Are you still building the business you dreamed of?

When you started your company, you probably had a clear picture in mind: the kind of business you wanted to build, the people you wanted to work with, the kind of impact you’d make. Maybe you imagined freedom, creativity, growth, or solving a real problem in the world.

Fast forward to today, what does your day-to-day look like?

• Are you spending most of your time in meetings or putting out fires?

• Do you feel energised by what you do, or are you mostly reacting to whatever’s urgent?

• When was the last time you revisited your original vision?

Vision drift: It happens to everyone

Most founders experience what I call vision drift - a slow, often invisible shift from the business they set out to build to the one they’re currently running.

This is normal. Markets change. You discover new opportunities. Reality forces compromises. But if you don’t pause to reflect, you can wake up one day running a business that’s misaligned with your values, or worse, one you no longer enjoy.

3 Examples to reflect on

1. The Founder-Turned-Operator Trap
   You started out building a product or service that lit you up. Now you're spending 80% of your time managing operations, tracking invoices, onboarding freelancers, or writing job descriptions. You're the bottleneck for every decision. You didn’t sign up to be a full-time project manager but here you are.

2. Chasing Revenue Over Purpose
   In the early days, you were choosy about clients, you wanted partners who shared your values. But now, with the pressure to meet payroll or scale quickly, you’re taking on any project that pays, even if it drains your team or takes you off course.

3. “We Just Need to Survive This Month” Syndrome
   The long-term vision is gathering dust in your Notion doc while you’re stuck in a cycle of week-to-week problem solving. You haven't thought strategically in months, let alone checked if you’re still on the right path.

How to course-correct

You don’t need a full offsite to realign. Just block out 90 minutes this week and reflect on these questions:

• What was my original vision for this business?

• What do I want it to feel like to run this company?

• What am I doing today that feels misaligned with that vision?

• What’s one thing I could stop, start, or delegate that would move me back toward it?

This isn’t a luxury. It’s leadership.

And if you’re stuck in the weeds, a part-time business partner, someone who brings operational clarity, helps you reconnect the day-to-day to your long-term goals, and takes a load off your plate can be the catalyst to get back on track.