{"id":349283,"date":"2025-12-18T08:55:39","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T08:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/business\/internet-business\/7-lessons-i-learnt-in-2025\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T08:55:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T08:55:39","slug":"7-lessons-i-learnt-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=349283","title":{"rendered":"7 Lessons I Learnt In 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"


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2025 is nearly over and at the end of every year (as part of my annual planning process) I look back over the year, review the data and then reflect on my experience and the lessons I\u2019ve learnt. Since 2020, I have shared 7 of the lessons I have learnt. You can check out the lessons I\u2019ve learnt from previous years here (2024<\/a>, 2023<\/a>, 2022<\/a>,\u00a0 2021, <\/a>2020).<\/a> And keep on reading to find out the 7 lessons I learnt in 2025.<\/p>\n

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This page may include affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I may earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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7 LESSONS I LEARNT IN 2025<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

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Lesson 1: Loving leaning into being the Annual Planning Queen<\/b><\/h2>\n

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I\u2019ve been offering annual planning Strategy Days<\/a> for a number of years and in November 2024 I hosted 2025 Visionary CEO Planning Day LIVE \u2013 my group planning events to help business owners create their annual plan. Running that event in November 2024 and then another in January 2025 really gave me the confidence on being able to use my annual planning framework at scale to help business owners plan. This resulted in really focusing on being the Annual Planning Queen.<\/p>\n

In addition to continuing with offering the one-to-one strategy days (virtually and online),<\/a> I ran an in-person 2026 Visionary CEO Planning Day and at the time of writing this tickets are onsale for the first online version of the 2026 Visionary CEO Planning Day in January 2026.\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n

Not only\u00a0 am I focusing on the business owners I can help directly through my services, but I\u2019ve also started to speak on podcasts about annual planning. And I am loving it!<\/p>\n\n

You can hear me speaking about annual planning on the Making Good: Small Business Podcast here<\/a> and the indie business club podcast here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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As I go into 2026, I have set my first ever impact goal \u2013 To help 1,000 business owners create an annual plan.\u00a0Does this feel crazy ambitious? YES. But am I excited for the challenge? YES!<\/p>\n

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Want to create the annual plan that will enable you to have your best year yet in business? <\/strong><\/p>\n

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Success doesn\u2019t happen by accident and growing your business on your terms means having to make strategic decisions and take intentional actions.<\/p>\n

My annual planning process will enable you to get crystal clear on what your business needs to be like to support your dream life, and then have a roadmap for actually achieving your business goals.<\/p>\n

For all the information and to book click here<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

Lesson 2: The Joy of Laptop-Free Holidays<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As someone who predominantly works online, I do love the joy of having an independent location business where I can work from anywhere and everywhere. That has often meant in the past I would take workcations where I would travel to somewhere warmer (usually Spain or Portugal) and work for a few hours in the morning, then enjoy the rest of day. However, in 2025, I wanted to take some proper holidays and so for the first time since going full-time in my business, I left my laptop at home.<\/p>\n

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From that very first laptop-free holiday back in April, I was hooked and ended up going on three laptop-free holidays. Getting to this position has meant having to make some changes in my business and putting in some systems. And has it meant sometimes pulling a late night before flying out \u2013 yes!<\/p>\n

Looking for 2026 and beyond, I absolutely will be a business owner that does laptop-free holidays and workcations, but I am determined to ensure I don\u2019t slip back into workcations just because I think they are \u2018easier\u2019 because the reality is it is so freeing and restorative to properly take extended time completely off work.<\/p>\n

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Lesson 3: Building a Circle of Communities That Supports You From Different Angles<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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In March 2025, I attended Digital Women Live \u2013 Digital Upskilling Festival in Birmingham. One of the sessions was \u2018How to Build Your Personal & Business Networks for Success\u2019 by Ayo Abbas from Abbas Marketing. In this session, Ayo spoke about building a network of communities that support your different needs and it really stuck with me and was part of the reason why I created The Unbound.<\/p>\n

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Whilst there are lots of conversation about the importance of having the right community around you as a business owner what I liked about Ayo\u2019s session was, it made me think not about expecting there to be one community that filled all of my requirements, but choosing communities that may support one specific area. So it might be you choose a community to connect with others based on profession, location, parental status, ethnicity or sexual orientation. And the power is in building a circle of communities where depending on what you are dealing with you feel you are in a safe space to be open, ask questions and be supported.<\/p>\n

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Lesson 4: The Reality of Talking About Being Childfree Online<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In September 2025, I (with Sophie Lee) launched The Unbound, a community for women without children in business. We\u2019d had the idea earlier on in the year, and after going to an event where I received The Unmusmy Mum book I decided enough was enough, and it was time to actually do something.<\/p>\n

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\"Charelle<\/p>\n

Talking about being childfree online has been interesting to say the least. Firstly, I realised just how invisible childfree women are. There were women who I already knew from other business communities and from being online, but I had no idea they were childfree. So in many ways, I had been feeling more of an outsider and odd one out than I needed to be.<\/p>\n

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Talking about being childfree online also makes some people very angry. There were a number of people who challenged us for unnecessarily creating a space for childfree women and for dividing women even further when it wasn\u2019t necessary. What I find fascinating about this is that the divide has existed for a long time. There is no denying that the experience of running a business is different whether you have children or not. That\u2019s why there are so many communities that focus on supporting Mums. Yet the moment we create one for those without children, that is when it\u2019s a problem \u2013 very odd!<\/p>\n

Want to know more about joining The Unbound? DM me saying UNBOUND on Instagram<\/a> or LinkedIn.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Lesson 4: Speaking as a Profession vs Speaking as Marketing<\/b><\/h2>\n\n

In 2024, I delivered my first keynote speech and I knew instantly I wanted to do more public speaking. However, speaking is very interesting in the business world. There are events where you are paid to speak, there are events where you\u2019ll be asked to speak for free, and there are events where you\u2019ll have to pay to speak. Now being asked to speak for free (never mind being charged to speak) makes some business owners mad. However, as I often say to people it might look like you are playing the same game as someone else, but in reality you aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n

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If a business owner sees speaking on stage as a marketing tool and therefore they are happy to speak for free or even pay, then I have no problem with that. But that isn\u2019t how I like to approach speaking. I\u2019m a Strategist and Speaker. Speaking is an income stream in my business, and therefore, I focus on paid speaking gigs.<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s my speaking \u2018wrapped\u2019 for 2025<\/p>\n

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\ud83c\udfa4 2 paid, onstage speeches<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfa4 1 radio interview<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfa4 2 live events \u2013 2025 Visionary CEO Planning Day and 2026 Visionary CEO Planning Day<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfa4 5 online training sessions<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfa4 3 times a guest on a podcast<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfa4 12 sessions as the host of PropelHer\u2019s Book Club<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfa4 12 episodes of the Making Good Book Club<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfa4 40-something lives on Instagram and LinkedIn<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfa4 250+ TikTok videos<\/p>\n

If you are looking for a speaker for 2026 you can check out my speaker page here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Lesson 6: \u2018Soft Girl Era\u2019<\/b><\/h2>\n

In 2025 I decided I would lean into my Soft Girl Era. After pretty much feeling like I\u2019d been hustling HARD since starting PropelHer back in 2016, and then having a very second half of 2024 whilst grieving I decided in 2025 things had to be different.<\/p>\n

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I challenge myself to ask the question \u201cIs there a way this could be easier or simpler?\u201d.<\/p>\n

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And at the start of the year, I wrote down the following bullet points as to what I thought the Soft Girl Era would mean.<\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udc96 Not taking on task engines<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc96 Embracing more evegreen marketing (less launches)<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc96 Less overpreparing<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc96 Reducing TIkTok from 7 times per week to 5 times per week (social media free weekends)<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc96 Focusing on monthly recurring revenue<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc96 Look for ways to rinse and repeat<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc96 Encourage repeat business \u2013 maximise lifetime client value<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc96 Online over offline (so no travel etc \u2013 unless it is for a paid speaking thing or an event I want to go to)<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc96 Recycle and repurpose<\/p>\n

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On reflection at the end of the year the biggest changes I made were really looking at ways to evergreen, rinse and repeat, and recyle and repupose. In 2025, I tried my hardest not to start something from scratch or create something new unnecessarily.<\/p>\n

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I focused on creating my signature talks and training, such as \u2018Visibility without Virality\u2019, which I have delivered multiple times, whereas historically I\u2019d create a new talk or training every time.<\/p>\n

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I looked for ways to repurpose and recycle my content even more than I had previously. For example, I hadn\u2019t been repurposing my TikTok videos but now I also post them on Pinterest, Instagram Trial Reels and YouTube Shorts.<\/p>\n

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I did create a few new offers, but these were specifically for turning new subscribers into clients or turning existing clients into repeat clients.<\/p>\n

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Overall, I have learnt that there are definitely ways to run my business that are easier and simpler, and I will keep this in mind as I go forward. However, in 2026, I\u2019m definitely going to allow myself more freedom around trying new things and I have one major new project that I\u2019m very excited for.<\/p>\n

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Lesson 7: <\/b>Letting Go And Making Space\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Technically I haven\u2019t learnt this lesson yet, but the wheels are in motion. After 10 years I decided to close PropelHer\u2019s Book Club. PropelHer\u2019s Book Club was a non-fiction book club for ambitious women that I started in 2016 and met monthly. For the last decade, it has been a massive part of my life and it totally changed the trajectory of my life. I have no doubt without PropelHer this business wouldn\u2019t exist and you wouldn\u2019t be reading this blog post.<\/p>\n\n

And then since December 2021 I have co-hosted the Making Good Book Club with Lauren Tilden.<\/p>\n\n

After 10 years of PropelHer\u2019s Book Club and 4 years of Making Good Book Club I have decided that both needed to come to an end. Making this decision was not easy, but as just one woman I can\u2019t do everything and I definitely am letting go and making space for the next thing.<\/p>\n\n

Once making the decision, I have seen a number of social media posts about 2025\/26 being the Chinese Year of the Snake and that involves shredding, which feels perfectly aligned.<\/p>\n\n

As I learnt in 2024, not everything is meant to last forever. There are seasons in life and sometimes you have to make tough decisions and bring a season to an end. Sometimes we make space knowing it is for something else. In my case I\u2019m not sure what is next, but I know giving myself the space is important.<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s it. <\/b>You now know the 7 lessons I learnt in 2025.<\/b><\/strong><\/h2>\n

I hope reading this post inspires you to take a moment to think about what you learnt in 2025. As business owners we can learn so much from the good and bad in business. But you have to take a moment to stop and think.<\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t already reviewed your year and would like to do so, you can access some of my annual planning reflection questions here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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TAKE THE LESSONS YOU\u2019VE LEARNT THIS YEAR AND MAKE NEXT YEAR EVEN BETTER.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reviewing and reflecting is the first part of my annual planning process because you need to understand where your business is (and why) before trying to move it forward.<\/p>\n

If you want to grow your business in 2026 and would like some business strategy or mentoring help you can click here to check out my services.<\/a><\/p>\n

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