Are You Building a Business You'll Hate in Five Years?

Something profound is happening in the business landscape right now, and it's affecting you more than you realise. Since 2020, we've been navigating unprecedented challenges—economic uncertainty, AI disruption, mental health crises, social media overwhelm—yet many entrepreneurs are stuck in patterns that no longer serve them.

Through conversations with business owners worldwide, I've discovered most fall into two categories: those burying their heads in the sand, pretending nothing has changed while clinging to outdated strategies; and those aware of changes but overwhelmed trying to implement everything at once, missing the few crucial actions that would actually transform their business.

The missing ingredient? Clarity. Not just superficial clarity, but deep, intentional clarity about what you truly want, who you're serving, and the specific steps to get there. Without it, you move slowly because your energy scatters in all directions. You become vulnerable to shiny objects and quick-fix promises. Worst of all, you risk building a business by accident that you'll hate five years down the track.

I learned this lesson the hard way. After achieving financial success, I found myself disconnected from the business and life I'd created. I spent ten months disassembling everything to rebuild in alignment with my true vision. This episode guides you through identifying which clarity archetype you embody—The Avoider, The Overwhelmed Achiever, or The Clarity Champion—and provides practical exercises to cultivate genuine clarity starting today.

When Katie, one of our Birdcage School students, gained clarity about her skincare business, she 5X'd her profit in just months. She stopped wasting money on misaligned strategies, let go of the wrong team members, and created a business that thrived even when she took maternity leave.

Ready to transform your business with clarity? Complete the powerful reflection exercise in this episode, then visit birdcageschool.com to discover tools designed specifically to clarify your marketing message and strategy. Use code PODCAST10 for 10% off programs worth over $1,000. Remember—clarity is your most powerful weapon in business and life.

To work with us, book your client assessment call at https://www.birdcageangeladvisors.com/hire-an-angel/

Transcript

Welcome to Write This Down

Maddy Birdcage 0:00

Welcome to Write this Down with Maddy Birdcage. I'm Maddy, founder of Birdcage Marketing, birdcage School, birdcage Studios and Birdcage Ocean Voyages. I'm a psychology-informed marketer, serial entrepreneur, and my life's purpose is to make your delusional goals a reality. If you want more than just a business that looks good from the outside, I'm going inside my own brands to share practical, proven strategies that transformed my business from near bankruptcy to building a multi-million dollar company just 12 months later. Let me give you the weekly aha moments to break free from outdated business and life rules so you can prove them all wrong and, trust me, you'll want to write this down. It's Maddie Birdcage here, and welcome to the very first episode of my new show, something that's been in the works for a while. Write this Down Now. Whether you're joining from one of our podcast platforms or watching me here on YouTube, I'm excited to be here and to talk to you about something very critical that's happening in the business landscape right now, and I've had a bit of time to reflect on this, which is important because it's affecting you more than you would ever actually realize Now.

Speaker 1 1:19

I travel a lot. I've just returned from five weeks in Europe and the UK and I make it my business to talk to other business owners as much as possible, even when I'm traveling, and I've discovered something deeply, deeply unsettling. Now we're all pretending this just goes away, aren't we? The tough financial conditions, the AI takeover, attack of the robots, the anxiety depression epidemic, not just in adults but in children, the overwhelming amount of social media platforms we're meant to market on, world wars, the cost of living crisis, high mortgage rates it really does feel like in 2020, the world started to crack and fall apart and it just hasn't recovered since. And yet we are five years in people 2017 and Instagram chronological news feeds are never coming back, which deeply, deeply saddens me, of course, but I've made it my business to ensure that I'm pattern reading what's coming next so myself, my brands, our clients and our students can be prepared.

Speaker 1 2:29

And yet everyone that I've spoken to in recent times, they're stuck in one of two places I've noticed they are either digging their head in the sand, pretending that nothing has changed, and going about their business and their life completely ignorant of the fact that there is a huge impact of AI, that there is a huge opportunity to having a personal presence on social media and just how easy it is to go supersonic in your business if you do it right. Or maybe they're still stuck in believing a good logo and a website is all they need for their business to do well and they're investing all their money in that. Or, like yesterday we heard we had a sales call in the agency and someone was trying to convince us to only run Facebook ads for them, when we know that relying on a single platform like that and outsourcing it in isolation to an agency might be the worst thing you could do for your business. Dm me if you want some more info about that. By the way, I will happily explain it to you.

Speaker 1 3:29

Or the other group. They are completely aware of all of these new things. They've bought the right courses, they've done the recess, they're trying to use all the marketing platforms together in a marketing ecosystem like they should. ChatGPT is their new therapist, and yet they're so overwhelmed trying to do all of the things that these people they're missing the few things that they should really be focusing on. That is actually going to change everything for them Because, yes, like how we teach marketing an integrated funnel with organic socials, paid socials, a strong website, a good brand emails and maybe even SEO all of the things. They should all work in harmony, but there is a step-by-step process that will allow you to do that.

The World Has Changed—Business Must Too

Speaker 1 4:15

Right Now. It's just like building a house You're not going to try and put a roof on before you've even laid a concrete slab, let alone put walls up right. But this is what people seem to be doing. They seem to be trying to put the horse before the cart, and it's not working. Of course, there is a third category of people that I have been speaking to, and that's where we and our clients and our students sit, where it's not necessarily about learning more tips, consuming more information, trying to do everything at once. This group of people, including us. We are going one clear and intentional step at a time. So for me, it's about choosing just three things to do in the day and nailing the fuck out of them. Going home at night and feeling so freaking good about yourself because you did three things I'm calling them the big three, and that has absolutely. Sometimes it's just one. One thing I have to do Now, depending on where you sit, whether you're hoping it all goes back to normal or whether you're overwhelmed and burning out. Let me tell you, it's not your fault. It's actually not your fault.

Speaker 1 5:25

The business advice that you have been sold is not equipped to handle where we are now, what business actually looks like now, where hustle alone gets you there, or these superficial Instagram posts promising easy six-figure launches with a Canva template. This is not the medicine that you need right now. This is old. We've evolved. For people like me that have been through 10 years of business now and eight years of marketing prior to that, we have seen what changes were afoot. We've experienced the changes roll out over the last decade, over the last two decades, and because of seeing those changes back then, I feel, like myself and a few industry colleagues, we are very good at pattern reading on what is coming next, what the future looks like next and the fact that our current reality does not match where we were pre-2020.

Speaker 1 6:22

And yet there's so many of you out there that are being fed this old advice that feels safe, because it's advice that you've been hearing for years, for decades now. But it's not going to work anymore. And let's just name the elephant in the room yes, you're hopeful Hopeful that whatever hole you're in right now, you will be able to get out of. But rent is due, bills need to be paid, margins are tight, your clients are stalling, your cash flow feels fragile, and you're not alone, though. This is the reality for most business owners right now, and I want you to write this down where there is challenge, there is opportunity for improvement, and I have been up and down in my business, my life, my finances, my mindset so many times now that, when the dip comes, I welcome it because I know I'm about to get pushed out of my comfort zone. I trust myself to figure it out, and the next level it will be better than anything that I've experienced before. It happens. Every time. It's like a slingshot you have to be pulled back, to be propelled forward, and actually, let me tell you a story.

Speaker 1 7:29

I know that a lot of you may know the story of me taking my agency from 100K in tax debt and, less than 12 months later, paying off that debt plus posting a 90K profit model. I thought that, like once I had the money in the bank, once that was all fixed, that was fixed forever. I have a new story to tell you, though, one that I actually haven't shared yet, and this is definitely what I want to put in the first episode of this podcast. But I thought I had built my version of success Lots of money, dream vacays, designer shopping, everything I wanted, right. And yet I'm not going to say I was completely miserable, but I'm going to say I was very disconnected from the life that I did create. And it was actually the turning point was my Euro summer vacay last year in September, where I came back and I was kind of like what is the point, what is the point of making all of this money? Is this all? There is the worst part about it because I was no longer fighting to survive. I felt very guilty for feeling that way.

Speaker 1 8:39

You're going to hate for me to say and hate to hear, especially if you're in the trenches right now, but for me, and most likely for you because I've actually found it, every entrepreneur I know is actually like this. But being in the trenches and building it is where you will most likely be happiest. Let me say that again Building your business, being in the trenches, stressing about where your next dollar is going to come from, you very well will look back and say that was the happiest I've ever been, unless you do this one thing that I'm about to share with you on the rest of this episode. And I'm asking that, even if you're not where you want to be right now hey, maybe you are great but even if you're not making the money that you want I'm asking you to do this right from the start, because I've just had to spend the last 10 months disassembling my business and brands again in order to rebuild in a way that feels fulfilling and powerful and aligned for myself.

The Power of Intentional Action

Speaker 1 9:42

And you know what the key is? It's clarity Clear intentions, thoughts and actions. Without clarity, you move a lot slower because you're moving in all different directions, so you're not making as covering as much ground. Without clarity, you're sitting there waiting for someone to explain it to you, so it makes you more likely to fall for any of the shiny promises and the shallow advice or the quick fixes out there. Without clarity, you build things by accident and all of a sudden you realize you're five years into a business you hate and can never exit, because you were never clear about the fact when you were building that you would ever want to exit the business. So in today's episode, regardless of where you are, I'm going to unpack this one big thing that is keeping you stuck where you are, and why.

Speaker 1 10:32

Clarity. Real clarity is the only tool that you need in order to break free and to hit your goals faster than you ever thought, regardless of the tech climate, economic climate, actual climate, regardless of all the things outside of you, because with clarity, you become confident. When you're confident, you are in control. And when you're in control, you create choices for yourself. And to have choices, that is to have freedom, and that's what we all want, right? That's what will allow you to reach your full potential, make every single one of your delusional dreams come true and build a business, even a career that you love and a life that you love. So let's dive straight into understanding exactly where you are right now in terms of clarity.

Speaker 1 11:21

Now I have put together three core clarity archetypes and as I describe each, I really want you to honestly reflect on where you find yourself. So, archetype number one the avoider. You might be the avoider if you catch yourself hoping that things will just sort themselves out. You sense that things are shifting rapidly, but instead of confronting it, you're burying yourself in busy work, client demands or day-to-day tasks. But deep down, deep down, you're anxious, because you know that this avoidance isn't sustainable and it's going to catch up with you. Your energy is fragmented, your results are inconsistent. So I want you to ask yourself am I secretly waiting for someone else to come along and fix my business, yes or no? Okay, next question Am I ignoring the signs around me that it is time to adapt? And final question Am I ignoring the fact that I have no idea who my audience is? I have no idea how I really want to help them or what my greater purpose is. Now, if you answered yes to any of those questions, you may be this first archetype. You may be in this avoidance stage, but I'm going to take you through two more and let's see what responses you get more of.

Speaker 1 12:44

Okay, now the second archetype, the overwhelmed achiever. If this is you, if you're the one with tabs open on five different online courses, three half-read business books on your bedside table and a never-ending to-do list. You're constantly learning new tactics, but you are not implementing fully or you're half-assing it and you feel like you're perpetually playing catch-up. There's never enough time in the day, but the results don't reflect the effort. You're burnt out. You're scattered. You're secretly terrified that you are wasting your precious time, because you probably are. That description alone may be enough for a lot of you to identify with this archetype, but ask yourself am I drowning in information rather than mastering implementation? Do I chase every new trend, hoping it will finally deliver the breakthrough? And do I have five different target audience profiles, each with different needs, desires, and I'm afraid to cut any of them out? If you answered yes to a lot of these questions, then you are certainly the second archetype.

Speaker 1 13:54

Birdcage School didn't start as just another course and in fact, it will never be that. It started because of demand from you. You saw the work we were doing with our agency clients, what they were achieving, and demanded that we make an on-demand school that teaches you everything we know about psychology, informed strategy, marketing funnels and content creation. And you were so convincing. How could I say no? Today, birdcage School offers support at every stage of your business, whether you haven't even launched yet, you've just started out or you've been working for decades on growing your brand. I promise massive breakthroughs and aha moments in every single one of our programs. And, as a special gift to you, for any program worth over $1,000, you'll get 10% off using the code PODCAST10. If you're in Australia, visit birdcageschoolcomau or for everywhere else, birdcageschoolcom.

Speaker 1 14:46

Now back to the episode Now, the third archetype. So this is the clarity champion I want to call. So you are very clear on what you want, where you're going and precisely how you're going to get there right. You've identified that the simple actions that you need to take that create massive impact and you're not chasing shiny objects. Because you know and trust your strategy. Challenges energize you. Because you're crystal clear on your direction, you see them as opportunity. Now, if you are this third clarity archetype, it's less.

Speaker 1 15:20

These questions are less about self-diagnosing and it's more about how do we get you to that next level? Yet again, because you already are clear. You're already doing the right things, but I guarantee you have so much more that can still be achieved. So what I want you to really think about is have you again identified and cut away any of the bullshit actions or activities that you're doing in a day that you really don't need to be doing, and are you only focusing on the high impact actions that will take you to the next level?

Speaker 1 15:57

Another question I really want you to consider is if you are holding yourself back from dreaming bigger, which is quite often the case. We think, oh, I've hit all my goals, but it's like, hey, those goals are a fraction of where you actually could be going. We're simply so caught up in our own heads around. Oh, I could never move to another country. Why not? Why not? Oh well, I have my job here, why not? Oh well, I have my job here. We have the internet. So I really want you to question whether you are dreaming big enough, right? So be honest with yourself. Where are you sitting in terms of which of these stages? So, no matter where you're at, clarity can always be cultivated.

Speaker 1 16:41

It isn't about adding more to your plate. It's about stripping away the noise, and this is what I love about this concept of clarity. It's not about more, more, more. It's actually about what can we take away to create space to allow you to see the action steps you need to take. It's like think about decluttering your room steps you need to take. It's like think about decluttering your room. It's like you feel so much fresher and clearer and like happier after. That's what I want you to be doing with your mind, with your business, with your marketing, with your everything. We are getting clear. We are decluttering, okay. So how are we actually decluttering? The first action step that I need you to take away, so grab a pen or open your notes app right now. Obviously not if you're driving pullover, but this is something I always do when I listen to podcasts, hence, write this down the name of the podcast. I get my notes up and write it all down, but I want you to answer these questions and I want you I want this to be a record right because we're going to these questions, and I want this to be a record right Because we're going to go back and work on this later.

Speaker 1 17:46

Write down your honest responses to these following questions and pause in between so that you can really think about these. What do I really want my business and life to look like in 12 months? Don't worry about what your family wants, what your Instagram tells you you should want. What do you genuinely want? If anything was possible and you could not fail, what would your business look like in 12 months? Okay, now, underneath that, I want you to write all of the excuses, all of the things that your brain is telling you why that's not possible, why you can't have that thing in 12 months. Be brutally honest. Write it all down. What is your brain telling you, the reason why you can't have this thing. Get it all out, because guess what?

Speaker 1 18:39

The next step is for you to flip the script on that. For every line that you have written about why that dream isn't possible within 12 months, I want you to write the positive of that. So let's, for example, say I want to make a million dollars profit in my business within 12 months. Right, your brain might say, oh, no one's spending money at the moment. Mortgage rates are too high. People have no money. Well, which is one of these mortgage? No one, no one's spending money at the moment. Right, that's what you've written down. Then you flip that and you say there are people spending money on what they value. There are people still spending money on what they value.

The Three Clarity Archetypes

Speaker 1 19:33

Because what we are doing, we are trying to identify and pull out all of the things in your brain that are telling you why you can't have the thing that you want, and we're trying to show it a new possibility. We're trying to show the way forward, the solution forward. Because, at the end of all of these questions, what I want you to do, I want today to get you closer to that goal, to get you closer to that 12-month goal. Just one step, one teeny, tiny step. Is it post an Instagram story? Is it connect with three people via DM? Is it that you're going to finally finish your marketing strategy? What is it? What is that action step that you are going to take? That your marketing strategy? What is it? What is that action step that you are going to take that is going to get you one step closer?

Speaker 1 20:28

This is a very simple practice that instantly moves you from overwhelmed or avoidant to clarity, focused action. We're being intentional. We're not just oh, I've got to do my Instagram post, why? Because we're actually moving towards this clear goal. But let's take a moment here. If you are feeling a bit vulnerable or even overwhelmed by these questions, know that you are definitely not alone in this and that gaining clarity it is just as much as a journey as anything else, and it's not easy and it's completely normal to feel resistance or uncertainty, especially if this is the first time you're doing this kind of work. But please just give yourself the space to breathe, reflect and acknowledge where you're at, without judgment, because this is exactly what one of our school students, katie, from Sabbia Co, did.

Speaker 1 21:21

She was, just like me, once upon a time, this close to shutting down her skincare business Because I mean, just like the rest of us, I think, when we start, she launched it with a lack of clarity around what she actually wanted this business to become, and I feel like we all go through this midlife business crisis at some stage where we don't know who we're meant to serve, who we're meant to hire, until we make the wrong hires or until we attract the wrong customers. So in her darkest moment which, as I said, I've been there too. It was like a sink or swim moment she asked for a sign, a sign to keep going, to keep building her. It's a natural yet very effective skincare business. I use it personally. And then the next morning she went onto her emails and her inbox, completely unprompted, it got flooded with probably 20, I can't remember the exact number but so many emails from customers saying that thank you so much, you've changed my life. Completely unprompted. They didn't send out a survey or anything like that. I mean, there's no clearer sign. And it was around that time that she discovered Birdcage School and then she actually enrolled into the full library and she completed the first, the method, which is the first step, which is your marketing strategy. That gets you very clear in your marketing using our frameworks. Now, if you don't know about how our frameworks and our marketing works, it's basically I mean, you guessed it it helps you find clarity by using psychology-informed marketing tools that we developed for you.

Speaker 1 22:58

Katie isn't she's not a professional marketer. She is a I think she's a dermatologist or a skincare expert, but she's a mother, she's a wife, she's a total babe, and actually maybe listen back to her episode on when we were the Not so Kind Regards podcast, because she explains it from the strategy that she wrote. That's when things really started to turn around, because first she now had this extreme clarity around her. Why that? I mean that pretty much came almost on its own with the flood of emails that went into her inbox. But this is actually a training we're going to be adding to the favorite self membership in the coming weeks. So get very excited. We're going to help you find your why, because I finally just discovered my why and I I'm really really excited to share that.

Speaker 1 23:46

But what she had clarity around after doing the strategy was the what? What is her brand all about? What does her audience want from her? What does she need to say to connect with them and to drive awareness about her business and her products and eventually to drive the sale. And so, finally, when she started working through the second step in the full library, which is the action even I think she said she only even got through the organic social media lessons, so we weren't even up to emails or website or paid ads or anything like that she 5X'd her profit in a couple of months. Ads or anything like that she 5x'd her profit in a couple of months. Her accountant actually couldn't believe it, but I believed it, because clarity is powerful and of course, her accountant believed he was looking at the numbers right, but with clarity.

Transforming Your Business with Clarity

Speaker 1 24:35

Because Katie had clarity, she was able to let go of the misaligned staff members that she'd hired, just exactly like I had to do once upon a time. With clarity, she stopped spending tens of thousands of dollars in paid ads and instead she focused on her organic socials, and that is what skyrocketed her profits Organic socials plus a clear message. So, with clarity, with all of this she was able to then. Then she recently had her second child. She was able to go on maternity leave and know full well that her business would continue to thrive even without her there. Katie's clarity changed not only her business, but it changed her entire life. It changed her family's life.

Speaker 1 25:21

And so I'm going to say to you it's your turn now, by listening to this episode. You don't have a choice. Your cogs have already started spinning in your brain. Your subconscious mind is already getting clearer. Even if you consciously haven't had that uh aha moment right now, I guarantee you'll be in the shower or hosing the plants or something like that, and bingo, a drop of clarity will land plants or something like that. And bingo, a drop of clarity will land.

Speaker 1 25:46

And the good news is, once you take that first step, clarity begins to compound. Each small action, builds momentum and soon the fog lifts, revealing a clear path that you can confidently follow. I mean, you're already on the path here today, listening and reflecting on these questions. You've already started the. You're already on the path here today, listening and reflecting on these questions. You've already started the path. You're on the yellow brick road. Okay, so what if you want to keep going with this work? What is the right next step for you? I have a few options within Birdcage School. They are different levels of budgets, they are different involvement, they are different durations and they achieve a few different things, but each of them are at least a step forward on your road to clarity, so I'll take you through them Now.

Speaker 1 26:34

The very first thing I would recommend, if you just want to dip your toes in and get started, you want a taste of our strategy framework. That is the Clarity Kit. It is designed specifically to clarify your marketing message so you can clearly and powerfully communicate your value to the right audience. Now, everything we do that we teach in our agency, in our school, it uses our mirror marketing framework. With the Clarity Kit specifically, we're going to define your marketing message and your core offer and then make sure that your content resonates with your ideal customers.

Speaker 1 27:12

And if you're ready to do what Katie from Sabbia Co did and accelerate at full speed across your entire business strategy, as well as have all the tools, the templates, the action plans the community support everything to execute your digital growth like a pro the action plans the community support everything to execute your digital growth like a pro then you are ready for the full library. So this is a comprehensive membership that combines all of our advanced marketing strategies, psychology-backed mindset work and proven systems to build your business quickly, sustainably and with absolute clarity. Of course, you don't need marketing experience or a psychology degree to do any of this. I promise we make it exceptionally easy to use our very sophisticated tools and apply them to your business. And, of course, the full library has our 48 hour money back guarantee that actually no one has cashed in on in almost three years. So you can say I'm quietly confident, but hey, the option is there, your money is protected.

Speaker 1 28:07

If you get in there and you're like, uh-uh, not for me, you let us know. The choice is yours. Your clarity has already started, so make sure you head over to Birdcage School, choose the path that matches your stage and come on, guys. Let us make those delusional not just possible, but inevitable. That is, that is what I'm here to do and that's what I want to see you do. Remember clarity is your most powerful weapon. Use it wisely and you'll not only build a business that you love, you'll create a life that you are genuinely proud to live, just like I have been able to do, and I'm so proud of myself for doing so. Thank you for listening. Until next time, stay clear, stay confident, stay in control of your extraordinary life. Bye-bye.