Primary Question: What is actually happening in this business right now?

The Bottleneck

Your personal availability. You're doing six jobs simultaneously:

1. Creating new lessons (strategic, high-value)

2. Teaching live sessions (relationship-building, high-value)

3. Answering questions (repetitive, ~5 hrs/week)

4. Hand-holding new members (repetitive, costs you hours)

5. Moderating community (important, medium-value)

6. Running operations (administrative, medium-value)

Result: You're at capacity. Every hour on #3–4 is an hour not on #1–2. This directly caps growth.

What's Actually Working

Teaching methodology — Proven to work. Members finish projects.

Community culture — Safe, welcoming, rare, valuable.

Member retention — High. People stay and refer friends.

Market demand — Strong post-pandemic interest in maker skills and community.

The Real Advantage

You've created a rare combination: personal teaching relationship at scale. You can't clone yourself 1:1, but you CAN systematize your voice and standards. This lets you grow 2–3x without losing the personal feel.

Primary Question: What should this business actually optimize for?

Your Goals (Translated into Action)

Reduce repetitive work Support volume down to <1 hr/week (from 5 hrs/week)

Help new members onboard themselves Self-service pathway, <30 min from signup to first module

Maintain teaching quality Lesson quality maintained or improved; your voice recognizable

Scale sustainably 2–3x members without proportional stress increase

Build business resilience Systems run for 2+ weeks if you're absent

The Dominant Objective

Reduce founder-dependent manual work by 60% without compromising member experience or teaching quality.

If we hit this, everything else becomes possible. Time frees up for quality, growth, and sustainability.

Primary Question: Where does AI create disproportionate advantage?

We identified three strategic leverage points. Not ten partial solutions—three levers that directly solve your constraint.

Lever 1: FAQ Bot

• What it does: Answers common questions 24/7 in your voice, instantly.

• Solves5 hrs/week of "Where is Module 2?" "What is gauge?" questions

• Benefit Save ~2 hours per week immediately

• Uses Circle's native AI or ChatGPT (tools you already have)

• Maintenance 30 min per week to keep current

Lever 2: Learning Pathways

• What it does: New members see their path and progress automatically. No hand-holding needed.

• Solves Eliminating "What do I do next?" questions and months of onboarding work

• Benefit Onboarding becomes <30 minutes instead of hours

• Uses Teachable's drip automation + Circle milestone messages

• Maintenance 30 min per new module you add

Lever 3: Clarity Assistant

• What it does: Reviews your lessons before publishing. Gives feedback on clarity and voice.

• Solves Spending 4–5 hours rewriting each lesson until it feels right

• Benefit Save 30–60 min per lesson, with same or better quality

• Uses ChatGPT with custom prompt (you already have access)

Maintenance10–15 min per lesson (just part of your process)

Primary Question: How does this become real without dependency?

The 12-Week Roadmap

WEEKS 1–3: FOUNDATION

• Gather 15–20 FAQs, tone guide, learning path, writing samples

• ⏱️ ~5 hours over 3 weeks | Result: Organized what you already know

WEEKS 4–6: FIRST WIN (FAQ BOT)

• Set up FAQ Bot in Circle or ChatGPT, test, launch

• ⏱️ ~3 hours setup + 30 min/week | Result: Save ~2 hours/week

WEEKS 7–12: EXPANSION (PATHWAYS + CLARITY)

• Launch Learning pathways + embed clarity assistant into your workflow

• ⏱️ ~7 hours setup + 10–15 min per lesson | Result: Self-serve onboarding, faster creation

WEEKS 13–16: STABILIZATION

• Document How systems work, establish 30-min/week maintenance rhythm

• ⏱️ ~4 hours + 30 min/week | Result: Systems are permanent