8 Things I Did Wrong When I Started My Business
Starting a business is exciting, challenging, rewarding, and it’s also terrifying.
When I launched my first business in 2013, I was a new mom raising a toddler, taking on freelance projects, because, in all frankness – I couldn’t find a job in marketing where my husband and I had recently relocated. Instead of throwing in the towel, I decided to try to build a career around working for myself. One that also worked around my family life.
Looking back, I can easily see the multitude of mistakes I made at the start. Some were small, others completely changed the direction of my business. At the time, they felt like failures. Today, I see them as the lessons that molded the way I lead, grow my business, and define success.
If you're just starting your own company or brand, I hope the learnings I’ve acquired over the past reassure you that you don't have to get everything right the first time. In fact, some of your biggest business mistakes may become your most valuable teachers.
1. I Believed Working Harder Was the Answer to Everything
When you're starting a business or brand, it's easy to believe that success belongs to the person who works the longest hours. Especially if you are moving from a corporate or salaried position to running your own company, the churn of hours may seem like a normal part of being a professional.
This was certainly my mindset at first. Every new piece of work felt like an opportunity I couldn’t afford to lose. Being busy was the goal. I said yes to everything. And it wasn’t just me saying this to myself; this was advice I was also getting from “mentors” and other business professionals.
It’s an old, but still prevalent mindset. The idea that the “first one in” and the “last one out of the office” is the most dedicated, productive, and therefore successful business owner or leader. And, for a while, this mindset seemed to be working. But as the business grew, my team expanded, and simultaneously my family grew, I began to realize there was no joy in this strategy. I was burnt out, stressed out, and in fact, I had built a business that depended entirely on me.
The fix: Today, I focus on building systems before scaling. Instead of asking, "Can I do more?" I ask, "Can this business function without me doing everything?" Instead of blindly working more hours, I ask myself, “Where is my time best spent?” and “Do I need to participate in this element or function, or can my team handle it?”
Shifting your mindset from being blindly busy to being strategically invested means setting clearer boundaries with clients, improving the systems behind the scenes, or building a team I trust to deliver the same level of quality and care that I would on my own.
2. I Didn't Set Boundaries With Clients
When I first started my business, I thought saying "yes" to everything was part of being a good business owner and entrepreneur. I replied to emails all day long and late into the night, answered messages during weekends, squeezed in last-minute requests, and made myself available whenever a client needed me. I volunteered for every board, and said yes to every networking event. I worried that if I wasn't constantly responsive and available, someone else would be, and I’d lose the business.
At the same time, I was raising two young children, juggling client deadlines around nap times, school runs, and evenings. My days became a constant balancing act, switching between motherhood and business ownership with very little time to simply pause or be present with work or family.
The fix: It took a number of years and hard-won lessons, from losing clients and business despite bending over backwards to their every command to realize that the best way to run a client-focused business actually comes out of clear communication, realistic timelines, and protected personal time. These business boundaries have strengthened my client relationships, empowered my team and created a healthier way for me to work and for my company to grow.
3. I Grew Too Fast Without Strong Foundations
Seeing your business grow is amazing, but rapid growth without a strong foundation can quickly become overwhelming.
In just a few short years, my marketing agency went from a small freelance gig to a multi-layer company with employees and contractors, and a large client book. It was everything that screamed successful from the outside.
But behind the scenes, I was exhausted. The business was expanding faster than I could keep up, and I didn’t have the foundation needed to support the growth. I even tried partnering with another marketing professional to create more leadership and skills infrastructure, but because I wasn’t scaling in a way that allowed me to remove myself from elements of the business, the partnership failed because we were both trying to do the same tasks without strategic thought towards where our skills could best be utilized.
The fix: When I returned to running my business after stepping back for a period of time, I promised myself I wouldn't repeat the same mistakes. I had learned a lot, and the most important lesson was that more doesn’t always equal better.
Before focusing on growth, I built strong foundations. I created systems, documented processes, established clearer boundaries, was more thoughtful about which clients and projects worked for me, and carefully planned how the business could grow without relying on me to do or approve every little thing.
4. I Tried to Do Everything Myself
One of the hardest lessons I've learned as a leader and a business owner is that being capable doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself. In fact, you will never scale your business if you don’t relinquish some control.
As founders, we can convince ourselves that nobody can do the job quite as well as we can. Or, that we look like we don’t care if we don’t attend every meeting and contribute to every decision. We hold onto every strategic move, every client conversation, every piece of content, and every problem that needs solving.
But in the end, it not only limits the business but also the people around you who are capable of contributing.
The fix: Learning to trust others wasn't easy for me, but delegation and releasing control have been one of the biggest turning points in my business. I now have a small, strong team who I trust to do the job just as well as me. Do they always do things the way I would? Absolutely not! And oftentimes that’s a good thing!
5. I Chose the Wrong Business Partnership
One of the most difficult chapters in my journey as a female founder and business owner came along when I entered into a business partnership. I genuinely believed it would help me build something stronger while giving me more time with my family.
Instead, it became one of the most challenging experiences of my career and periods of time as a business owner.
What did I do wrong? I chose someone too quickly. I also chose a person who wanted to do the same things I already did well and didn’t need support with. And I chose someone who wasn’t willing to invest anything beyond the bare minimum.
The partnership ultimately became unhealthy, creating more work and emotional stress, financial uncertainty, and a huge amount of self-doubt.
Looking back, there were warning signs I chose to overlook because I wanted the partnership to work, so I ignored these red flags.
The Fix: The whole experience taught me a few crucial lessons about partnering in business: Trust your instincts. Don’t make rash or quick decisions because you’re overwhelmed. Pick someone who has a different skill set from your own. Don’t compromise to be nice or seem collaborative. It’s your business; the person should support you, not add more stress and work.
6. I Didn’t Realize That My Business Could Support My Life
I began this journey of creating my own company for the freedom and flexibility it would give me compared to a traditional 9-5 job. Plus, I hate taking orders from others. I’ve always preferred to figure it out myself – for better or for worse, this level of control and sometimes uncertainty allows me to thrive in business. But somewhere along the way, I became misguided. I began to think that the business should be my life, instead of complementing it. My company became so demanding that it completely took away the flexibility and autonomy I had hoped to create.
I found myself constantly juggling client deadlines, leadership responsibilities, financial pressure, and family life. Everything looked impressive from the outside while feeling incredibly heavy and unbearable behind the scenes.
The Fix: A successful business shouldn’t come at the expense of your health, relationships, family or happiness. Today, before I make a decision, I ask myself, “Will this support the life I'm trying to build? If the answer is no, it's probably not the right decision.
7. I Thought Starting Over Meant I'd Failed
In 2018, I made the incredibly difficult decision to step away from running the agency at the scale it had reached. For a period of time, I accepted a corporate marketing role because I felt the stability of a steady paycheck and office environment was what my family needed.
But something didn’t feel right. I had outgrown a position where I was an order-taker. My family life and demands were just as challenging because I had traded being in charge and setting my own schedule for being tied to a desk and someone else’s idea of productivity. I quickly realized I didn’t want to stop being an entrepreneur; I just needed to become a more thoughtful and strategic business owner who put my family first.
The Fix: When I returned to Summary Content Marketing the second time, it looked very different. Instead of chasing rapid expansion, I focused on intentional client relationships, healthier boundaries, better systems, a smaller and more strategic team and slower, more sustainable growth.
Starting over again isn’t a sign of failure, but an experience that allows you to create something stronger. As the poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou put it, "You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it."
8. I Focused on Growth Instead of Sustainability
If I had to pick one learning that has influenced my business more than any other, it would be: growth means very little if it isn’t sustainable. While growth is always the end goal, it’s hard to achieve without growth being part of the equation. But how many times have you heard about a business or brand that rises to “greatness” only to lose it all? You might ask, how did that happen? Well, it comes down to a simple truth: Sustainable growth without the right foundations and people isn’t lasting.
The Fix: I measure success completely differently than I did as a naive and inexperienced business owner. Now, I measure it by whether the business can continue to thrive without sacrificing the people behind it, including myself. I look at the life I am building with my family, and whether the business fits into my personal goals and needs.
Whether it’s better communication, clearer priorities, or making more time to spend with my family and friends, my brand has become something that supports my life, rather than consuming my entire life.
What I'd Do Differently Today as a Female Founder
If I could sit down with the version of myself who started this journey back in 2013, I wouldn't tell her to avoid making mistakes – in fact, I’m incredibly grateful for all of the mistakes I’ve made, and will continue to make as a founder.
I'd instead tell the younger me to expect mistakes and missteps. Those mistakes helped to reshape my definition of success and reward as an entrepreneur and allowed me to build a business that reflects my values, supports my family, creates meaningful work, and leaves room to actually enjoy the life I'm working so hard to create.
Ready to Build Your Business on Strong Foundations?
If you're at the beginning of your business journey or a woman in business, I want to help you avoid some of the mistakes I made along the way.
When I was growing my business, I was figuring everything out as I went. There wasn't a roadmap, a checklist, or someone telling me what to prioritize first. Well, there were a lot of opinions, but many of which weren’t right for my brand, my goals and my life. Looking back, I know that having the right foundations would have saved me countless hours, sleepless nights, and expensive lessons.
So, that’s exactly why I’ve created these practical resources to help you launch your business with confidence and build something sustainable from day one.
Starting a business can feel overwhelming when you don't know what to tackle first. The 90-Day Brand Launch breaks the process into three manageable phases, with weekly action steps that guide you through building your brand from the ground up. From defining your brand to building your online presence and preparing for launch, you'll have a clear plan to ensure nothing gets overlooked.
One of the biggest lessons I learned was that being busy isn't the same as being productive. The Time Audit Worksheet helps you understand how you're currently spending your time, identify what's really moving your business forward, and create a weekly routine that works for you. It includes five practical exercises, a simple planning framework, and a daily planner to help you stay focused without burning yourself out.
Every rewarding and goal-oriented business starts with strong foundations. These resources are designed to help you build yours with greater clarity, confidence, and intention, so you can spend less time learning everything the hard way and more time creating a business or brand that supports the life you want to live!
What are you creating? Let’s connect and talk shop!
