Author’s Note:
Designing A Business That Fits - An Editorial Series from Erah Society
This is part of a series on what it really means to design a business that supports your clarity, capacity, and calling. So many of us have been taught to build by adding more, not subtracting. But when business is built with intention, it can become a container that frees you.
Over this series, we’ll explore the power of building one thing, the difference between Business Design and other forms of support, the four pillars that hold every conscious company together, and how real founders and legacy brands have created structures that work with them not against them.
Last week, on The Power of Building One Thing article, Tamera said something in the comments that stuck with me:
“I notice that when I focus on ONE thing at a time I thrive. It allows me to focus my efforts & funnel my energy into doing something really well. That is how I found success in my photography business. I focused on one offer, one marketing platform and one system to execute.”
I thought to myself, that’s not hustle. That’s by pure design.
When your business is structured with clarity, everything you add, branding, coaching, strategy, actually lands. But most founders I meet don’t know what kind of support they need or when to use it. They just sense that something’s off.
The Puzzle of Growing a Business
When I started my first business over 13 years ago, I had no idea things like business design, branding, coaching, or consulting even existed. Like so many other founders, I dove in headfirst, just figuring it out as I went.
I fell. Got scraped up. And little by little, I learned how to navigate each obstacle with a deeper understanding of myself as both human and divine. Entrepreneurship can be a path towards spiritual awakening if you let it.
As the years passed, I gathered what actually makes a business stable. What makes it successful, intentional, and sustainable. I saw how these different services can help and how they fit together to build a new paradigm business that makes clean money, does good, and leaves a legacy.
Today, many creatives are piecing their businesses together the way I did at the start. Hiring a coach here, a branding studio there, maybe a consultant for a specific problem.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Yes, each service brings value but they’re just puzzle pieces, not the full picture.
And the piece that I missed?
Business Design.
In this article, I’ll break down:
The difference between Business Design, Branding, Coaching, and Consulting.
What they actually help with.
And when to seek them out so you can stop guessing and start investing with more clarity.
What Is Business Design?
Business Design is the intentional creation of your business’s architecture. It’s the structure that holds everything together.
It shapes your business model, your offers, your operations, and your positioning so that your business works both inside and out.
Think of it like designing a house. Before you pick the paint color (branding), bring in a landscape designer to work on the garden (consulting), or build trust in your own taste (coaching), you need a solid architectural plan.
Business Design is that blueprint.
It’s what makes everything else, coaching, branding, consulting even more effective and worth the investment. So let’s break this down even further.
What Is Coaching?
Coaching helps you grow as a founder.
It focuses on your mindset, leadership skills, and your personal development. A coach helps you get out of your own way so you can see clearly, make confident decisions, and stay accountable to your mission.
When to seek Coaching? When your business design is set and you want support showing up fully as the leader of your business.
What Is Branding?
Branding shapes how your business looks, feels, and connects with others.
It’s your visual identity, your voice, and the messaging that resonates with the people you’re here to make a contribution for.
When to seek Branding? When your business design is clear and you’re ready to express it in a way that builds trust & recognition.
What Is Consulting?
Consulting brings in outside expertise for a specific part of your business.
A consultant might support you with your marketing, systems, sales, legal structures, or financial planning, depending on their specialty.
When to seek Consulting? When your business design is solid, and you want targeted guidance to improve one specific area.
Notice I said, that all of these come when your business design is set, clear & solid.
So Why Should Business Design Comes First?
Before you decide how to grow, you need to understand what you’re growing. That’s what Business Design gives you. A clear picture of your business. What it is, what it isn’t. How it works and where it’s going. Without that structure, everything else is just decoration or patchwork.
Without a clear business design, coaching might make you feel better for a time, but the vision you want to lead may still feel scattered.
Without a clear business design, branding can make the outside beautiful, but the inside won’t build trust with your people.
Without a clear business design, consulting can fine tune a part, but the whole still won’t work sustainably.
Business Design is the structure that everything else is built upon.
When you start with Business Design, everything else has a place, a purpose, and a path forward.
The next time you’re deciding where to focus your time, energy, or investment for your business use this guide.
Business Design is something I wish I had earlier. It would have saved me a lot of time and money. That’s the theme of what I find myself sharing these days, the support I wish I had. As spiritual entrepreneurs, we’re often led to believe that structure suppresses our spirit. What helped me most was understanding that there’s nothing more spiritual than building a container strong enough to hold our mission.
Even when we look to nature, we see the value of structure everywhere. The separation of sea and sky, the shape of a mountain, the order of a seed becoming a tree and eventually a fruit. I now know that structure is not limitation, it’s liberation. It’s what allows me to grow with purpose, stop overworking and finally feel like my business was holding me, not the other way around.
That’s what Business Design does. It gives your essence room to expand.
I’d love to hear how you’re building structure into your business right now, especially the kind that actually supports your energy. What’s helped you most? What shifted once you had it?
If you’re trying to design a business that makes more money and does more good but structure feels like a mystery, start with the Business Design Checklist. It’s a simple self-guided tool to help you quickly spot where you need focus. Then bring that one wobbly spot to a Business Hour next week. We’ll reshape it into something that works holistically for you.
With gratitude & grace,
Jasmine
BUSINESS DESIGN CHECKLIST | BUSINESS HOURS
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