenue
What is monthly recurring revenue (MRR)?
MRR is the predictable income that comes in every month from recurring offers—think memberships, subscriptions, or payment plans—instead of one-time sales you have to re-earn from scratch. It’s the difference between waking up to $0 on your dashboard and waking up to a base that’s already covered before you sell a single thing.
How do you start building recurring revenue from $0?
Start small and stack. Sell one recurring offer consistently—the same one, every day—instead of launching something new every month. Your first $450 month can become $5,000/month within three to four months if you keep adding a couple hundred at a time. Boring? Yes. But that base is what makes the bigger months inevitable.
Is recurring revenue better than one-time offers?
Neither is “better”—they work together. One-time offers give you cash bursts and dopamine hits; recurring offers give you a foundation that compounds. A $47/month member who stays six months quietly out-earns a single $200 sale. Keep both, but build your business around the recurring base.
How long does it take to build meaningful recurring revenue?
Longer than a launch, shorter than you think. It’s months of consistent selling, not overnight growth. I built IG University to $25,000/month in recurring revenue by selling the same offer daily for about a year, and one of my mastermind clients grew hers 600% in under a year. The timeline comes down to consistency—not luck.
If you want the full framework for scaling sustainably instead of burning out, I put everything into my guide on how to scale a digital product business sustainably.
Resources & Links:
- Scalability
- Hour Rich
- Join Kajabi: 3 months for $99 + a bonus from me!
- Plug and Get Paid
- 150 Free Hooks
- IG University
- 30 Days of Manychat Pro FREE
- Learn how to run successful paid ads
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Connect with Mya:
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More about the Radical Disruption podcast:
Are you wanting to make waves in your industry, push the envelope, and change the way things are done in a radical way? Are you looking for tangible, tactical, and actionable steps that will help you build a sustainable business that stands out? You’re in the right place!
Radical Disruption is home to the disrupters. Here, you’ll learn how to take your business to the next level, break the status quo, and build a disruptive business.
Nursing student turned business and social media expert and host Mya Nichol (hey, that’s me!) shares the real and raw of the crazy journey of entrepreneurship and building a multi-six-figure business.
Through solo episodes and special guest interviews, you can expect honest conversations about throwing out the traditional way of business, scaling in a sustainable way, and becoming the go-to expert in your industry. It’s time to build a disruptive business. See you on Tuesdays!
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