The most annoying business advice I ever received

And how it turned out to be true: dealing with "the long game" and 3 favourites.

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In December 2018 I set up my first business website. I picked out a simple and clean Wordpress theme, played around with colours and headings. I uploaded the beautiful pictures my partner had taken of me. I set up an about-page and a services-page. I added a way for people to get in touch. I pressed publish and waited.

And then? Nothing. Nothing happened.

Creating and publishing your business website is a big step. You’re showing the world who you are and what you have to offer. But very rarely does that step in itself automatically lead to enquiries or sales.

In fact, on publishing our websites for the first time, most of us just get crickets.

This is where the most annoying piece of business advice I ever received comes in. When I spoke to other business owners and coaches they all told me “It’s a long game. It will take a while for your business to get going. Probably even years”.

In this post I unpack that advice a bit more, starting with why it annoyed me (short version: because it made me feel powerless). I’ll also share advice on what to do if you’re just starting out in business, pivoting, adding a new service or product or are otherwise confronted with the reality of the long game. Because that’s the thing—the advice turned out to be true. Business is a long game.

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Accepting the long game

Everyone who told me that growing a business is a long game was really well-meaning. What’s more, they were right—so right, indeed, that I now tell many of my clients the same thing. Doing anything, especially doing it well, takes time.

In education and in jobs, development and growth are structured: you progress from one grade to the next, from one skill to the next, from one role to the next, from one project from the next. In the day-to-day you probably don’t realise the steps you’re taking—and, because there is often this logical progression, it feels like you’re moving, like you’re doing something.

In the early phase of my business I often felt like I was not doing anything at all. Or that when I was doing something, it wasn’t what I really wanted to do: working with clients. I felt like I was swimming on dry land rather than in the water.

This is the phase in which imposter syndrome rears its head for many of us. When you find it nearly impossible to tell someone that you’re running a business. When you feel like a fraud because you’re not making any money. I vividly remember booking my first client, working with them for four sessions and then wrapping up with them. We both felt like we’d reached the end of working together and they’d reached what they wanted. But after that final call, all I could think was “am I still a mentor without clients?!?” (the answer is: yes).

What can make this phase especially hard is that from the outside looking in, it looks like other people make it overnight. And very occasionally they do (if you want a deep-dive into how jarring that can feel, read this post by Emily McDowell). But 99% of the time, we don’t see the hard work that has gone into someone’s business. The years they spent honing their skill, building a customer base or audience.

Most importantly: we can only ever live our own life, go our own path and our own journey. We can compare ourselves to others and try to figure out what their secret is, but this will usually only make us feel bad (and, spoiler: there is no secret).

Practical things to do while playing the long game

The “long game”-advice annoyed me because it felt like there was really nothing I could do at this point. In my most annoyed moments it even felt like I was somehow being penalised for being a new business. I had all of these amazing things to offer. I didn’t feel like such a rookie at all (at least about 50% of the time…)!

If you’re currently in the “long game”-phase, these are some strategies that can help.

• Do behind-the-scenes work. There is quite a bit you can focus on if you’re not (yet) working to capacity in your business. Some ideas for this phase: set up your website; decide on a newsletter, write blog posts; experiment with marketing; make sure SEO is working for your website.

• Create a financial ecosystem. Depending on your financial circumstances you’re going to have to be making money outside of your business. As impatient as I sometimes was in the first stages of my business, I was also grateful for having another income and for not having to rely on this brand new business financially.

• Reach out to potential clients and customers. As much as I don’t want us to work for free, it can be really useful to trial a new product or service and get some testimonials in exchange for a free session/product/whatever you’re offering. I did this a few years ago and very much enjoyed the experience. It also gave me confidence that I am wildly capable of doing what I want to be doing—and that I love it.

• Get used to spending time on your business. Whenever you add something new to your life, you need to make the time to do it. Even though you might be still in the early stages of your business, use this time to get into the habit of spending time on your business, whether that means researching best postage options for your art, techniques to use while creating your jewellery or writing blog posts. Getting in the habit to making time to work on your business and discovering when and where you work best will serve you later on.

• Experiment: when do you work best, and how can you work with your own rhythms and energy? How do you share and communicate with the world? Do you love writing about your business, or do you prefer to create videos, podcasts or still images? Approach this phase playfully and lightly—you have nothing to lose.

• Reflect. Similar to the previous point, ask yourself what you are willing to do in and for your business. What do you feel comfortable with? What kinds of clients and customers do you want to work with? Do you want to sell your products wholesale, just through your own shop or both? Do you want to work with organizations and other businesses, only with individuals or both? Even if you don’t have any or many clients/customers at this stage, your feeling and intuition will be able to tell you a lot.

• Listen and gather data. Even though in the early stages of my business I wasn’t working with loads of small business owners yet, I was speaking to a lot of them. I was reading their words, following their challenges and hearing their questions. Once I created a network and community for myself consisting of business buddies and my mastermind group I heard even more. But even without a community like that, you can gather data about what people are talking about, thinking and feeling. What kind of questions are they asking about buying art, for instance, or about caring for the knitwear they’ve made with your yarn? What kinds of services are people looking for, even if they’re not explicitly voicing it yet? This will inspire you in your work, but even more so, help you to create blogs, videos, posts exactly around the topics that your future clients and customers are interested in.

• Get support. Running your own business can feel very lonely—especially if you’re trying something new, pivoting or just getting started. When it feels like the business only exists in your own head, reaching out for support is very valuable. Depending on your budget, you can start with physical or online business communities (like the ones paid subscribers to Female Owned get access to), seek out other business owners to create your own mastermind group, or work with a mentor (like me!).

• Root into trust and your inner compass. Keep coming back to the reason you started your business. Keep coming back to your enthusiasm and that little voice that tells you that you can do this. Know that you are the one who knows what’s best for your business.

As excited about Substack as I am? Or are you curious how to use it (even more) for your business? My mini-course has helped dozens of small business owners, freelancers and creatives set up their Substack in a way that fits them. Or, in the words of

Katie Sadler

: “I have LOVED YOUR COURSE. I will be recommending it to everyone who asks me a Substack question.

Thank you so much for putting the course together. I'm still watching the final video, but found it hugely inspiring and helpful!! The checklist from the second video was exactly what I needed, too.”

Take a moment to think or journal about these questions:

1. What season of your business are you currently in?

2. If you’re just starting out or pivoting, who can you reach out to test your product or service on?

3. How can you create a support network for yourself at any stage of your business?

What phase or season of your business are you currently in? How does it feel? What would you advise someone currently in the “long game”-phase?

If you’re new to Substack: you can comment by clicking the button below—you’ll be prompted to set up an account which requires very little personal info and takes only one minute of your time.

beautiful words | “I unfurl on holiday. I slow down, I look longer, I stop caring so much” — Alice Vincent’s beautiful words on being not doing, being on holiday and more.

sounds | the sound of a skein of geese flying overhead is the key sound of the Autumn and Winter for me. There is something so magical to me about these birds making their way in an ever-shifting formation, calling out to each other as they do. This week I heard them fly overhead in the morning as I meditated by the open window and it felt just perfect.

a book | I deeply loved Lauren Groff’s The Vaster Wilds. It’s such a beautiful read—a novel to savour and devour about a young woman making her way in the wilds (affiliate link).

What’s on your lists of favourites this month? What did you read, see, hear, drink, eat, observe that made your day?

• 5 questions I get asked most frequently about my Substack strategy

• Six lessons I learned from two years without social media.

We’ve been having some clear Autumn days here and I’m eager for more of them. Enjoy the turn of the seasons wherever you are ✨ I’ll be back in your inbox next month with a regular newsletter, and in the meantime with a mini-bonus post on going paid on Substack and a discussion thread for paid subscribers.

Until next time xx

Let’s work together

If you’re craving a slower, gentler and more profitable business, I’d love to support you. Over the past year, I’ve worked with female small business owners, freelancers and artists to restructure their days and week; create big picture plans; launch their Substack; brainstorm and plan new products and more.

Most of all, I help them feel a sense of clarity and empowerment in choosing to do business differently.

Send me a message or check out my website for ways of working together: from one-off sessions to flexible packages. I’d love to be by your side this year.