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Ten years of Starfish. Ten years in business gives you perspective you simply cannot shortcut.
It feels both long and not long at all. Some weeks feel like a decade on their own. Other years disappear in a blink.
But ten years is something worth celebrating and sharing. So you knew I was going to have to do an obligatory “what I’ve learnt”, didn’t you?
When I started Starfish, I wanted to do good marketing for small businesses who deserved proper support. Not hype. Not random activity. Actual strategy.
I believed small actions could make a real difference. That is the whole starfish story. You cannot fix everything. You cannot help everyone. But you can help one. And then another. And over time, that adds up.
And along the way, I’ve learnt a few things and a few lessons have stuck. Some were taught to me directly. Some were absorbed by watching what works. Some came from doing things the hard way.
Here are ten that I’ve learnt in ten years of Starfish. These are the lessons ten years in business has reinforced for me. I hope they help you too.
1. Do what you say you will
It sounds simple. It’s not.
Early in my career, working in hospitality, it became very obvious that people remember whether you follow through. They remember whether you show up when you said you would. They remember whether you respect them and if you keep your promises.
Marketing is no different.
In marketing, it's the same. If you say you will deliver something by Friday, you deliver it by Friday. If you set a standard, you stand by it.
And if something feels off or icky, you do not twist yourself into knots trying to justify it. You walk away.
Reputation is built quietly. And lost quickly.
2. Do not put a lit pipe in your pocket
Yes, that was actual advice given to me early in my marketing days in the wine industry.
On the surface, it's practical. Fire plus fabric equals regret.
But the deeper lesson is this. Think before you react.
Do not make decisions when you're fired up. Do not send the email when you're annoyed. Do not escalate something that would have resolved itself with a breath and a glass of water.
A lot of business damage happens in the heat of the moment.
Also, metaphorically speaking, do not set yourself on fire and then act surprised.
3. Empathy can be learned
This one shifted a lot for me because I grew up without a strong empathic role-model.
Empathy is not something you either have or do not have. It can be developed.
And it matters in both business and life.
Understanding where someone is coming from does not mean agreeing with them. It means listening properly. It means recognising context. It means responding thoughtfully rather than assuming intent.
You can hold high standards and still lead with empathy.
In fact, the two work better together.
4. Different is not evil
This one took me longer to understand.
If the outcome is right, and the process to get there is ethical, then doing it differently is not wrong. It's just different.
Not everyone will approach strategy the way I would. Not everyone will structure a project the way I would. Not everyone will communicate the way I would.
That does not automatically make it inferior.
Letting go of the need to control every step and recognising that there are multiple ways to reach a strong outcome made me a better consultant.
Sometimes the result matters more than whether it was done “my way”.
That shift changed a lot in how I work today.
5. Curiosity beats assumption
The best marketers I know are curious.
Marketing is not about guessing what you think will work. It's about understanding what actually matters to your ideal clients.
Why are they buying? Why are they hesitating? Why are they not responding?
The more curious you're, the better your marketing becomes.
The day you think you have nothing left to learn is the day you stop growing. And pretending you know it all is a very quick way to get left behind.
6. You do not have to agree, but you do have to listen
Some of the best business conversations I have had involved strong opinions on both sides.
Listening does not mean agreeing. It means being open enough to consider that you might not have the full picture.
It's very easy in business to surround yourself with people who think the same way you do. It feels comfortable. It's not always helpful.
Different perspectives sharpen thinking.
7. Thinking differently is the point
For a long time, I didn’t realise I thought differently. And then, when it was pointed out that I did, I wasn’t entirely sure whether thinking differently was a strength.
It does not always make you the easiest person in the room. You ask awkward questions. You challenge assumptions. You see patterns others don’t.
But that is exactly where strategy lives.
Different thinking creates positioning. It creates clarity. It creates stronger decisions.
Trying to sand that down would have made Starfish very average.
8. Community matters
This one is simple. We are not meant to do business alone.
The best parts of the last ten years have not been campaigns or revenue milestones. They have been the people.
The conversations. The support. The shared standards. The sense that we are building good businesses in the same community and that actually matters.
Community is about caring how other businesses are going. It's about wanting them to succeed, not because it benefits you, but because strong businesses create strong communities.
That belief sits underneath Starfish.
When one business is successful, it ripples. Small actions. Real impact. That is the starfish story in real life.
9. Collaboration will always beat competition
There is a strange narrative in business that there is not enough to go around.
I have found the opposite.
When you collaborate instead of compete, everyone wins. Work improves. Ideas improve. Opportunities expand.
The businesses that last are usually the ones who understand that backing others does not diminish you.
10. Bigger is not the goal
This one took time.
Growth for the sake of growth is exhausting. Bigger teams. Bigger overheads. Bigger pressure.
Success is personal.
For some people it's scale. For others it's flexibility. For others it's impact.
For me, it has always been about doing meaningful work with good people. Not chasing size for ego.
Sneaky 11. Some lessons come from watching what not to do
You do not only learn from great leaders and good mentors.
You also learn from watching behaviour that lacks integrity. From seeing how quickly trust can be damaged. From noticing what feels misaligned.
Those examples shape your standards just as much as the positive ones.
They clarify what you will not tolerate and what you will not become.
And a twelfth, because apparently I cannot stop at ten
12. Right person. Right job.
Do the work you love and that you're actually good at.
Outsource the rest.
You do not need to be brilliant at everything in your business. You just need to know what your zone is and stay in it.
Trying to do the stuff you dislike or do not understand usually costs more in time, energy and opportunity than paying someone who does it properly.
This applies to marketing. It applies to bookkeeping. It applies to tech. It applies to all of it.
Right person. Right job.
Business gets lighter when you accept that.
And a thirteenth, because I am clearly not a “follow the rules” person
13. Do your research.
Not vibes. Not hype. Not because someone on the internet said it's a good idea.
If you're going to say yes to an opportunity, invest money, change direction, hire someone, launch something, or jump on a shiny new thing, do your research first.
Check whether it aligns with your values and your goals.
Ask questions. Look for evidence. Get a second opinion if you need it.
Enthusiasm is great. Informed enthusiasm is better.
Why all this matters
Starfish was never about building an empire. Ten years in business has confirmed that impact matters more than scale.
It's about helping one business at a time. Doing the work properly. Backing good people. And making marketing feel simpler, more strategic, and fun.
Ten years in, the beach is still big. But so is the impact of picking up one starfish at a time.
And that feels like a pretty good way to keep going
