If you’ve followed my journey for a while, you already know I didn’t start with a “perfect” business story.
I was a hotel receptionist with anxiety, working night shifts in a tiny 20m² apartment with no real desk, printing vision board photos during my breaks because I desperately wanted a different life.
Picture for proof:
From there, I quit the hotel job, traveled to 26 countries, built a business from scratch, and somehow ended up creating a full-time income that’s now triple my hotel salary, all from one digital offer and a whole lot of writing.
Now thousands of people read my email diaries and blog every month, and my community has grown to 30k in less than a year.
But before it ever looked like this…
It looked like: broke, confused, overwhelmed, knee-deep in debt, and Googling “how to start an online income stream” in a shoebox apartment.
That’s why I feel confident saying this: If I had to start over today with no audience, no money, no momentum… I know exactly what I’d do.
I’ve already done it the messy, stressful way once before, and this time I’d skip all the chaos and go straight to what actually works.
So I’m giving you the exact blueprint I’d hand my past self.
Let’s get into it.
I’d Choose One Clear Problem I Can Help Someone With (Not Trends!)
If I were starting from scratch today, I wouldn’t waste a single second trying to create a brand-new niche or forcing myself into something that doesn’t feel natural.
I’d simply look at my own life and ask: “What did I once struggle with that I’ve now figured out well enough to help someone else with?”
People think they need a huge transformation before they’re “qualified,” but most online businesses are built from real-life experiences, the things you’ve already solved for yourself without even realizing they count.
A few examples of things that make perfect niches (and yes, these ALL sell):
• Have you moved abroad or traveled solo and figured out how to do it safely, affordably, or in a soft-luxury way?
• Have you cleared hormonal acne or healed your skin naturally, without medication or expensive treatments?
• Have you gone through a major life pivot like a breakup, a move, a health challenge and come out with a process someone else could follow?
• Have you learned how to work remotely, freelance, or create digital income in a way you could explain to another beginner?
• Have you gone through burnout so deeply that you had to rebuild your entire lifestyle, and now you actually know how to prevent it in a way other women would love to learn?
• Have you learned how to eat intuitively or build a healthier relationship with food after years of stress around it?
• Have you decluttered your home, simplified your space, or created an aesthetic minimalist lifestyle that brings you peace?
These are all problems someone else is still stuck in and your lived experience is more valuable than any certification.
When you choose a problem you’ve personally experienced, everything becomes easier:
You write with clarity because you’ve lived it.
You create offers that feel natural because they come from your own story.
You attract the right people because they recognize themselves in you.
And most importantly, nothing feels forced, it’s just you sharing what you already know works.
The First Thing I’d Build… My Email List
If I had nothing, absolutely nothing, my email list would be the first thing I rebuild.
It’s the part of my business that has saved me through every platform drop, every rebrand, every quiet season, every “oh no, my engagement is dead” moment.
A tiny email list beats 10,000 followers on a platform you don’t control.
In fact, ALL my revenue is coming from my email list, not social media.
To build an email list, you need to create something so amazing that people would love to give their email address in exchange.
I’d create something tiny like a checklist, a mini guide/course, a vision board template, whatever feels easy but useful but is also related to the topic aka niche you talk about online.
The goal isn’t to impress people, it’s to open the door and say, “Hey, I can help.”
Then I’d write a short welcome email, something personal, nothing fancy, and let that be the start of everything else.
I Would Also Build My Blog Right From The Start
If I had to begin all over again, I would start my blog immediately, even if I didn’t feel ready and even if I felt like “who am I to write anything?”
My blog is the reason people spend time in my world.
It’s where they read my thoughts without rushing. It’s where they learn who I am without needing me to “hook them in three seconds.”
It’s the foundation of my brand, and the piece of my business that works for me whether I’m in Bali, Finland, or on a plane somewhere else.
A single blog post can bring in readers and email subscribers for months or even years.
A social media post can disappear by tomorrow morning.
If I were building from zero, I’d write one honest post, something I wish someone had told me back when I was packing hotel laundry carts for minimum wage.
And I’d let that be the beginning.
I Would Pick One Social Platform That Actually Feels Like Me
Not three.
Not five.
ONE PLATFORM.
I wasted so much energy trying to be the girl who posts reels every day, even though creating video content made me want to evaporate into thin air.
So, the moment I allowed myself to lean into writing on Threads, blogging, and email… everything finally felt natural.
And that’s when my business took off.
If I had to restart my entire audience from zero, I’d choose the platform that matches my energy, not the platform everyone is screaming about.
It doesn’t matter which you pick as long as you can show up there consistently without ruining your mental health.
I’d Build One Signature Offer and Stick With It (Because People Trust Clarity)
If I had to start from zero again, I would make my life a whole lot easier by creating one signature offer and giving myself time to actually get good at selling it.
Not five offers, not a new idea every month, not constant pivots every time something feels slow.
Just one solid offer with one clear purpose.
Here’s why… when you have only one offer, everything else becomes simpler. Your messaging gets clearer. Your content makes more sense. Your blog posts naturally lead somewhere.
People understand what you do and who you help without you having to reinvent yourself every week.
Most beginners including me, years ago get stuck in this constant loop of “maybe this idea will work better” or “maybe I need ten different income streams.” But usually, nothing is wrong with the offer.
The real issue is that it hasn’t been given enough time, consistency, or visibility to actually catch on.
Focusing on one offer isn’t about limiting yourself. It’s about giving your business a strong foundation instead of building 20 tiny foundations that never become anything.
It also saves you a lot of stress, because you’re not juggling a million ideas. You can pour your energy into improving one thing at a time which is a lot easier on your nervous system too.
Also with one offer, you don’t have to constantly create new products. Instead, you refine the messaging, learn what people are truly struggling with, and understand how your offer fits into their life.
Selling becomes less about “strategy” and more about genuinely helping someone solve a problem you understand.
I’d Keep My Mindset Steady and Stop Expecting Instant Results
Starting over is uncomfortable and honestly, I used to make it even harder on myself by expecting things to work immediately.
If something didn’t “take off” in the first week, I spiraled into thinking I was doing everything wrong.
It took me years to understand that nothing in business grows at the speed social media makes you believe it does.
People online show their highlight reels, the one launch that went well, the viral post, the suddenly booked-out calendar but you rarely see the five failed ideas before that, the years of experimenting, the countless pivots, the skills they built long before anyone noticed.
Most people don’t just wake up one morning, decide to start an online business, and hit six figures in a few months.
And once I understood that, everything got easier.
So if I were rebuilding today, I’d remind myself daily that slow growth isn’t embarrassing, it’s normal, and it usually means you’re building something real instead of chasing quick wins.
I’d stop judging myself based on one quiet week, and focus more on the small, consistent things my future self would be grateful for.
That’s the part you actually control.
Final Thoughts
If I had to sum everything up, it would be this… building something from scratch isn’t about being perfect or fast, it’s about giving yourself enough room to grow into the version of you who can actually handle the life you want.
When I look back, the things that moved my business forward were never big dramatic actions.
It was choosing one direction, sticking to it even when it felt awkward, and trusting that small progress still counts.
You don’t need to magically “figure out your whole life” before you start. You just need one step that feels doable today and the courage to keep going even when it’s quiet.
That’s honestly how everything I’ve created began, not with massive confidence, but with tiny decisions that eventually added up.
Where To Begin If You’re Feeling The Pull
Her Soft Blog Mini-Playbook – If you want a pretty, simple blog that you can grow from your sofa, a café, or anywhere warm and sunny, this mini-playbook shows you how to set it up, write posts people love, and turn it into a gentle income stream.
Her Soft Digital Empire Playbook – If you want the full foundation aka your own personal brand, email list, storytelling, and one clear offer to grow with, this is the program that teaches exactly how I built my business from scratch.
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