Is it madness to wear a hat if it doesn’t suit you?

Alice in Wonderland may have said that all the best people are entirely bonkers… but does running a small business really need to feel like that?

As founders, we’re told we have to wear many hats.

But trying to wear all of them at once?

That’s when things start to feel overwhelming and slightly out of control.

Most people set up a business because they love what they do. They’re good at it. They have a vision. They want to create something valuable, something that works, something people genuinely need.

But somewhere along the way, that changes.

You find yourself doing or avoiding all the things that sit around the work you actually enjoy.

Operations, HR, Emails. Admin. Systems. Content. Tech. Sales. Marketing. Accounts.

Processes that are meant to make life easier but somehow don’t.

And before long, the business starts to feel heavier than it should.

It’s rarely because the idea isn’t right.

It’s because everything around it hasn’t been made clear enough to move forward easily.

That’s where I now start with clients.

Through a Clarity & Execution Reset, we step back and look at the whole “hat rack”.

What’s actually there. What fits. What doesn’t. What’s helping and what’s getting in the way.

Most people don’t need more ideas. They need clarity on what actually matters, what to focus on, what they can stop doing.

And once that becomes clear, something shifts.

It’s a bit like being out walking. At the start, the path isn’t always obvious. Everything can feel a bit open, a bit uncertain. But as you move, the way forward starts to reveal itself.

You don’t need to see the whole route just the next step.

That same principle applies here. When you can clearly see what matters, the decisions become easier. The direction becomes clearer. And things start to move.

Clarity is only part of it. Once you’ve decided which hats you should be wearing you still need to deal with the rest.

This is where many people get stuck.

They either try to keep wearing everything themselves… or they’re not sure who to trust to take things on.

This is the part of my work that has evolved most over time. I don’t now take the hats off and wear them for people.

I help them decide which ones matter and then introduce them to the right people who will wear those hats better than they do to take things forward.

The people who love doing the doing. There are great people who genuinely love doing all the things that often drain founders and they’re set up to do it well and quickly.

Over time, I’ve built a trusted network of experts I can bring in at the right point.

Not just because they’re skilled, but because they work in a way that fits practical, reliable, and focused on getting things moving.

So instead of trying to wear every hat… You get to focus on the ones that suit you. The ones that energise you. The ones that move your business forward.

And the rest?

They’re still worn just by the right people.

I’m going to start introducing some of the people I trust to help bring ideas to life the ones behind the scenes who make the execution happen.

Behind every business that’s working well, there’s usually more than one hat being worn — just not all by the same person.

It can be solved by walking.

Or more simply:

It can be solved by creating the space to think clearly and having the right people around you to move things forward.

If your hat rack is starting to feel a bit overwhelming… It might not be more effort you need.

It might just be clarity and the right support and sometimes, it just starts with taking one hat off.

How many hats are you wearing right now that don't suit you?