Shifting Gears 3/5 – From Executing Tasks to Building Strategies

This is the third installment of a 5-part series titled: From Résumé to Revenue: Turning Skills into a Business That Works.

As an employee-turned-solopreneur learning to sell her own value, this journey has been nothing but easy! It constantly challenges my perspective and forces me to grow comfortable with uncertainty…I feel like I have to evolve lighting fast and I want to take you along for the ride ~ my experience might be useful to you!

You can find this article in French here.

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I knew how to execute, but I didn’t know how to strategize.

“It’s by coaching that you become a coach.”

That’s what leader coaches often say in my ICF coach training.

⩥ Entrepreneurship is the same: it’s by undertaking that you become an entrepreneur ✅
— Everything you read on the subject is almost useless if you don’t get your hands dirty.🤚

⩥ The entrepreneurial reality of having to choose which problem to solve, for whom, how, and at what price, without any certainty🫠…
— That reality is completely different from that of an employee.

Executing is easy.
Setting priorities, knowing when/how to change course and then executing is another matter entirely! 😕

🧵From Executing Tasks as an Employee…

Indeed, I excelled as an employee.

I was a versatile employee who delivered on the objectives, priorities, and deadlines she was given. A fast and reliable “doer”. 😎
⩥ If I didn’t know how to do something, I’d figure it out and in no time.
Hence my non-linear and versatile resume, ranging from SaaS deployments to product management and marketing strategies

Then I became a consultant.

And the versatility that was my strength? It became a trap. A challenge to overcome.

⩥ Suddenly, NO ONE was telling me what to do or what to prioritize.

• No deadlines.
• No assigned clients.
• No defined mission.

Just… emptiness😨

⩥ When someone asked me, “What exactly do you do?”, I stuttered. I listed my options. I lost my audience in 30 seconds.

I was actually paralyzed by the freedom I had plunged into.

The problem wasn’t that I had nothing to offer. It was that I didn’t know where to start.

• Should I target startups or SMEs?
• Should I focus on technology or strategy?
• Should I offer coaching, consulting, or training?
• Should I charge by the hour? By mandate? Om a retainer?

⩥ Too many options. Too much potential.

And when everything is possible, nothing sells.😵

To Building Strategies as an Entrepreneur

💡Here’s what I realized:

• As an employee, you are paid to execute a strategy devised by others.
• As a solopreneur, you have to become the strategist of your own product/service offer.

And no one teaches you in your employee’s journey..

1. You are not taught how to choose your target audience. It’s assigned to you.
2. You are not taught how to define your promise. You are briefed.
3. You are not taught how to give up opportunities. You are told what to ignore.

The result: when you start out, you want to do everything. Because you can do everything.

It’s not that you lack the skills. It’s that your decision-making ability is underdeveloped.

And that indecision is costly.

1️⃣It costs you time. You tinker with five different offers instead of perfecting one.
2️⃣It costs you credibility. Clients don’t understand who you help or how.
3️⃣It costs you mental energy. Every day, you ask yourself, “What should I do?”

The good news? 😃It’s not a character flaw. It’s just a muscle you’ve never had to use.

Hence the big question:

✨How do you adopt a strategic mindset when you’ve been taught to tick other people’s boxes?

🔧 Honing my Strategy: What Helped me

(and may help you too)

I stopped looking for THE right answer; “the best niche,” “the right business model”…I stopped trying not to “make mistakes.”

Instead, I created a scoring system to help me choose where to focus my energy (I am the queen of systems). It consists of 5 pillars:

1️⃣ Traction = Are people already contacting me spontaneously for specific help?
→ If yes, the market validates my expertise.
→ If not, I have to create demand from scratch (longer, riskier).

2️⃣ Transformation = Can I achieve a measurable result in less than 90 days? → Customers buy visible change, not aspirational promises

3️⃣ Vision = Does the opportunity bring me closer to where I want to be in two years? → Every client I take on defines me. If I accept anything and everything now, I will build a diluted reputation and/or stray from my vision.

4️⃣ Impact = What transformation can I offer that resonates with my values/vision? What transformation am I deeply excited to contribute to? → I stay connected to my “why.”

5️⃣ Enthusiasm = What do I love doing, even when it’s difficult?
→ Not all potential clients and contracts are worth taking on. As a solopreneur, the least I can do is not subject myself to unpleasant moments in my work. No more than necessary, anyway.

The idea with the highest score? That becomes my starting point.
Not forever. For the first 3 or 6 months before I reassess.

🎯Choosing a direction now doesn’t lock you in. It gets you moving.
And it’s movement that generates clarity, not the other way around. 🔦

TL;DR – Shifting Gears 3/5 – From Executing Tasks to Building Strategies

🚫 You don’t need to have everything figured out before you start.

✅ You need to set a clear and testable first milestone.

You are your own orchestra conductor now.

And every imperfect decision is better than a thousand rigid plans.