Most people, when something isn’t working, change the thing that isn’t working.
Which is completely logical, and also how one tangle quietly becomes three.
Because nothing in a business exists on its own (we’re back to the jumper again), pull one thread and the tension shifts. Sometimes, it’s somewhere obvious. But sometimes it’s somewhere you won’t notice until you’re wondering why everything suddenly feels harder.
Here are two examples. See if either feels familiar.
BLOG SERIES: THREADS
The Tangled Business Series
STAGE
Understanding
READ TIME
2 mins
Example 1: When you adjust an offer/package/ service
Let’s say you shift one thing slightly. It’s the same kind of work, but aimed at a different moment in your client’s journey. Not a big pivot, just a nudge.
Follow the thread.
Your website, your marketing, your lead magnet, all of it was written for the original version. So this slightly different audience arrives and doesn’t quite feel seen. The content that used to attract the right people isn’t the natural first step into this new thing. So you create fresh content. It takes real effort, but it starts to land.
And then you notice your original audience starting to feel a bit lost. Because your marketing has shifted, and now they don’t feel seen either.
And now you have two problems where there used to be one. Just because you pulled a thread.
Example 2: When the market changes the thread for you
Sometimes you don’t choose to change anything, but the change arrives anyway.
Educational content (tips, demonstrations of expertise, proof that you know your stuff), all used to be a brilliant way to attract clients. They saw how good you were, tried your advice, and hired you.
But knowledge is everywhere now, and a lot of it is free. What’s working instead is perspective. The thing only you can give.
So you shift your social media from educational to insight-led. It’s working. People are noticing, and then they visit your website, where everything is still written in the old voice, for the old approach, by what feels like a completely different person.
People notice inconsistency before they can name it. It creates a small wobble of wait, is this right for me? And that wobble is enough to lose them.
One thread moved. Everything else stayed still.
Try this before you move anything
Pick one thing you’ve changed recently — or something you’re thinking about changing, and follow the thread. What else connects to it? What was written or built around the version that existed before? Where might the tension shift?
Next: the simplest thing I know for keeping the threads from tangling in the first place →
The Tangled Business Series
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