When we surveyed participants in Ruzuku's 30 Day Course Creation Challenge, the same six barriers came up again and again: not enough time, uncertainty about their audience, lack of confidence, content creation struggles, not knowing what to focus on, and feeling totally overwhelmed. Here's what actually works for each one.
Barrier 1: "I Don't Have Enough Time"
This is the most common barrier by far. But the issue usually isn't a lack of hours — it's a lack of protected hours. Course creation loses every time it competes with email, client work, and household tasks.
What works: Schedule creation time like an appointment. Write it on your calendar. Even 20 minutes a day, five days a week, adds up to over 80 hours in a year — enough to build several courses. One Challenge participant put it this way:
"Taking daily action really helps me move past former blockages. Any attempt, even if it's not perfect, helps move me forward toward my goal. I can always revise, but starting is what matters — putting pencil to page, and pushing 'send'."
Try this: Block three 30-minute sessions this week. During each one, creation is the only option. Close email. Silence notifications. Tell people you're unavailable.
Barrier 2: "I'm Not Sure Who My Audience Is"
Audience uncertainty creates paralysis because every decision downstream — what to teach, how to market, what to charge — depends on knowing who you're serving.
What works: Stop researching and start talking. Reach out to 5-10 people individually and ask: What's your biggest challenge with [your topic]? One Challenge participant discovered something surprising about personal outreach:
"When I contact one individual at a time, they respond. I used to leverage my list using mass emails, but when I slowed things down and connected one-by-one, they connected back. I surveyed 25 folks and got 22 responses!"
That's a 88% response rate — from slowing down and making it personal. You don't need market research software. You need five conversations.
How to define your ideal student →
Barrier 3: "I Lack Confidence — Am I Expert Enough?"
The word "expert" comes from the Latin expertus — meaning "tested, proved, experienced." You don't need a PhD or decades of credentials. You need to have wrestled with the problem your students face and come out the other side with something useful to share.
What works: Reframe expertise as a spectrum. You're not teaching Nobel laureates — you're helping people who are a few steps behind you. If you've solved a problem that others still struggle with, you have enough expertise to teach.
One practical confidence builder: teach a free 30-minute session to a small group. Their questions and reactions will show you exactly where your knowledge adds value.
Overcoming imposter syndrome →
Barrier 4: "I'm Struggling with Content Creation"
Many course creators stall because they're trying to create a polished, comprehensive curriculum all at once. That's like trying to write, edit, and publish a book in a single sitting.
What works: Separate creation from editing. Get rough ideas down first — bullet points, voice memos, messy drafts. Refinement comes later. As one Challenge participant discovered:
"The hardest part is getting things distilled down to the smallest possible chunks. That gives a feeling of accomplishment and quick wins that keep your students engaged and working on the course material."
Try this: Open a blank document and spend 10 minutes answering one question: If my student could only learn one thing from this module, what would it be? That's your lesson core. Build out from there.
In 2026, AI tools like Claude can help you brainstorm, outline, and overcome blank-page paralysis. Use them as a starting point, then add your unique expertise and voice. But set a timer — "researching AI tools" can become another form of procrastination.
Try our course outline generator →
Barrier 5: "I Don't Know What to Focus On"
When you have expertise in a broad area, choosing what to teach first can feel impossible. Should you create the beginner course or the advanced one? The short workshop or the 8-week program?
What works: Start narrow. A focused course on one specific problem is easier to create, easier to market, and more valuable to students than a sprawling "everything I know" course. Challenge participants consistently found that narrowing their scope reduced overwhelm:
"The exercises have really helped me and my partner narrow our focus so that we can create specific courses that address specific parts of the process without feeling overwhelmed by developing content."
Try this: Write down every topic you could teach. Now cross off everything except the one topic where you can take a beginner to a specific, measurable result in 4-6 weeks. That's your first course.
4 frameworks for narrowing your course idea →
Barrier 6: "I'm Totally Overwhelmed"
Overwhelm is usually the result of trying to solve all six barriers at once. You're worrying about technology, content, marketing, pricing, and design simultaneously — before you've taught a single lesson.
What works: Sequence your work. This week, focus only on your topic and audience. Next week, outline your first module. The week after, teach it to one person. Everything else can wait.
"It's important to narrow the course focus. It isn't necessary to create one monster course that's all-inclusive — it's okay to break it up into multiple courses."
The biggest lesson from hundreds of Challenge participants: the biggest part about making a course is to start. Imperfect action beats perfect planning every time.
One Action This Week
Which barrier resonates most? Pick one. Apply its specific "try this" exercise. That's it. Don't try to solve all six — solve one, build momentum, then tackle the next.