The Gentle Note | What Nobody Tells You About Building a Business

While Figuring It All Out

There’s a myth sold to us in the online business world. It’s the myth of the linear path. The one that goes from A to B to C in a straight, predictable, and ever-upward line. It’s the story of the entrepreneur who had it all figured out, who launched with perfect clarity, and who never once looked back.

This is bullshit 😅

My journey, and I suspect yours too, has been anything but linear. It’s been a beautiful, messy, and often confusing spiral. It’s been a series of experiments, pivots, and late-night “what am I even doing?” moments. For a long time, I thought that was a sign I was doing it wrong. Now, I’m convinced it’s the only way to do it right.

This is the gentle note I wish someone had written me when I started. This is what nobody tells you about building a business while you’re still figuring it all out.

The Myth of “Having It All Figured Out”

The pressure to launch with a perfect brand, a flawless strategy, and a five-year plan is immense. We’re told to niche down, to define our ideal client, and to build a perfectly structured product suite before we’ve even made our first sale. But clarity doesn’t come from thinking; it comes from doing.

You don’t find your voice by sitting in a quiet room and journaling about it. You find it by speaking, by writing, by creating, and by seeing what resonates—both with your audience and with your own soul. You don’t discover your perfect niche through market research alone. You discover it by working with real people and finding out whose problems you love to solve.

My own business is a testament to this. BabicADesigns didn’t start with a grand plan. It started with a single digital product, then another, then an experiment with AI, then a pivot into coaching. Each step informed the next. The “plan” was only ever visible in the rearview mirror.

Iteration Is the Real Strategy

For years, I was obsessed with getting it “right.” I’d spend weeks perfecting a sales page, only to realize the offer was wrong. I’d map out a year’s worth of content, only to have the algorithm change or my own interests evolve.

What I’ve learned is that iteration is the real strategy. Perfection is a myth. The goal is not to get it right the first time. The goal is to get it going.

• Your first launch will be clumsy. Do it anyway

• Your first 10 blog posts will probably be read by no one but your mom. Write them anyway.

• Your first product will not be your best. Create it anyway.

I always love to say this: Rome wasn’t built in one day either 😊 So, like we Croatians say “pomalo” - one day at a time. My grandma also had something good to say, but I will share this in one of my other newsletters.

Each action is a data point. Each “failure” is a lesson. Each piece of feedback is a gift. The most successful entrepreneurs I know are not the ones who had the best initial plan. They are the ones who were the fastest to adapt, to learn, and to iterate.

Permission to Be a Work in Progress

This brings me back to the idea of permission slips, a theme we explored a few weeks ago on SoulSync Monday (This is my weekly carousel post I share Mondays on my Social Media Platforms). The most important permission slip you can give yourself is the permission to be a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously.

Your audience doesn’t need you to be a finished product. They need you to be a trusted guide, one who is perhaps just a few steps ahead on the path. They connect with your humanity, not your perfection. Sharing your process, your experiments, and even your doubts doesn’t diminish your authority; it deepens it. It makes you real.

Right now, I’m experimenting with this very platform, Substack. I don’t have a grand, year-long strategy for it. I have a 4-week plan. I’m testing, I’m learning, and I’m seeing what feels right. I’m figuring it out in public, with you.

And that feels more honest, and more powerful, than pretending I have all the answers.

So if you’re in the messy middle of building your business, if you feel like you’re making it up as you go along, I want you to know: you are not behind. You are not doing it wrong. You are right where you need to be.

You’re in the process. And the process is the point.

This was a more personal one. If it resonated, I would love to hear your story. What are you figuring out in your business right now? Reply to this email or find me on Instagram.

Your story matters.

Love,

Anita