The Moment I Realized My Business Didn’t Support the Life We Wanted — and How It Changed Everything
- Feb 13
- 6 min read
Why clarity—not effort—became the turning point in how I built my business.
In the beginning, I was a solopreneur—although I didn’t even know that term at the time.
I had launched a fledgling marketing consulting business, and slowly, bit by bit, it began to grow. The responsibility for everything sat squarely on my shoulders.
Finding clients.
Serving clients.
Doing the bookkeeping.
Managing payables and receivables.
Solving problems—constantly.
As work increased, I hired people to help. But despite having a team,
Some things we did well. Others we learned the hard way. And much of it we figured out as we went along, simply because there was no other choice.
If we’re honest, that stage of the journey probably sounds familiar to many entrepreneurs. The business is growing, but so is the weight of responsibility. We’re busy all the time, wearing every hat, and hoping that all the effort will eventually translate into ease.
But hope, we learned, is not a strategy.
When Hard Work Still Isn’t Enough
One of my earliest— and most pivotal —lessons came from sheer desperation.
Despite working constantly, it felt impossible to get ahead. In fact, at times, it felt like I couldn’t even keep the bills paid. No matter how much effort I poured in, there was never enough left over to create breathing room.
Out of that desperation, I made a decision that, at the time, felt risky and almost irresponsible.
I attended a workshop in Anchorage, Alaska—one I truly could not afford.
It was led by Robert Kiyosaki, long before Rich Dad, Poor Dad made him a household name. The workshop was called “Money and You,” and the title alone gave me hope. I believed—perhaps naïvely—that it would finally give me the answers I needed to generate real income and solve my money problems once and for all.
And to be fair, it taught me a great deal—lessons I still use today.
But even after the workshop, something still wasn’t clicking.
Through networking with people there, I met a consultant and hired her to help me, to be a mentor when I desperately needed perspective I didn’t yet have.
The Question That Changed Everything
One cold winter day, I found myself sitting in a mountain home outside Anchorage, Alaska. A fire crackled nearby as snow blanketed the landscape outside. Across from me sat my consultant, Lee Berglund.
And I asked her my big question:
“How do I make more money?”
At the time, fear was my constant companion. I was haunted by visions of impending poverty—nightmares where I imagined sitting in the middle of the street on a pile of cardboard boxes containing everything I owned.
I was terrified.
We dug into that consulting session, poring over financials and examining every piece of my young business, which felt like it was teetering on the brink of collapse. My days were a whirlwind of activity, yet sustainable income felt impossible. I was busy—but not secure.
That’s when Lee said something that stopped me cold.
She looked at the numbers and said:
“It’s clear you know how to make money—just look at your gross revenues. Your problem isn’t making money. Your problem is making a profit.”
DUH.
The answer had been staring me in the face—and I hadn’t seen it.
Until that moment, my attention had been fixed on the top line: gross revenue. More clients. More projects. More work.
But I had neglected the bottom line: net profit.
That realization was life-altering.
The light bulb didn’t just flicker—it flashed on.
I didn’t need more revenue.
And more importantly, I needed clarity about what I was actually trying to achieve.
The most profound lesson from that afternoon has stayed with me throughout my entire entrepreneurial journey:
“Be sure to focus on what you really want.”
I thought my problem was “not enough money.”
But my real problem was “not enough profit.”
And that distinction changed how my husband and I built everything that followed.
Clarity Leads to Power
What I didn’t fully appreciate at the time was that this insight echoed something Robert Kiyosaki had taught in that very first workshop:
“Clarity leads to power.”
Without clarity, effort scatters.
Without clarity, goals conflict.
Without clarity, businesses grow—but owners shrink.
This lesson was carried over into the business that I ran with my husband, one he had started about the time we met.
Many times throughout the years since, we have been reminded of those words and have used them to sharpen our focus, and get clear about the direction for our business.
And with our focus sharpened, we could use that clarity to chart a course toward the future we actually wanted—not just the one our business defaulted into.
Time and time again, we’ve applied this lesson to new challenges. It seems simple, even obvious—but it’s incredibly easy to get distracted by things that feel urgent or important, only to discover later that we were aiming at the wrong outcome.
That’s why one of our most trusted practices, especially when we hit a hurdle, is this:
When Success Doesn’t Feel Like Success
As our business continued to grow, we found ourselves successful—but constrained.
The work never stopped.
The decisions never ended.
The business required us constantly.
From the outside, it looked like we had “made it.”
From the inside, we felt trapped by the very thing we had built.
That was the moment we had to face a deeper truth:
Our business did not support the life we wanted.
Getting clarity about that realization was both uncomfortable and liberating.
The Owner vs. Operator Awakening
We began to see how often we were still operating the day-to-day details of the business instead of owning it.
We were solving instead of designing.
Reacting instead of planning.
Holding knowledge in our heads instead of building systems.
We had become incredibly capable operators—but at the cost of freedom.
Once we connected that reality to our earlier lesson about clarity and focus, the path forward became obvious.
If we wanted a business that supported our life, we had to build it intentionally, not accidentally.
How This Realization Changed Everything
If you want to define success on your terms and build a business that supports your life, start with the 6 Principles for Long-Term Business Success.
From that point on, decisions were filtered through a new lens:
Does this improve profit—or just add work?
Does this move us closer to freedom—or deeper into dependency?
Does this align with the life we want—or pull us away from it?
That clarity shaped:
How we structured the business
How we delegated
How we defined roles
How we measured success
And slowly, deliberately, the business began to shift from something that commanded us to something that supported us.
Why This Moment Matters for Every Entrepreneur
Every entrepreneur reaches this crossroads eventually.
The business may be growing.
Revenue may be strong.
But something still feels off.
When that happens, it’s not a sign of failure.
It’s feedback.
And feedback—when we listen—can change everything.
The moment we realized our business didn’t support the life we wanted wasn’t the end of the journey.
It was the beginning of building the right one.
Why This Matters for Growth and Freedom
If quality depends on us personally, growth will always be limited.
We can only check so much.
We can only be involved in so many decisions.
We can only scale as far as our time allows.
But when quality is embedded in systems, training, and culture, the business becomes resilient.
We gain:
leverage
consistency
scalability
peace of mind
And most importantly, we reclaim time to operate as owners—not operators.
Expert Spotlight
Phillip Brown is a seasoned systems and automation strategist, recognized for helping business leaders “Crush the Chaos” by turning complex strategic visions into operational excellence. As the founder of Blu Pitt, Inc., a software consulting and project management automation firm, and Innersha Advisors, a strategic advisory focused on helping founders build systems that scale, Phillip has built his career on bridging the gap between strategy and execution for growing businesses. Please check his:
LinkedIn Profile | Website | Newsletter | FB | YT | Crush the Chaos
Phillip would like to connect with entrepreneurs and business owners who would like to simplify their operational workflows using automation.
Final Thoughts: Focus on What You Really Want
The lesson that started with profit became a philosophy for life and business.
Clarity creates focus.
Focus creates power.
Power creates choice.
And choice is what most of us are seeking all along.
When we define what we truly want—and build intentionally toward it—our businesses stop running us.
They start supporting us.
Ready to Build a Business That Supports the Life You Want?
Stop running your business like a job.
Start running it like a BOSS.
Join the BOSS Entrepreneurial Mastermind Program waitlist: https://boss.ralwest.com/
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