Why Most Business Advice Doesn't Work (And What Does)
A client I'll call Lauren came to me after spending £3,000 on business courses in six months. She'd learned about sales funnels, content marketing, email sequences, and social media strategies.
"I know what I'm supposed to do," she told me. "I just can't make any of it work for my business."
Her notebook was full of generic tips:
Post consistently."
"Provide value."
"Know your ideal client."
"Build an email list."
She'd tried implementing everything but nothing was actually making a tangible difference.
The problem wasn't that Lauren was lazy or incapable. The problem was that she was trying to apply cookie-cutter solutions to her specific situation without understanding which parts were relevant to her.
Once we identified the three specific patterns keeping her particular business stuck, her revenue doubled in a few short months.
Generic advice is like giving everyone the same prescription medication regardless of their symptoms.
The Generic Advice Industrial Complex
Business advice has become a content mill churning out the same regurgitated tips:
"Just be authentic." 🤢
"Provide massive value." 🙄
"Focus on your why." 🤦🏼♀️
"Consistency is key." 🙏🏻
"You need to niché down." 😵💫
These aren't wrong. They're just useless.
It's like telling someone who can't swim to "just move your arms and legs in the water." Technically accurate. Completely unhelpful.
The advice industry thrives on generic tips because they're easy to package, scale, and sell to massive audiences. One Instagram post can apply to thousands of people. One course can solve everyone's problems.
Except it doesn't work that way.
Why One-Size-Fits-All Is Actually One-Size-Fits-Nobody
Your business isn't the same as everyone else's business. Your challenges aren't the same as everyone else's challenges. So why are you trying to fix them with the same solutions?
Here's what generic business advice misses:
Your stage of business matters. "Just post more content" might work if you're starting out, but if you already have an audience and no one's buying, more content isn't your problem.
Your industry is different. B2B services don't work like e-commerce. Coaching doesn't work like consulting. Local businesses don't work like online businesses.
Your personality affects everything. Introverted people can't network like extroverts. People with ADHD can't execute like neurotypical people. Perfectionists can't "just start before you're ready."
Your resources are unique. You don't have the same time, budget, skills, or support system as the person giving you advice.
Your market is specific. What works in one industry, location, or economic climate doesn't automatically work in another.
The Real Problem: Pattern Recognition vs Generic Tips
Most business owners can spot patterns in other people's situations but miss them completely in their own.
I had a client struggling with pricing. She'd consumed dozens of articles about value-based pricing, charging what you're worth, and overcoming money mindset blocks.
None of it worked because the real pattern was different: she was attracting price-sensitive customers because her marketing focused on being "affordable" and "accessible."
Her pricing wasn't the problem. Her client attraction was.
But every piece of advice she'd found addressed pricing in isolation, not as part of a broader positioning issue.
This is why you need someone who can spot patterns you can't see, not someone who can recite generic principles you've already heard.
Examples of Useless Generic Advice (And Why It Fails)
"Just be consistent"
Why it's useless: Consistent with what? If your strategy isn't working, being consistent just means failing more efficiently.
What actually helps: Understanding what specific type of consistency your business needs and when inconsistency might actually be strategic.
"Focus on providing value"
Why it's useless: What counts as value to your specific audience? How much is too much? When does "providing value" become procrastinating on selling?
What actually helps: Knowing exactly what your audience considers valuable and how to balance free content with paid offers.
"You need to niché down"
Why it's useless: Some businesses succeed by going broader. Others fail because they're too narrow. The advice depends entirely on your situation.
What actually helps: Understanding whether your specific business needs more focus or more options based on your market, competition, and goals.
"Build an email list"
Why it's useless: A list of the wrong people is worse than no list. Growing for the sake of numbers often creates problems.
What actually helps: Building the right email list with people who will actually buy from you, and knowing how to nurture them properly.
"Follow your passion"
Why it's useless: Most people don't have one clear passion. Others are passionate about things that don't pay well.
What actually helps: Finding the intersection between what you're good at, what people will pay for, and what you can sustain long-term.
How to Find Advice That Actually Applies to You
Look for Specificity
Avoid advice that uses words like "everyone," "always," or "never." Look for guidance that acknowledges context and variables.
Instead of "You should always..." look for "If you're at this stage and dealing with this problem, then..."
Seek Pattern Recognition
Find people who can diagnose your specific situation, not just share general principles.
The best advisors don't just tell you what to do. They explain why your current approach isn't working and what's different about your situation.
Check for Relevant Experience
Make sure your advice source has actually solved the specific type of problem you're facing.
Someone who built a massive personal brand can't necessarily help you with local business marketing. Someone who scaled with paid ads might not understand organic growth strategies.
Test Small First
Before implementing any major strategy change, test it on a small scale. Generic advice often sounds logical but fails in practice.
Get Multiple Perspectives
One person's success story is not a universal blueprint. Look for patterns across multiple people who've succeeded in your specific situation.
Why Most Business Coaching Fails
Most business coaches are trained to ask questions and help you discover your own answers. But if you knew the right questions to ask yourself, you wouldn't need help.
You need someone who can look at your business and immediately spot the patterns you're missing:
"You're not struggling with confidence. You're struggling with positioning."
"Your problem isn't consistency. It's that you're creating content for the wrong audience."
"You don't need more marketing. You need better client retention."
This requires experience, pattern recognition, and the ability to diagnose specific situations – not just repeat generic principles.
What Actually Works: Specific Diagnosis
Instead of collecting more tips, you need someone to look at your actual business and tell you:
What's working that you should double down on
What's not working that you should stop doing
What specific changes would have the biggest impact
Why previous advice hasn't worked for your situation
What order to tackle problems in
This isn't about finding better generic advice. It's about getting specific guidance for your specific situation.
The Uncomfortable Questions You Need to Ask Yourself
Before you consume more generic business advice, ask yourself:
How much advice have you consumed versus how much you've actually implemented successfully?
Are you using advice consumption as a way to avoid taking action on what you already know?
Do you need more information or do you need someone to help you see patterns you're missing?
Are you looking for advice that confirms what you want to hear or guidance that challenges what you're currently doing?
How many "proven strategies" have you tried that didn't work for your specific situation?
What would happen if you stopped consuming advice and focused on diagnosing your actual problems?
Are you more addicted to learning than you are to implementing?
If you're tired of generic advice that doesn't fit your specific situation, you don't need more tips. You need someone who can spot the patterns you can't see and give you guidance that actually applies to your business.
Whether that's through mentorships such as Start & Sustain for new businesses, Expansion for established ones, or a Clarity Sprint to diagnose what's really going wrong – the goal is specific guidance, not generic principles.
Because the most expensive advice isn't the advice that costs the most money.
It's the advice that wastes the most time.
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