The Early Confusion

In the early days, I couldn't explain what I did without tripping over myself. People would ask, and I'd say something like: "I help founders grow by implementing... whatever needs to be implemented." Cue the blank stares. Then came the advice — from marketers, mentors, business groups, even well-meaning friends.

• "You need to focus on just one aspect (e.g. content, design, systems) and do that one thing well."
• "You won't sell a vague offer."
• "People don't hire all-rounders. Pick a niche."

(You've heard this too, right?)

Why Niche Advice Didn’t Fit

But every time I tried to squeeze my work into a neat box — just strategy, just systems, just marketing — something essential got cut out. The depth. The integration. The part where we actually solve the root problem instead of dancing around it. Because what I really do — what we do now at Outsourcery — is help overwhelmed founders actually move. We clear the blocks, handle the things they've been avoiding, and make the big projects happen. Sometimes that means systemising their backend. Sometimes it means building a sales funnel. Sometimes it's a brand refresh, or an automation, or hiring support, or untangling a hundred tiny decisions they've been carrying around for months. There was no single deliverable that could contain it.

The Turning Point

I'm a big believer that things happen for a reason. When I was deep in the mess of trying to package my offer for the website (trying to wrangle all the work I'd been doing into something that made sense, reworking my lead funnels, spinning in circles, knowing I was close to something but just... not landing it), I felt really drawn to reach out to a friend, Phil McGregor (AdChief). I said I was having trouble figuring out how to package up what I did. I explained the process, how we worked, who we helped, and without skipping a beat he said: "Oh, so you're basically a business partner in a box." I nearly cried. It was the first time anyone had just 'got it'. That was the moment the early positioning of Outsourcery was born.

What We Built Instead

• Not a niche service.
• Not a VA agency.
• Not a digital marketer.

A done-for-you business partner (now with an embedded team — who plugs in, sorts it out, and gets things moving. FAST.) And it turns out, that's exactly what our dream clients were waiting for. They weren't looking for another content strategist. They didn't want a marketing agency. They didn't want to manage ten different freelancers. They just wanted someone who could come in, understand the vision, and handle it. That's what we do.

The Message Behind the Message

Did we keep that exact "Business Partner in a Box" messaging? Not really. It was a stepping stone — one we needed — to get to where we are today. The truth is, the people who told me to niche down were smart, seasoned, and speaking from experience. But their advice — while well-intentioned — was based on models that already existed. They couldn’t see what we were building because it didn’t exist yet. We had to make it real first. And now that we have, it’s clear: we really are in a category of our own. If you're multi-skilled, multi-passionate, deeply capable — maybe you're not "unfocused." Maybe you're building something the world hasn't seen yet. And maybe that's the point.