The Thriving Business blog

Maria Sandy calls reviews the brushing and flossing of marketing. Simple, routine, and the first thing busy owners skip. Here's why that habit decides whether Google, and now AI, sends local customers your way.

For 809 days, Donna West couldn't go to work and couldn't tell anyone why. Here's what her life quake taught us about how to keep going when life falls apart.

A client spent $60,000 on a marketing agency and didn't make a single sale. The agency wasn't the whole problem. Here's the four-part framework we use to build a business that thrives.

Kate's program sold fast, then changed direction halfway through. Here's what we've learned about creating an irresistible offer people actually want to buy.

Picture your business walking into a bar. What kind of bar is it, and what do people say once it leaves? Here's how to define your business identity before you spend another dollar on marketing.

Kate once met a client who'd spent $60,000 on a marketing campaign that didn't return a single sale. Here's what we've learned about choosing marketing channels that actually bring in clients.

A stranger on LinkedIn sent Sam a booking link a few messages into a chat. Here's how to sell without being pushy, so your conversations turn into clients without the ick.

Kate's client was making $300,000 and never had any money in the bank. Here's how to manage money in a small business so you actually keep what you earn.

Kate's first instinct was to drop the price. Sam asked one question that changed it: what's this actually worth to the people coming along?

Kate was quoted $10,000 for website updates. She did them herself with Claude in a day. Here's how to use AI to automate your business so the time you save comes back to you.

Sam started her week feeling unproductive, busy but not getting through the work. The fix wasn't more help. It was clearer systems. Here's how we think about when to outsource, delegate or hire.

Most of us start a business with a skill, not a model, and figure it out as we go. Here's how to design a business model on purpose, before the business designs itself into something that eats your life.

We'd built the sales page and set up the pre-launch. Then we came home from Bali wiped out and pulled the pin on our group program. Here's what it taught us about choosing a business model that actually fits.

Could you take four weeks off and leave your business running? If not, it might be time to think about hiring. Here's how to know when to hire staff, and how to get it right.

No-shows to Kate's discovery calls used to be common. Now it's pretty much 100% turn-up, and the fix was a few well-timed reminders. Here's how to improve client experience so clients stay, come back and refer you.

Fourteen coaching sessions in one day. That's what our old business model looked like, and it's exactly how business owners burn out. Here's how we think about scaling for the long game instead.

In year three, Kate opened a nine thousand dollar tax bill she hadn't seen coming and nearly went back to a job. Here's what a growth mindset for business owners looks like when you're in the thick of it.

Sam always thought of herself as an open book. Then a friend told her she was hard to know. Here's how to become more self-aware as a leader, starting with the gap between how you see yourself and how others do.

About 20 years ago, Kate saw two pictures of herself as a leader: how she thought she showed up, and how her team saw her. They didn't match. Here's how to develop emotional intelligence as a leader, starting with the gap you can't see.

Kate asked an AI tool to review one of our sales pages, and it asked whether there really were only two spots left. Here's how to write business values that actually drive decisions, not decorate a wall.