Duct Tape, Dreams, and Dodgy Expansions – A February Recap...
February has come and gone, and with it, a whirlwind of conversations about business, growth, and—let’s be honest—some questionable decisions that needed reigning in. If January was about setting the tone for the year, February was about making sure we weren’t running headfirst into chaos.
Growth is Great—Until It’s Not! Expansion is exciting. But if you’re not ready, it’s like trying to build a second story on a house with dodgy foundations—sooner or later, it’s going to come crashing down. I had a few clients eager to expand this month, and while I love the enthusiasm, I also love businesses that survive their own ambitions.
Cue some tough love conversations. We worked through cash flow concerns, workload management, and the ever-present reality that if your current setup is held together with duct tape and a sprinkle of hope, then maybe don’t add more moving parts just yet.
I’ve recently seen another wave of “Where the F*c!! has all the money gone” (If you haven’t listened to the same titled podcast that I recorded this is a MUST – LISTEN HERE
Money Talks (And Sometimes Screams) and you know what’s worse than not making money? Making money and not knowing where it’s going. I’ve spent a good chunk of February helping business owners track their numbers, tweak their pricing, and actually check if their marketing was bringing in sales or just costing them a fortune.
Speaking of marketing, let’s talk about the basics. Stop Making It Harder Than It Needs to Be Your website should make sense. Your branding should be consistent (no, your van and your business cards should not look like they belong to two different companies). And your social media shouldn’t just be an abandoned wasteland! One of my clients saw an instant uptick in business just by optimising their Google My Business page. That’s free marketing. Just use it.
February was also a month of reminding people they are human beings, not machines. Work-life balance isn’t just a nice idea—it’s the difference between sustainable success and eventual burnout. I had a great chat with a client about designing their “dream week” to stop every day from feeling like an emergency. Turns out, when you plan ahead, you don’t have to operate in full-blown panic mode all the time. Who knew?
Leadership was another hot topic. Whether it was restructuring teams, setting clearer expectations, or finally sorting out employee contracts, the message was the same: happy, well-managed staff make for a stronger business. A top tip from me…. If you don’t have contracts in place yet, please, for the love of common sense, sort it out. Otherwise, you’re just one awkward conversation away from chaos.
In wrapping up the month, February was a solid month of business reality checks—some welcomed, some resisted, but all necessary. If you take nothing else away from this, remember:
- Growth is great, but only if it’s smart growth.
- Your numbers don’t lie—if you bother to look at them.
- Marketing doesn’t have to be complicated, just consistent.
- Working smarter beats working yourself into exhaustion.
- Leadership is about setting your team up for success (not just winging it and hoping for the best).
Onwards and upwards! Lets go March!