There Is No Magic Bullet When It Comes To Starting a Business
And why today’s business advice reminds me a lot of diet culture
In today’s digital age, it has never been easier to start a business. Social media, Canva, ChatGPT, plug-and-play templates. You can whip something up over a weekend and call it your “launch.”
But the ease of entry has created a dangerous illusion that starting a business is easy, and that with a click of a mouse or an "add to cart," you’re well on your way to hitting those arbitrary milestones we’re told matter most (seven figures, passive income, total freedom).
And as someone who’s spent the last nine years starting and growing my own businesses, and the last three helping others do the same, I have a lot of issues with this.
A simple scroll through Instagram makes it abundantly clear that we’re all being sold a very specific dream:
Be your own boss
Work from anywhere
Make money while you sleep
Hit six or seven figures in your first year
Have total freedom
And hey, that all sounds great. That’s not the issue.
The issue is that most people will never achieve this, or even pause to ask themselves if that’s what purpose and fulfillment actually look like for them.
Honestly? It reminds me of diet culture.
For decades, women (especially) have been bombarded with messaging that says:
Lose weight and you’ll be happy
Drop the dress size and everything will fall into place
Take this pill, follow this plan, do this one thing and your life will magically improve
And just like in the world of health and wellness, the business version of this skips over the most important parts: What actually works long term? What’s right for your life and your goals? What’s sustainable? What actually feels good?
Here’s some food for thought (pun intended):
Roughly 15% of new businesses fail in the first year. Not too scary, right?
But here’s the kicker—up to 90% fail over the long term. And you know what else has a 90% long-term failure rate? Diets.
Just like most diets don’t lead to lasting health, most quick-fix business solutions don’t lead to lasting success. They promise a fast track. A shortcut. A system. But they rarely give you the foundation you actually need to thrive.
I get it, we’re burnt out. We’re time-poor. We want something that feels easier. So we grab the PDF. We sign up for the course. We join the challenge.
But hear me when I say this: taking action isn’t the same as having a plan.
The success and completion rates of these kinds of resources are chronically low (as someone who has spent thousands on courses and finished exactly zero, I speak from experience).
Will you get some great information? Probably.
Will you meet people who inspire you? Maybe.
Will you grow your toolkit of skills? You likely will.
Will this one thing put you on the fast track to success? I highly doubt it.
Because success in business isn’t about doing one thing right. It’s about building a strong foundation, understanding your value, staying in alignment with your goals, and doing the hard, unsexy work behind the scenes.
I’ve been in this world a long time. I’ve built and sold businesses. I’ve chased growth. I’ve hit the revenue milestones. I’ve also burned out, started over, and completely re-evaluated what I actually want.
So when I say this, I say it from experience:
The quick fix won’t fix anything, the one-size-fits-all formula probably wasn’t built for the needs of your specific business, and the pressure to build a “successful” business in record time? It’s just simply unrealistic.
So if you’re starting or growing a business right now and feeling overwhelmed by all the “shoulds” and “must-dos” out there, here’s my advice:
Zoom out and ask yourself: What kind of life and business am I actually trying to build?
Then find the people, tools, and strategies that support that. Because you deserve a business that feels like yours. One that’s purposeful, sustainable, fulfilling and set up for success.
And that’s not going to come from someone else’s plug-and-play formula. It’s going to come from a strategy that’s built around you.
If you are looking for a partner to help you build the business that is right for YOU, That’s what I do and I’d love to chat.
