June marks 10 years in business for Surge Ahead.
That feels strange to write because some days I still feel like I’m figuring things out as I go. In reality, that probably never changes. Running a business has stretched me, tested me, frustrated me, surprised me and taught me more about people than any course or qualification ever could.
There have been brilliant months and difficult ones. Clients I’ll never forget for the right reasons, and a couple for the wrong ones. Wins that looked huge at the time and problems that felt enormous but ended up teaching me something valuable.
Here are 10 things I’ve learnt over the last decade.
1. Peaks and troughs are normal
At the beginning, every quiet month felt like disaster. A slow sales period could completely knock my confidence. I would question everything. My pricing, my services, my marketing, myself.
Then the busy months would come back round again. Over time I learnt that business has rhythm. Some months fly. Others drag. Some quarters feel effortless. Others feel like hard work every single day. Panic helps nothing, neither does overthinking! The thing that matters much more is consistency and showing up every single day!
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage
to continue that counts.”
Winston Churchill
2. Analysis paralysis wastes time
I spent far too long believing I needed to know everything before I could move forward. I believed that to be any good in business, I had to be an expert in everything. Marketing strategies. Sales funnels. Business development. Algorithms. Branding trends. New platforms. Endless advice from people online claiming they had the perfect formula. The result was overwhelm.
After a while, I realised most business growth comes from doing simple things well and doing them consistently. Not endlessly researching. The businesses that move forward are usually the ones taking action while everyone else is still overthinking and not starting anything until everything is perfect. Hard lesson for me…… nothing is ever perfect.
3. Procrastination usually means avoidance
I used to think procrastination meant laziness. It doesn’t. Most of the time, it meant I was avoiding a task I didn’t want to deal with. Difficult conversations. Pricing increases. Contracts. Chasing invoices. Sending proposals. I could suddenly become incredibly productive at completely unrelated tasks instead. Its amazing how cleaning the office would seem really compelling and urgent, when a task needed to be done that I didn’t really feel like doing!
I joined the dots on this one in a training session I was doing with a management team. We were focused on time management and procrastination as a time blocker. We spoke about ‘Eat the frog’ “Eat the frog” is a productivity concept made famous by Brian Tracy. The “frog” represents the task you are most likely to avoid. Usually because it feels difficult, uncomfortable, boring or stressful. The idea of eat the frog is simple. Do the hardest or most important task first instead of procrastinating and carrying it around mentally all day. Once it’s done, everything else feels easier and you free up energy instead of wasting it worrying about the task you keep putting off.
It dawned on me that I was often procrastinating over things I didn’t enjoy, so ‘eat the frog’ became my new mantra and it started to feel so much better to tick ‘those’ jobs off my list first!
4. Simple contracts build more trust than complicated ones
One of the biggest lessons I learnt was not to overcomplicate things. Years ago, after rebranding, I sent a contract to a potential client that had been heavily influenced by advice around protecting myself and covering every possible risk, especially around IR35 concerns.
It was long, formal and full of complexity. The client got spooked. At the time I was distraught and beat myself up about it for days!! Now I completely understand it.
People want professionalism, but they also want clarity. If something feels intimidating or difficult before the relationship has even started, it creates doubt instead of confidence. Now I keep things clear, straightforward and human.
5. Your network matters more than you think
Running a business can feel lonely. People see the freedom, but they don’t always see the pressure behind it. The responsibility, the self-doubt, the constant decision-making. Building relationships with other like-minded business owners changed everything for me.
Having people you can message when something goes wrong, ask advice from, recommend work to, celebrate wins with or simply laugh with makes a huge difference.
Some of the best opportunities I have ever had have come through relationships, not advertising.
6. Stay in your lane
There is a lot of noise out there. Social media makes it easy to feel behind. Business owners sharing wins, launches, revenue milestones, constant growth. It can pull your focus in directions you never intended to go. Early on I compared too much, considered changing direction too quickly. Questioned decisions that were already working because someone else was doing something different.
It diluted focus and created unnecessary doubt in my mind. What changed things was getting clear on what I do, who I help and how I help them. Then sticking to it.
- Not every strategy fits your business.
- Not every success story applies to your stage, your model, or your clients.
- Not every idea is right for you or your business
Staying in your lane means trusting your direction, even when the noise around you is loud.
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Theodore Roosevelt
7. Not every client is your client
Early on, I said yes to almost everything, I think everyone does. It’s the fear of feast or famine and what if this doesn’t work? You worry about turning work down because you don’t know where the next opportunity is coming from. But not every piece of business is good business.
- Some clients drain energy.
- Some expect the impossible.
- Some want bargain prices with premium expectations.
- Some simply are not the right fit.
The right clients value your expertise, trust your process and respect boundaries. That changes everything.
8. Boundaries are necessary
When you run your own business, it’s easy for work to take over everything and I have to be honest, many, many, times over the years, mine certainly has. Emails late at night, thinking about work constantly, saying yes when you want to say no, feeling guilty for taking time off. I used to believe being constantly available meant being committed. Now I know exhausted people do not produce their best work and that protecting your time and energy is not selfish. It’s responsible. I also know that life is precious and can be short and therefore needs to be enjoyed to the max.
9. People buy from people
Over the years, I’ve learnt that relationships drive business far more than polished sales tactics ever will. I used to dread ‘sales’ until I reframed it to ‘having a conversation about how I can help solve a problem’ When I allowed my passion for what I do to come through alongside my commercial understanding of a clients business problem, ‘sales’ became much easier and more natural.
People remember how you make them feel. They remember:
- Honesty
- Reliability
- Warmth
- Empathy
- Calmness during pressure
- Being straightforward
- Doing what you said you would do
Technology changes, marketing trends change but human behaviour doesn’t change nearly as much as people think.
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Maya Angelou
10. There is no perfect business owner
For a long time, I thought successful business owners probably had everything organised and under control behind the scenes. Then I met more business owners!!
- Everyone is figuring things out at different stages and often as they go along!
- Everyone has gaps in knowledge.
- Everyone has moments of doubt
The difference is that experienced business owners keep moving anyway. Perfection slows people down far more than mistakes ever do. This is something I have to remind myself of every day, as I am still someone that strives for that ever illusive ‘perfection’
Key takeaways from 10 years in business
- Quiet months do not mean failure.
- Action beats overthinking.
- Procrastination usually hides discomfort.
- Simplicity builds trust.
- Good business relationships are invaluable.
- Confidence grows through experience.
- Not every opportunity is worth taking.
- Boundaries protect your energy and performance.
- People remember how you treat them.
- Nobody has business completely figured out.
Ten years in business has taught me that growth rarely looks neat or predictable. Most of it happens through trial and error, uncomfortable lessons, difficult conversations, resilience and continuing to show up anyway.
Here’s to 10 more years of Surging Ahead!
