After sharing my mistakes with you all last week, I got so many messages from fellow entrepreneurs going through the same stuff. Thanks for all your support.

Many of you asked: “What now? How do you move forward after such tough realizations?”

My answer is simple but painful: I’ve stopped building the business I dreamed about and started building the business that actually works.

Here’s what I’m doing differently now:

• Looking at numbers before making decisions, not after

• Saying no to projects that don’t make financial sense, even when I want to say yes

• Being upfront with my team about where we stand instead of protecting them from reality

• Investing in people only after they’ve proven their value, not before

• Setting clear expectations rather than hoping for the best

• Measuring performance by results, not effort or intentions

• Accepting that sometimes good people aren’t good for the business

• I’ve stopped chasing team size and started chasing sustainability

• I’ve replaced “what feels good” with “what produces results”

• I’ve started treating Uptech like a business, not a family

• Created decision framework that requires both heart AND numbers

The surgery was painful but the healing has begun. Downsizing by 30% meant letting go of people I genuinely cared about. Creating stricter policies meant abandoning some of my idealistic principles. Facing our financial reality meant admitting how much my emotional decisions had cost us.

But that painful surgery was necessary. The business is smaller now, but it’s real. The team is leaner but more aligned. The goals are fewer but actually achievable.

For the first time in years, I see a clear path forward. The constant anxiety and confusion that came from running a business on emotions has started to lift. I have stopped trying to be everyone’s hero and started being a proper business owner.

Sometimes the most painful decisions are the ones that finally let you breathe again.