If you’ve been in business for more than five minutes, you’ve probably heard advice like:
“Done is better than perfect.”
“You need to be everywhere on social media.”
“Hustle harder.”
“Automate everything.”
While each of those ideas has a little truth to it, I’ve learned over the last 24 years of running a business that the best advice isn’t always one-size-fits-all.
Success comes from knowing when to follow conventional wisdom—and when to do things differently.
In this episode, I’m sharing five popular pieces of business advice I mostly ignore and, more importantly, what I believe actually leads to sustainable business growth.
Let’s Recap: The Business Advice I Ignore (And Why)
Business advice travels fast because it sounds simple. Be everywhere. Ship it now. Hustle harder. Buy the cheapest option. Automate everything.
But building a successful online business is rarely that simple.
When your website, marketing, and customer experience all need to work together to generate sales, following generic advice without considering your unique business can do more harm than good.
In this episode of Smarter Online Business, conversion expert Carrie Saunders shares why she has stopped following some of the most common business advice after more than 20 years of helping business owners, e-commerce brands, coaches, and course creators grow online. Her biggest takeaway? Most business advice contains a grain of truth—but without context, it can lead to tech overwhelm, inefficient systems, and a business that controls your life instead of supporting it.
Myth #1: You Need to Be Everywhere on Social Media
One of the most common pieces of marketing advice is that you need a presence on every social media platform to attract clients.
The reality is much simpler: consistency beats ubiquity.
One or two platforms where your ideal audience already spends time—combined with a website that converts visitors into customers—will almost always outperform trying to maintain a presence everywhere.
Choose channels you genuinely enjoy using and where your audience is already paying attention. That could be LinkedIn for professional networking, Facebook for community building, a podcast for establishing authority, or email marketing for consistent follow-up and sales.
A focused strategy also gives you the time and energy to improve your messaging, landing pages, and offers so the traffic you do earn is far more likely to convert.
Myth #2: Done Is Better Than Perfect
“Done is better than perfect” is excellent advice when you’re battling procrastination.
But there are areas of your business where “good enough” simply isn’t good enough.
A broken checkout page, payment errors, confusing navigation, security issues, or a poor mobile experience don’t represent progress—they create lost sales and damage customer trust.
Instead of aiming for perfection, aim for progress with quality control.
Launch new features and improvements, but test them thoroughly. Use checklists, have someone else review your work, and walk through the entire customer journey before publishing. Small improvements made consistently will move your business forward without sacrificing the customer experience.
Myth #3: Hustle Harder
There are certainly seasons in business that require extra effort.
Product launches, major website projects, and unexpected challenges sometimes call for long days and focused work.
The problem is when hustle becomes your default operating mode.
Constantly pushing harder leads to burnout, poor decision-making, strained relationships, and eventually lower productivity. Sustainable businesses are built with healthy boundaries, realistic schedules, and intentional time away from work.
Your business should support your life—not consume it.
Myth #4: Always Choose the Cheapest Option
Saving money is important, especially for growing businesses.
But the cheapest solution often becomes the most expensive one later.
Whether it’s hiring the wrong developer, choosing a platform that can’t scale, or investing in tools that don’t actually meet your needs, bargain decisions frequently create technical debt and costly rework.
Instead of asking, “What’s the cheapest option?” ask, “Which option provides the most long-term value?”
A smart investment today can save countless hours, headaches, and expenses tomorrow.
Myth #5: Automate Everything
Automation is one of the greatest tools available to business owners—but it shouldn’t replace genuine human connection.
Automate repetitive tasks like reminders, email sequences, scheduling, and internal workflows. Those systems save time and improve consistency.
What shouldn’t be fully automated are your relationships with customers.
Real conversations reveal questions, frustrations, and opportunities that automation will never catch. Those insights help you improve your products, messaging, and customer experience in ways no workflow can replicate.
The best businesses automate their processes—not their relationships.
The Bottom Line
Most popular business advice isn’t completely wrong—it simply needs context.
Rather than following every trend or business slogan, focus on building systems that fit your goals, your audience, and the kind of business you actually want to run. That’s how you create sustainable growth, better customer experiences, and a business that works for you instead of against you.
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