Unfinished Businesses (Part 1)
Why do so many of us stop short of building something bold, impactful, and truly ours?
🎶 Quick note before we dive in: I’m still looking to chat with a few more freelancers & small business owners (solo or small team) who want to level up the business side of what they do (pricing, offers, systems, strategy, scaling, all that good stuff). I’m exploring a new direction for my business and testing how my experience in management consulting can best support smaller, service-based businesses. If that sounds like you (or someone you know), I’d love to talk! You can learn more and book a time to chat here. Thanks so much! 💛
When I started building my business 8 months ago, I knew I wanted to help businesses have more impact.
As an engineer and operations consultant, I’d seen firsthand how messy and inefficient most companies are. So, I figured: that’s it! Operations. If I could help companies clean up the chaos, they could finally reach their potential.
And I still believe that. Strong operations are a powerful tool. They can help a company out-impact their competitors 100-fold.
But here’s what I’ve come to realize: most businesses don’t actually want better operations.
It has about the same appeal as hiring someone to come into your house and yell at you to tidy up. Unless they’re on the verge of collapse or chasing a bold new vision, most businesses would rather tolerate the mess.
And I didn’t expect me to ever say this, but I don’t blame them. In fact, I can relate.
Despite being a systems-and-processes enthusiast, I haven’t prioritized working efficiently in my own business either. Because honestly? I’ve been unclear on where I’m trying to go.
And this is not uncommon.
Recently, I started working with a consultancy where I saw a huge potential for stronger operations. Our first instinct was to set up an accountability chart, a meeting cadence, and a shared knowledge base. But we quickly realized that something deeper was missing: a crystal clear vision that is shared by everyone. Until we were aligned on what we’re trying to build, all the systems in the world wouldn’t make a difference.
That’s when it clicked for me: weak operations are a symptom of something deeper.
A muddy business model, conflicting goals, no clear sense of identity. People working hard but unsure what it’s all adding up to. A pile of projects all pulling in different directions.
If we don’t know who we are and what we’re building, how could we even tell that our operations are holding us back?
We need the vision first.
Then operations becomes an obvious enabler.
That’s the shift I’m in right now: I don’t just want to make businesses smoother. I want to help businesses uncover the one thing they do best—the thing that sets them apart, delivers the most value, and deserves their full focus. Then we build everything around that.
Essentially, I want to help businesses look more like the right side of this picture:
And I know I’m not the only one who wants this. More and more people I talk to are saying things like:
“I want to build a business that really stands for something.”
“I don’t want to be a commodity.”
“We’re still searching for real product-market fit. Something that clicks.”
“We want to appeal to our ideal clients and no one else.”
“I want to use our unique edge instead of playing the same game as everyone else.”
Now, this is the part where you’d expect me to offer answers.
But I don’t have them (yet).
What I do have is the growing conviction that this is the problem I want to dedicate my business to solving: How can we build businesses that are bold, impactful, and truly ours?
And the first question I want to explore is: Why is this so hard? What’s stopping us? Where do we get stuck?
I’ve started compiling a list of reasons I think hold us back, which I’ll share in my next newsletter. But I’d love to hear from you, too: What kind of business do you really want to build? And what’s getting in the way?
Hit reply and let me know. I’d love to hear.
xx
Anna
P.S. If you’re a freelancer or small business owner who wants to level up the business side of your work, I’d really love to chat! Don’t forget to book your interview slot here :)
DIY Business Accelerator: Ideal Client & Market (Week 2)
In case you’re new here: I’m running a DIY Business Accelerator for myself, a 12-week sprint to bring more clarity, structure, and momentum to my business. Through a series of small, public experiments, I’m hoping to design, validate, and launch my signature offering and sign my first ideal client. Each week, I’m sharing a behind-the-scenes video update of how it’s going.
Week 2 of my DIY business accelerator has been all about getting into action. I started interviewing potential clients which sparked some amazing conversations, opportunities for collaborations, and even pushed me to prepare my first offer. Another big shift was rethinking my content strategy to focus on getting the most dense version of my thoughts on paper first, before creating content for discovery platforms like YouTube. I share more in this week’s video update:
Watch Previous Updates:
Week 2: Exploring My Ideal Client & Market (this week)
