Working In Your Business vs. On Your Business: Why You're Stuck in the "In"

May 13, 2026

Have you ever gotten to the end of your day and thought, “I worked all day, but I didn't actually move anything forward"?

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It's probably because you're focusing on so many things at once. You…

  • Answered emails
  • Designed something
  • Posted content
  • Managed people
  • Checked things off


But all the important things that would move your business forward didn't have time to get done.


That's because there's a huge difference between working IN your business and working ON your business, and most business owners are spending almost all of their time in it.


Working IN Your Business vs. ON Your Business


Just to make sure we're on the same page:


Working IN Your Business


This is:

  • The admin, the scheduling, the emails
  • Fixing problems
  • Tech tasks
  • Managing day-to-day
  • Constant responding


You're basically operating the machine that is your business. If you're not doing the things in your business, your business doesn't run.


Working ON Your Business


But there's another layer to it, a higher layer. What does that look like?
That's:

  • Vision and growth
  • Strategy
  • Systems
  • Partnerships
  • Leadership
  • Creating offers, creating products and services
  • Planning ahead


Working ON the business is where scaling happens. Growth happens. Revenue increases. But most women rarely get to put time, energy and resources there.


Why Is This Happening?


Because there’s a lot to do, and being busy feels productive. But being busy doesn't mean you're earning more revenue. You can be super busy and super poor at the exact same time.


Honestly, for a lot of business owners, being busy feels safe because you're not necessarily doing some of these higher-level tasks that might be a little bit out of your wheelhouse or a bit of a stretch.


You know how to execute. You know how to do your activities. You know how to handle things and people rely on you. There's reward that comes with being the one who keeps everything moving. You get to check off your list, which is fun sometimes.


But eventually, you are the bottleneck. Because if you're the one working the machine, making everything run, then the business can't really grow past your personal capacity.


You are the bottleneck to getting things done, and you are also the one holding your business back from growing.


The Cost of Staying IN the Business


If you're continuing to work in the business, you never have enough:

  • Space to think strategically
  • Time to improve your systems
  • Opportunity to create new opportunities
  • Ability to lead properly (if you have other people on your team, even contractors or vendors)
  • Enough rest to think clearly (a lot of times you're not going to have the right strategy if you're super tired)