“It’s too late.”
“You’re crazy.”
“It’ll never work.”
That’s what my family and friends said when I quit my job and started my first business.
“I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“It’s all been done before.”
“Who am I kidding?”
That’s what I said to myself. But I did it anyway.
All founders face this. We push past both the outer and inner critics.
So congratulate yourself. You’re part of the 4%. You took the leap.
Then comes the hard part—proving yourself. You drive yourself to exhaustion, confusing self-worth with business success.
You put everything into the business:
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Time
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Energy
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Money
And it works! You succeed. Growth happens fast.
But by year 5, a tiny resentment creeps in. No time. No freedom. Lots of stress.
That’s when it’s time to redefine your relationship with your business.
It’s not who you are. It’s an asset you own. Its purpose is to add value to the world—not to prove your worth. That’s already a given.
Pause for a moment. Appreciate yourself:
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For your vision
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Your courage
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Your stamina
Then ask, “What’s next?”
Service businesses sell time—a limited commodity. That’s what makes it valuable.
As the founder, your time is the most precious of all. You’ve done the heavy lifting. Now make your business work for you.
Identify the 20% of services that generate 80% of your revenue:
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Simplify and systematize them.
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Turn services into solutions.
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Market solutions as products.
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Reduce dependency on you.
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Generate recurring revenue.
Not every founder wants this. And that’s ok.
You can keep offering services, hiring more people, and sending invoices. You can work for your business—and be happy.
Or you can make a change. Productize your services. Make your business scalable so it works for you—and be happy.
One choice isn’t better than the other. The first is like creating art. The second builds an asset.
What matters is that you LOVE your business either way—purposefully and consistently. Because it reflects back to the world the energy you put in.
