5 Things I’d Do Differently If I Was Building a Business in 2026

If I were starting from scratch in the online space in 2026, knowing everything I know now, there are five things I would do completely differently.

Let me be clear: I don’t think what I did before was wrong, but I wasted a lot of time on things that felt productive and they really were not and I see women doing the same things every single day.

Let’s dive in. Here’s my honest list.

I’d develop one core message and I’d repeat it constantly.

I wouldn’t spend time developing content pillars or try to find a new angle every week. I’d identify ONE clear thing I want to be known for and then I’d say it over and over in different ways until people could say it back to me without prompting.

This is the thing nobody tells you when you’re starting out. You think variety is the goal. You think if you say the same thing twice, people will notice and be bored. OMG, they won’t. Most of your audience didn’t see it the first time, or the second time, or the fiftteenth. The people who build real audiences online? They find their message and they repeat it over and over and over.

If I were starting over, I would spend real time on this before I posted anything. What is the one thing I want people to associate with me? What does my audience need to hear, from me specifically, to understand what I do and why it matters? That’s the message. Everything else is just how you deliver it.

I’d build a posting cadence I could actually maintain.

I wouldn’t start with the cadence that looks impressive or the one the algorithm supposedly rewards. I’d build the one I could keep when I got busy with clients, when I got sick, when something fell apart at home, or when I simply didn’t feel like it.

Here’s what happens when you build a content plan around your best week: you burn through it by week three, fall behind, feel terrible, and then avoid posting altogether for two months while the guilt piles up. Then you avoid posting at all because you don’t know how to reengage or explain your absence.

Sustainable beats impressive every single time. One post a week that goes out consistently will always outperform four posts a week for three weeks followed by silence. Pick the number you can actually hit when life is hard, and market that number. Then do it. Easy.

I’d stop trying to find creative ways to get more followers and start posting for the people already there.

This one took me longer than I’d like to admit.

I spent real time and energy trying to figure out how to reach new people. Hashtags. Collabs. Contests. Reels strategies. Trending audio. All of it with one goal: more eyes. More followers. More reach.

What I didn’t fully understand early on is that the people already following me were my warmest audience. They found me for a reason. They stayed for a reason. When you post something that speaks directly to them, something useful and specific and real, they share it. That’s how you reach new people. You don’t do it by chasing strangers, but instead by serving the people who already showed up.

Your followers, even if they’re mostly friends and family right now, are not a consolation prize. They’re the starting point.

I’d let go of the idea that everything has to be perfectly on brand.

I want to be clear that I love a cohesive brand. I mean I came to this work after being a graphic and web designer. I have brand colors and fonts and I care about how things look. This isn’t me telling you that aesthetics don’t matter.

What I’m telling you is that reaching for perfection before you post will cost you more than an off-brand graphic ever will.

I’ve watched women spend two hours in Canva on a post that could have been written and published in two minutes. I’ve done it myself and the time you spend making sure every post is color-coded and perfectly aligned is time you’re not spending on the things that actually bring in revenue.

Post the thing and fix the template next time. Your audience is not leaving because your amber was slightly off.

I’d get out of the house and talk to real people.

Even as an introvert. OMG, Especially as an introvert.

I know. Networking events can feel like an aggressive waste of a perfectly good evening. Standing in a room full of people you don’t know, holding a glass of something warm, explaining what you do for the fourteenth time. It’s not exactly relaxing.

But something happens in person that doesn’t happen online, at least not as fast. People remember you. They refer you. They become clients. They introduce you to other people who become clients. The know-like-trust sequence that takes months to build on social media can happen in a single real conversation.

You don’t have to go to everything and you don’t have to work the room. All you need to do is find one or two places where your people gather and show up there consistently. It compounds faster than you think.

The common thread through all five of these is that I would stop doing the things that feel like marketing and start doing the things that actually function like marketing. They’re not always the same list.

If you’re in the thick of building something right now, I hope at least one of these gives you permission to stop doing something that’s costing you more than it’s giving back.