I’ve run Visual Notion, my web design and development studio, for over 22 years. What began as branding, graphic design, and print work gradually shifted into a full focus on web design and development as client needs and opportunities pointed in that direction. The change served the business well.
Yet in recent years I noticed deeper strategic challenges in my clients’ companies that a new website alone could never fully address. These were meaningful opportunities to deliver higher-level impact, but Visual Notion wasn’t the right vehicle for them.
So I created New Caper (the name is derived from planning an escapade or short adventure). I think of it as the wiser, younger sibling that has learned from an older sibling’s experiences.
Even with more than two decades of expertise behind me, stepping into this new direction still carried real uncertainty. The work sits right next to what I already knew, yet I had to define clearly what I could and wanted to offer, how to position it, and how to reduce the unknowns enough to move forward with confidence.
The biggest lesson I took from the experience is one many business owners eventually face: you will almost never have complete certainty. The key is acting on reasonable certainty instead.
Some deeply targeted research and a few honest conversations with others who had made similar moves helped quiet the noise for me. Once the volume on my concerns lowered, it became clear the time was right to move forward.
Moments like these invite you to look at your own company with fresh eyes and naturally bring uncomfortable questions. We often understand our clients’ worlds better than we understand how to strategically grow and reposition our own businesses.
So where do you go from here?
The image with this post is a cropped version of Caspar David Friedrich’s 1818 painting, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog. It perfectly illustrates any leader standing at a crossroads:
- The fog obscures the path ahead, yet the peaks of opportunity are still visible. They give you something to plan for and move toward.
- When doubt thickens the fog and makes the next decision feel heavier, imagine the Wanderer looking back instead of forward. Look back at the peaks and valleys you’ve already conquered in your business. That reflection alone can restore the steady confidence you need for the next step.
At its core, the quality of the work you deliver for clients isn’t the issue. The real challenge is that after years of working in the business, you haven’t spent enough time working on it.
Now is the moment to change that. Make your company the priority. A practical place to start is to carve out even one focused hour or half-day per week to note the peaks you can already see, pick one that feels most important, and write down the very next small step you could take toward it. That single action often turns reasonable certainty into real forward movement.
I’m curious. What peak are you looking at right now? Feel free to send reply here or reach out directly.
