The Kind But Commercial Series – Part 1
Most small business owners think being commercial means being ruthless.
Cold. Salesy. Aggressive. Slightly icky.
So they do the opposite...
They underprice.
They overdeliver.
They say yes when they mean no.
They people-please their clients and their customers.
They run their business like a charity with no trustees.
Then they wonder why they are exhausted, resentful, anxious, and quietly thinking about packing the whole thing in.
This is not kindness.
It is self-sabotage dressed up as decency.
There is a myth in small business that you have to choose between being kind and being commercial.
That if you charge properly, set boundaries, protect your time, and make strategic decisions, you are somehow betraying your values.
It is nonsense.
Being commercial is not about being hard-nosed.
It is about being sustainable.
Sustainability is not a wellness buzzword.
It is a business survival strategy.
Here is the uncomfortable truth.
Every time you undercharge to be “nice”.
Every time you overwork to be “helpful”.
Every time you say yes because you are scared of losing the client.
You are not being kind.
You are slowly breaking the business that is supposed to support your life.
This is the pattern I see constantly.
Brilliant, capable founders stuck in survival mode.
So focused on this month’s invoices, this week’s orders, today’s emails, that they never lift their head up to ask:
Is this actually building something that will still work in two years?
Or am I just keeping myself busy and exhausted?
Short-term thinking feels productive.
Long-term thinking feels uncomfortable.
Long-term thinking forces you to face things you would rather avoid:
Your pricing is too low.
Your boundaries are too loose.
Your offer is too messy.
Your time is being wasted.
Your energy is being drained.
Your business is built around other people’s needs, not your own.
So people stay in survival mode.
Not because it works.
Because it is familiar.
This is not theoretical for me.
I have been there. I have done it. I have lived it.
Not because I was not commercial.
Because I was very busy, being busy.
Fully booked.
Always “on”.
Constantly firefighting.
Running on empty.
Calling it success because the diary looked full and the turnover was going up.
From the outside, it looked like momentum.
From the inside, it was survival mode with better branding.
I used to work in corporate environments with boards of directors and shareholders.
Businesses where someone actually asked hard questions about sustainability, risk, margins and long-term strategy.
Small business owners do not have that structure.
Which means we either become our own board of directors, or we drift.
That version of business does not collapse dramatically.
It quietly grinds you down.
Being commercial does not mean becoming a corporate robot.
It means making decisions that compound.
It means building a business that works for future you, not just current you.
It means asking different questions.
Not:
“How do I get through this month?”
But:
“What moves this business forward?”
“What creates profit, not just activity?”
“What is scalable, not just busy?”
“What is draining me and why am I tolerating it?”
“What needs to change if I want this business to still be here in five years?”
None of those questions are cruel.
They are responsible.
Here is the part nobody wants to hear...
Burnout is not just caused by working too hard.
It is caused by running a business that does not respect your time, your energy or your worth.
A business that relies on you overgiving, undercharging and overfunctioning will eventually break you.
That is not a personal failure.
It is a structural problem.
Being kind in business does not mean being endlessly accommodating.
It means:
Charging properly so you do not resent your clients.
Setting boundaries so you do not hate your work.
Designing offers that do not hollow you out.
Saying no to things that do not align with where you are going.
Building systems that do not rely on your nervous system.
That last one matters more than most people realise.
Every founder I see burning out is not lazy or ungrateful.
They are running a business like a charity with no trustees
or a PLC with no shareholders.
No financial governance.
No energy governance.
No boundary governance.
No long-term strategy.
Just goodwill, momentum and exhaustion.
If you want to be kind and commercial, you have to stop making decisions based on fear and guilt.
Fear of losing clients.
Guilt about charging properly.
Fear of disappointing people.
Guilt about wanting an easier life.
None of those emotions are a business strategy.
A grown-up pause point
If this is hitting a nerve, good. That means it is relevant.
Ask yourself, honestly:
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Am I charging in a way that reflects my expertise and my energy, or just what feels socially acceptable?
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Do my boundaries protect my life, or only my clients?
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Is my business model designed around sustainability or around survival?
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Am I building something that supports the life I want, or something that traps me in constant output?
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What am I tolerating that I already know is not working?
Do not rush these answers.
They are not productivity questions.
They are future-you questions.
Here is the reframe.
Being commercial is an act of self-respect.
It is saying:
My time has value.
My energy has limits.
My expertise is worth paying for.
My mental health is part of my business model.
My future matters more than this week’s discomfort.
That is not hard-nosed.
That is grown-up.
If this makes you uncomfortable in a useful way, good.
That discomfort is your business trying to evolve.
You do not need to become ruthless.
You need to become strategic.
About the Author:
Steph Briggs is a retail and ecommerce marketing consultant, speaker and strategic advisor working with serious founders who want to build profitable, sustainable businesses without burning themselves out.
With a background spanning corporate environments and independent retail, Steph blends commercial rigour with real-world empathy. She specialises in SEO, Shopify, digital visibility and long-term growth strategy, and is known for helping business owners step out of survival mode and into grown-up, strategic decision-making.
She is also the commercial lead and copywriter for Clare Bailey, The Retail Champion, and works as a strategic sounding board for founders navigating growth, pricing, positioning and long-term sustainability.