5 Things You Need To Know To Grow Your Lifeboat Business and Skool Community in 2026

2026 is not about “going viral.” It is about staying solvent, staying sovereign, and staying in control when platforms and economies keep shifting.

If you want your lifeboat business and your Skool community to grow this year, these are the 5 things you cannot ignore.

1. Attention Is Collapsing… Growing Trust… Is The Only Real Funnel.

In 2026 your clients are tired, skeptical, and overwhelmed. They have seen every promise. They have been toyed with by politicians. They have been bombarded with disinformation and prapaganda. They have financial issues. They have bought every course. They can’t find a place where truth is the topic; and they can get real answers to their issues.

But more than that… Your client needs to find discernment so they can be empowered to advocatee for themselves and feel safe to think for themselves again. So, if you want growth, you cannot lean on hype. You need trust and to teach discernment in everything you do.

When they feel empowered enough to make decisions for themselves because they can feel their inner truth, communicate their needs better. A place to talk about what is happening to them, in their life and body…So they know there way forward… Have a sense of belonging… Know how to apply automations to help themselves. You are giving them sovereignty, authority, power, and wins in their lives.

So, here’s what you need to know…

Social media is now rented attention, not a home.
People are slower to buy, but faster to quit if they smell nonsense.
Trust is built by consistency, candor, and clear receipts of results.

What this looks like in a lifeboat business and Skool…

You publish a simple, regular signal… a weekly email, video, or post that teaches, not teases. Give them something to think about differently. This is how discernment is developed.
You show your own numbers, behind the scenes decisions, and mistakes. You pull the curtains back and show them everything as you’re doing it.
Our Skool (Vickie and Leslie’s) is positioned as “the room where we tell the truth and build assets together,” not “a vibe-based girl gang.” Make your Skool a homebase and know what it is that you are building over time… NOT overnight.

Recovering trust right now is hard work… You must be consistent through the year.

2. A Lifeboat Business Is A System, Not A Side Hustle.

Side hustles burn people out. Lifeboats keep you afloat when things break.

So, here’s what you need to know:

If it depends on you grinding every single day just to keep up, it is not a lifeboat. You must engage with an audience every day… Not grind… Give them small wins.
Asset based offers and repeatable systems beat custom one-off work.
Recurring cash flow is a requirement now, not a luxury. That is what you are building.

What this looks like in practice:

One core offer that is clear, boring, and profitable.Not ten offers. One flagship people can repeat and refer.
Standard operating flows…Lead comes in → gets nurtured → gets an offer → gets onboarded → gets results.
Simple recurring models…Skool membership, retainers, subscription services, ongoing support or implementation.
If you need help with your Skool Build… Leslie and I are here to help…Monday Mindset call Tuesday Coffee Hour/ Happy Hour VIP accountability call Questions and answer tab

We Got Your Back!

Know Your Client… Ask your clients direct questions…For Leslie and I we ask…“If you got sick for 30 days, how much of your revenue would still arrive without you pushing the rock up the hill?”Their answer tells all we need to know to help them… What is your questions you ask to help you know them better.

3. Your Skool Is Not A Chat Room. It Is A Transformation Engine.

Communities that grow in 2026 are not built on random posts. They are built on a clear journey and visible results. What is the journey you are taking them on? Need help finding that out. Ask us a question and we will help you.

What you need to know:

People will not stay for “access.” They stay for change.
Engagement tricks mean nothing if members do not feel their life or business improving.
Curriculum plus community beats community alone.

What this looks like in Skool:

A named, defined path.Example: “30 Days to Your First Lifeboat Business” or “12 Weeks to Undependent Cash Flow.”
Levels, points, and challenges that are tied to actions that create results, not fluff.Post wins, complete worksheets, launch an offer, make a sale.
Weekly anchors: One live call, one specific prompt, one scorecard. Your people know where to show up and why.

If members cannot answer “What am I working on this month inside this community?” you do not have a growth engine, you have a group chat.

4. AI Is Your Second Brain, Not Your Replacement.

In 2026, AI is not optional if you want to compete… But the way you use it matters.

What you need to know:

AI should remove friction, not remove your humanity.
The edge is not “I use AI.” The edge is “My systems plus AI let me move faster and go deeper than other people.”
Your clients need to see AI as leverage, not a threat.

What this looks like for lifeboat businesses and Skool: How can you implement it to save them time.

Our example is below:

Pre-built AI workflows for our clients: Idea to content to post in one sitting. Call recording to summary to action items. Offer ideas to landing page to email sequence.
Personalized experiences at scale: AI powered welcome sequences that ask members their goals and point them to the right Skool course and thread on day one.
Your own creative energy freed up: Let AI handle drafts, research, and structure. You focus on judgment, story, strategy, and relationship.

We teach our clients that the skill is “AI assisted sovereignty,” not “AI dependency.” Think about how AI can help your client have wins. Then create with it.

5. The Game Has Shifted From Revenue To Resilience.

High income with high fragility is not wealth. If one platform change or one economic wobble can knock everything over, growth is an illusion. Our world is wobbly right now and many people will experience the chaos of a wobbly world.

What you need to know:

Multiple income streams inside the same ecosystem beat random side gigs scattered everywhere.
Cash flow buffers and basic risk management are part of business building now.
Metrics are not vanity. They are survival tools.

What this looks like for you on your community for 2026:

A simple dashboard your clients check every week: New leads New members Churn Cash in, cash out
At least three “cash flow veins” connected to your Skool: One-time intensives Recurring membership Higher ticket implementation or mastermind
Practical resilience: Email list plus Skool plus one main social platform so if one breaks, the others hold. Leslie and I have chosen, Medium, Substack, Skool, Youtube. Six to twelve months of basic operating runway as a goal, not a dream. The whole year is about consistent growth.

We want our clients to stop asking “How much did I make this month?” and start asking “How hard am I to knock over?” This is creating a moat around your life.

We are doing it right in front of you and will help you with any questions you have.

If you are serious about building a lifeboat business and a Skool community that can carry you through whatever 2026 throws at you… you cannot keep doing this alone on an island.

Inside the Undependent Woman Skool we show you how to:

Design a real lifeboat business, not a fragile side hustle.
Build a Skool community that actually produces results for members.
Use AI and simple systems so you can grow without burning yourself out.

If you are ready to stop gambling on platforms and start building something that can hold you when life gets messy, come join us inside the community and start building your lifeboat now, not after the storm hits…

Here’s to an Undependent 2026

Vickie and Leslie

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