Practising The Art of Patience as a (Newish) Small Business Owner
It’s a little ironic. Most of us start a business to free ourselves from the clutches of the 9–5 hustle ‘n’ bustle, but end up hustling into headless chicken territory.
And for why, m’dear? Well, this past week I’ve had a little word with myself, and I thought it might help you if working on your content is giving the same heart flutters as the Microsoft Teams ringtone *shudders*.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I believe in hard work and that you have to graft to achieve manifestation. But, I think there are a few things that might be contributing to this mindset, and before I continue, let me caveat this with I am not a mindset coach; this is very much just what I’ve experienced.
Ok, grab your brew, my lovely, let’s get into it.
I’m letting in the loud when I love the quiet
Can I let you into a secret? I’ve never really liked social media. Even my personal profiles are giving… tumbleweeds. It’s just not for me. So imagine my horror when I realised that starting my own business meant I needed to get myself on a social platform, so I chose the gram.
Now, hands up here, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. I’ve met some of the loveliest business owners and found confidantes in some insanely talented copywriters. Still, there’s rather a lot of loudness over there, hey? Which is as hard to ignore as the new Wicked trailer dropping last week…
I’m a nurture-first writer. My work (and my soul) live in the slow and the thoughtful. The endless reels, the ‘7-figure this’ and ‘hack that’ content. I found myself absorbing advice from marketing gurus who speak in rapid-fire bullet points and thrive on urgency. And for a moment, I started wondering if I needed to do the same. Should I be louder? Should I be chasing virality? Should I be following all these ‘trend’ rules to the letter?
Spoiler: no, I shouldn’t. It actually took me quite a while to realise that loudness doesn’t work for me. I don’t want to shout over people to be heard. I don’t want to post three times a day or keep up with trends that contradict each other every week. I’m more than happy with my 600-ish followers because they’re the right people. I’m not here to grow for the sake of growing. I’m here to build something sustainable, rooted in trust, not traction. And that brings me to the next little realisation.
Comparison is the thief of progress
May was a bloody great month. After feeling a tad low in April with a lack of clients, May came through with the goods. Not only was it my highest-earning month. I was working with my dream clients, I wasn’t lowering my prices, and my content was feeling chef’s kiss. Awesome, right? Yes. BUT… that means I have to achieve that next month too?
I don’t know what I’d do without my (almost) horizontal partner.
“When you chase money, you end up in a state of anxiety”
—Mr Custard
And he’s right. Because the truth is, I was comparing myself to other business owners I saw doing well online. It wasn’t always obvious but it was happening in the background. I’d see someone landing five new clients in a week or launching a new offer that sold out in an hour, and I’d start questioning what I was doing. That quiet pressure was enough to knock your focus sideways, all the way to the LinkedIn job board.
It led me to say yes to work that wasn’t aligned. I found myself chasing money, rather than the right business owners. Which, predictably, made me feel even more lost. But when I let go of that pressure and stopped trying to match what I thought success looked like for others. I got intentional. I tightened my offers, aligned my standards, and got back to writing content that actually felt like it belonged to me.
May happened. The dream clients arrived. The energy came back. But before I’d even given myself the chance to enjoy it, my brain skipped ahead to June. And July. And wondered whether I could keep that momentum up. I’ve spent years in corporate settings where you had to deliver the same (or more) every single month. Numbers, targets, KPIs, quantity rewarded over creativity. That mindset sneaks in like background noise, even when you think you’ve left it behind.
Practice, practice, practice (and again)
So here I am. Relearning patience. Reminding myself that growth can be slow and steady and still deeply successful. That one brilliant month doesn’t have to be matched immediately and every season of business looks different.
If you’re feeling stuck in the content mud, like you’re stuck into the vacuum, this is your nudge. Quiet success is still success. You don’t need to be the loudest to be the most impactful.
Keep going, my lovely. You’re doing better than you think.
And if you’d like a little more of this kind of gentle encouragement in your inbox, you’re very welcome to join Notes from the Nook, my behind-the-scenes newsletter filled with honest musings, copy tips, cottage-y bits and dog mum quips.
