The Most Expensive Thing in Your Business Might Be What You Refuse to Let Go Of
September 24th, 2026 by Diane Conklin under Business - General, Business Strategy. No Comments.
We spend a lot of time talking about what we need to add to a business.
Another offer.
Another funnel.
Another platform.
Another hire.
Another social media strategy.
Another course.
Another marketing tactic.
But sometimes the thing costing your business the most isn’t something you need to add.
It’s something you refuse to let go of.
An offer that no longer makes sense.
A process that requires too much manual work.
A client type that drains more than it produces.
A delivery method that worked beautifully years ago but has become a nightmare.
A marketing strategy that used to work and now requires twice the effort for half the result.
And sometimes it’s simply the belief that because you’ve always done something, you have to keep doing it.
That’s where “Maybe I need to blow it up and start something new” can become useful.
Not because you should actually destroy everything.
But because sometimes you need permission to question everything.
Joan kept quilting.
She stopped hauling quilts across the country in her car.
The quilting was valuable.
The hauling wasn’t.
Imagine if Joan had decided that because hauling quilts was exhausting, she had to quit quilting altogether.
She would have thrown away the valuable part because she was unwilling to change the expensive part.
Business owners do this all the time.
They get frustrated with the way their business operates and decide the business itself must be the problem.
It may not be.
The model may be the problem.
The delivery may be the problem.
Pricing may be the problem.
The customer acquisition method may be the problem.
The amount of complexity may be the problem.
The fact that you’re doing everything may be the problem.
This is where shame gets in your way.
Because if you’re ashamed that something isn’t working, you don’t want to examine it.
You want to defend it.
You want to tell yourself you just need to work harder.
You need more discipline.
You need to be more consistent.
You need to post more.
You need to sell more.
You need to try one more strategy.
But sometimes the strongest business decision you can make is to say:
“This isn’t working anymore. And that’s okay.”
Once you can say that without shame, you can finally make a rational decision.
You keep what’s valuable.
Eliminate what’s expensive.
You redesign what’s outdated.
Build around what the market wants now instead of what it wanted ten years ago.
You don’t have to prove that the old way was bad.
You just have to admit that it isn’t the best way forward.
That’s not failure.
That’s business.
The businesses that survive aren’t the ones that never change.
They’re the ones willing to change without throwing away everything they’ve learned.
Take a hard look at your business.
What are you still doing simply because you’ve always done it?
What are you carrying because you’re afraid to admit it’s no longer necessary?
What part of the business is actually valuable?
And what part are you hauling around in the trunk of your car?
Keep the expertise.
Keep the relationships.
Keep the reputation.
Keep the years.
But you don’t have to keep carrying the quilts.
To Your Success –
