On Business Planning and Strategic Thinking Mindset Shifts with Sophie Greenwood of the Creative Incubator
This is a summary of the private podcast interview I did with my Capacity Planning Coach, Sophie Greenwood of The Creative Incubator.
Sophie drops so many gems in this episode I wanted summarize them into an easy to read blog post.
I highly recommend you also listen in to the podcast interview. Note it follows an unconventional format -we did this as a back and forth asynchronous Voxer convo, so don’t be surprised at the beeps between each of us responding. Get the entire series here.
MEET SOPHIE GREENWOOD
In this convo, I ask Sophie her best advice on time management and goal setting for eCommerce store owners.
- Why she recommends leaning into your past work experience and expertise to run a smoother business.
- The importance of time tracking and really knowing how long it takes to get something done.
- The backstory and evolution of her highly successful marketplace sales business the Super Seconds Festival.
Sophie Greenwood
Find Sophie at https://www.thecreativeincubator.co.uk/
and https://www.supersecondsfestival.co.uk/
Sophie is a business mentor who works with small creatively minded businesses to support them with organising ideas, planning and accountability, all with a focus on creative thinking. She specialises in helping entrepreneurs to plan their time and capacity. Sophie is also the Founder of Super Seconds Festival, a UK-based online fair for e-commerce makers to sell seconds and end of line stock.
EP 9. Sophie Greenwood:
Doing it All As A Multi-Passionate Business Owner
Tina: What mindset shifts have you personally experienced or ones that you think are important for e-commerce entrepreneurs, specifically when it comes to time management, planning, and big goals?
Sophie: A massive mindset shift for me was realizing that I needed to implement operational skills I'd previously used leading a team of 15 people into my own creative business. I started as a printmaker selling products and teaching classes, and before I knew it, my business was scattered. Many e-commerce entrepreneurs start from passion, which is wonderful, but they may not step back to assess what's actually working. Try bringing skills from other parts of your life—perhaps from previous jobs—into your current business.
Key Takeaway: The transition from passion project to sustainable business requires intentionally applying professional skills you may already possess from previous experiences. Look to your past roles for structural frameworks that can give shape to your creative venture.
On Balancing Vision with Execution
Sophie: Having big dreams and long-term plans is crucial in business, but one mindset shift I'd recommend is also focusing on the details to determine whether your bigger picture is achievable. Write down all your big ideas and dreams with ideal timelines, then challenge yourself to focus on the specific processes needed to achieve these steps. Some people are naturally process-driven while others naturally focus on the bigger picture—whichever you are, getting someone to help with your complementary skills can be invaluable.
Tina: I see that all the time—people put heavier weight on non-revenue generating activities. They'll stress about social media posts rather than sending emails that would actually generate revenue.
Key Takeaway: Entrepreneurial success requires both visionary thinking and practical execution. Create space for your big ideas, but pair them with detailed roadmaps and external perspectives that can help translate dreams into measurable progress.
On Time Management Frameworks
Sophie: For time management, I recommend thinking about your business time as units that can be tracked. Even if it feels uncomfortable, try tracking your time for just a month to understand where it's going. I use an app called Harvest for this. Another simple but effective mindset approach is thinking about tasks as either "rubber ball" or "glass ball" tasks. If you dropped it today, would it smash or would it bounce? This helps prioritize what truly needs immediate attention.
Tina: The rubber ball versus glass ball concept is brilliant! It provides a visual representation for prioritization. What I've also learned is that whatever time I think a task will take, I double it on my calendar. The execution might take an hour, but we forget about the thinking time required to get into task mode—the brainstorming, research, and inspiration gathering.
Key Takeaway: Quantifying time creates awareness that intuition alone cannot provide. Whether through formal tracking or mental frameworks like the glass/rubber ball distinction, developing a more conscious relationship with time allows entrepreneurs to allocate this finite resource toward what truly matters.
On Facing Business Challenges
Sophie: Another important mindset shift is facing your business fears head-on and considering outsourcing where possible. Some people hate finances, others dislike social media. Instead of ignoring these aspects, be realistic about whether you need to do them yourself. If budget allows, having someone help even for a couple of hours monthly can be an absolute game-changer, allowing you to focus on strategy.
Tina: I agree that everyone should have some kind of coach, mentor, or business bestie—somebody who understands business, has been in the trenches, and can see when you're getting distracted. Especially for creative people, it's easy to think "maybe if I just launch one more product, everything will be better" when usually there's an underlying problem with systems or finances.
Key Takeaway: Sustainable entrepreneurship requires both honest self-assessment about your limitations and the wisdom to seek appropriate support. External perspective often provides the clarity needed to distinguish between necessary pivots and distracting tangents.
On Building Community-Driven Marketplaces
Tina: Could you share more about Super Seconds Festival and how you created this marketplace for makers to sell their seconds inventory?
Sophie: Super Seconds Festival grew organically during lockdown when I realized other makers had seconds and samples piling up at home. It's like Black Friday but with more soul—makers sell their seconds at discounted prices in a coordinated event. When creating a marketplace, three elements are crucial: community, branding, and organization. Having a USP is essential—ours is selling seconds and building a solid community around that concept. Rebranding with professional illustration was a turning point when I started taking the event seriously.
Tina: I love that you've created a community of artists and makers who support each other while giving them both educational tools and a selling platform. The lesson I took away is the importance of moving from competition to collaboration, and the value of strong branding—yours started with just a hashtag!
Key Takeaway: Collaborative entrepreneurship can create opportunities that individual efforts cannot. By focusing on community building, distinctive branding, and systematic organization, entrepreneurs can transform shared challenges into collective strengths that benefit all participants.
The Reflective Entrepreneur's Path
What emerges from this conversation isn't a prescription for overnight success but rather an invitation to more thoughtful entrepreneurship. Sophie and Tina illustrate how sustainable business growth emerges not from relentless hustle or dramatic pivots, but from intentional integration of professional expertise, careful prioritization, and meaningful community connection.
The most profound mindset shift may be seeing entrepreneurship less as a solitary pursuit defined by constant expansion, and more as a reflective practice that balances ambition with sustainability, vision with execution, and independence with interconnection. This balanced approach creates space not just for business growth, but for the personal fulfillment that inspired the entrepreneurial journey in the first place.