Small Business Research and Enterprise

By Sarah Bennett-Nash, founder of Ikonology

Three years ago, I quietly registered a limited company.

Not for tax reasons.
Not for optics.
As a promise to myself: This is not a hobby. This is my life’s work.

And here’s the part the “six figures in six months” crowd never shows you:

• Building something that actually matters is slower, stranger, and far more generous than the slides suggest.
• If you’re still half-treating your business like a side project, consider this a gentle—but commercial—intervention.

Here’s what three years of building Ikonology has really taught me.

1. Growth always takes longer than the spreadsheet says

The early game is mostly silence.

Deals that almost land. Pivots you didn’t plan. Months where the identity shift arrives before the revenue.

The spreadsheet says, “By year three, you’ll be here.” Reality says, “You’re building authority, not just income.”

Authority compounds more slowly – and far more dangerously. If you feel behind, you’re not. You’re just earlier in the story than the internet profits from admitting.

The leverage move?
Stop trying to earn authority from scratch. Borrow it.

That’s what strategic podcast guesting really is: One hour. In front of an audience that already trusts the host. Your ideas entering rooms before you do.

2. Hiring without discernment is reputation roulette

The wrong hire doesn’t just cost money. It costs time, momentum, and confidence.

Early on, I assumed integrity was transferable.
It isn’t.

The real invoice is the delay. The rework. The moment you hesitate to trust your own judgment again.

Outsourcing isn’t freedom if you outsource thinking.

That’s why Ikonology doesn’t “book podcasts.” We architect authority.

Because visibility without discernment isn’t strategy. It’s gambling- with your name on the table.

3. Client wins beat vanity metrics. Every time.

This year, clients have landed premium podcast placements, closed new deals, launched ventures, and secured capital.

That’s the fuel. Not screenshots. Not follower counts. But the email that says: “That one conversation changed my quarter.”

When a legal CEO doubles C-suite inbound in 90 days from three precise podcast appearances, that’s not luck. That’s leverage:

• Right story.
• Right mic.
• Right audience.
• Repeated.

4. Visibility isn’t vanity. It’s responsibility.

What people see: a polished episode.
What they don’t see: the compound effect of being remembered.

Introductions that start with, “I heard you on…”

Clients who trust you before the proposal. Opportunities that arrive because your voice stayed with someone. If your work genuinely helps people, hiding is a luxury you can’t afford. That’s why I help leaders get into rooms where their clients already listen – not rooms where their values get diluted.

5. Celebrate the micro-wins—or burn out pretending you have ‘high standards’

Founders are experts at moving the goalposts. Today’s miracle becomes tomorrow’s baseline.

But the tiny wins matter:

• The first “yes” from a host.
• The DM from someone who binge-listened.
• Hearing your own story reflected back – clearer than before.

Ignore those, and you train your nervous system to believe nothing is ever enough.

Legacy isn’t one fireworks moment. It’s a trail of small, deliberate sparks.

6. Give without keeping score

The best opportunities haven’t come from funnels. They’ve come from generosity with no invoice attached.

Introductions made quietly. Doors opened without expectation. Frameworks shared freely.

Generosity isn’t a tactic. It’s an operating system. And it builds a balance sheet algorithms can’t touch.

Where the book and the work meet

This is why More Money, More Life exists.

Not as motivation. As an operating system for founders who want wealth without self-erasure.

Podcast guesting is one sharp tool inside that system:

• One hour → 22 days of pre-sold trust.
• One clear story → an authority asset that compounds.
• One brave decision → the end of the “very expensive hobby.”

So, here’s the real question:

Are you running a hobby in a limited company wrapper?
Or are you ready to treat your voice, your story, and your authority like the assets they already are?

---

*We strive to do our best when supporting small business and their growth. Our business databases can give you information and data that can help you with advertising, market research, company information, and industry factsheets. If you have already taken the plunge, we would love for you to join us at a seminar, our workshops cover digital marketing, business model canvas and planning, demystifying taxes and intellectual property to name a few. Visit our events page or website for more information.