What I'd Do Differently If I Were Starting My OBM Business in 2026

Welcome back to the OBM show. Before we dive in, I want to take you back to a memory. I haven't shared in a while. I was with my laptop open and I had a coffee in front of me and I was crying with tears streaming down my face because I felt like nothing was landing. I didn't have any good quality clients. I wasn't making traction and I was really losing my confidence. And I remember turning to my husband and saying to him, there's no way that I can turn this into a real business. I felt like I had done everything and nothing was working, right? I worked hard. I said yes to every opportunity, bent over backwards, but I was undercharging, overdelivering, and I felt completely burnt out. So that was a huge turning point for me. It wasn't just a low moment. It was the moment that I decided that things had to change if I were ever to leave my corporate job and make this side gig my full-time job. And yet here we are, okay? Well, we're on the topic of building smarter, more strategic businesses. I want to make sure you know about all of our free tools and trainings waiting for you at OBMSchool.com/Resources. Inside, you'll find everything from systems templates and client management guides to many trainings, many live trainings that will help you strengthen your leadership and streamline how you run your business. And if you're ready to take the next step, maybe that's joining accelerator, maybe it's getting accredited or finding the right community to support your growth, you can explore all of our programs at OBMSchool.com/programs. Both pages are packed with practical tools and direction to help you move forward with clarity. So today I want to share something a little bit personal, something that I've been reflecting on a lot lately. And that is what I would do differently if I were starting my OBN business in 2026 because I've been in this space for over a decade. And well, some fundamentals have stayed the same. The landscape has really shifted and so have I. So this episode is part reflection, part strategy, and truly all heart. So every year when I reflect on this, and sometimes I do it more than once a year, I realize just how much has changed and what I would do differently if I had to start again today. So this isn't just some theoretical exercise. This is something that helps me think outside the box in my current business. And it helps me check in all the time and helps me stay sharp, stay grounded, and really stay aligned with what matters most. Welcome to the OBM show, the podcast that pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to thrive as an online business manager and help businesses scale without burning out. I'm your host, Sereno Ked, agency owner, OBM mentor, and founder of OBM School. I've been working in the back end of online businesses since 2009, building systems, managing remote teams, and mentoring OBMs who make businesses run like clockwork. Now, I've seen what works, what doesn't, and the messy middle that no one talks about. Here, we get real about the tools, strategies, and stories that drive sustainable success. Plus, the tech mishaps, growing pains, and lessons learned along the way. If you're ready to stop spinning your wheels, step into your leadership role, and see what actually happens behind the scenes of thriving businesses, you're in the right place. Let's get started. Now, if I were starting from scratch in 2026, here's the first thing that I would do. I'd spend less time getting everything perfect, and more time getting into room, getting into spaces where I can build relationships. Seriously, guys, when I started, I spent weeks obsessing over the perfect website, the right pricing, the cleanest onboarding workflow. But the thing that really moved the needle, the most was my relationships. And I have come to understand this over the course of my OBM business, that relationships, conversations, visibility. Now, I know how tempting it is to stay behind the scenes, tweaking your website or your camera graphics, or trying to master a new email marketing platform, telling yourself that you are being productive, but let's be real. That is usually procrastination in disguise, my friends. It is safe, it's quiet, and it is a trap. So instead of tinkering with fonts, or fiddling with your flow desk automations, I'd get out there, I'd show up in communities, I would get into our free Facebook group, the Confident OBM community, and I'd start contributing insights. I would go out there and I would try to connect with potential clients, get a feel for their pain points, maybe go to a live event, build relationships. I would even go so far as to start reaching out to my past corporate life, or past, maybe you've got entrepreneurs in your family, or in your close circles of friends. And I would start to connect with potential clients and get known, not just for what I could do, but for how I show up consistently and thoughtfully. I would prioritize relationship building as part of my weekly rhythm, and I'm big on that. I'd follow up with people, I would connect with them in the comments, hopping into their DMs, not to pitch, but to genuinely connect. And my friends, this involves getting out of the house, right? I would look up networking events. Even the kind that makes me slightly uncomfortable, and that is all of the above. Whether it's a local marketing meetup, or a big digital summit, or a panel, where I knew I'd be the newest person in the room, I'd still go. Because the energy that you get from being around other professionals is electric. And in an industry where most people work from home in their yoga pants and slippers, just showing up in person already puts you ahead of the curve. These people understand online businesses. They hire a remote team, especially those digital marketing conferences. And they're more happy to refer somebody they trust, which starts with meeting them face-to-face. Because this isn't just about visibility. It's about presence, my friends. And when you're present, when you're seen, and when you're consistent, that's when trust gets built. And trust, that's what books clients. So I'd also really lead with my transferable skills. Okay, when you're starting fresh, it's easy to overlook what you already know, right? You assume that, unless you've worked in online business before, your skills don't count. But they do. In fact, they're your advantage. So I come from running a landscaping business, right? At the beginning. And well, it had nothing to do with the online world on the surface. I had everything I needed to thrive. I knew how to manage a team. After all, I had a team of landscapers. I knew how to work with clients. I was doing a little bit of sales. I knew how to keep projects on track and deliver great experiences for my clients. Those are OBM skills. And at the time, I didn't realize it as much as I know now. So if I could go back, I wouldn't name them. I would have owned them. I would have built my messaging around them from day one. I would have spoken up sooner. I can remember countless discovery calls where I danced around my experience instead of owning it, right? At the beginning, I never once mentioned the fact that I had a landscaping business, right? Because I thought it would like make them think that it wasn't connected. So where I tried to talk like somebody else instead of using my own voice, you know, if I had done that, if I were starting again, I would really trust that my background however unconventional is and was a part of my power, right? You don't just need to wait to feel ready. You just need to start where you are with what you have. Now, let's talk about offers because this is also where so many new OBMs get stuck, right? Trying to too many offers or trying to offer everything to everyone, what I lovingly call the "yes to everything," people pleaser package. And look, I say that with love because that was me too. When I first started out, I said yes to every single request, right? That scarcity mindset, right? Someone would ask, can you build this one-off funnel? Sure. Do you also manage social media? Absolutely. Can you hop on at 9 p.m. my time? Of course, right? And guess what? I wasn't just underpaid. I was resentful, exhausted, and stuck in a cycle that made me feel like a glorified task robot. So what shifted everything for me was introducing what I now lovingly call my dating project, right? A term that I use to describe the breakthrough strategy session that we teach inside of every single OBM school program, right? Because this is a big thing for me. This is a short term, high-value project, designed to showcase your expertise, build trust, and clarify whether the client is right or fit for more, right? So this was a real game changer for me in my own business, but it took me years, years to understand, and it really allows me to stop bending over backwards and start leading the engagement from day one. So if I were starting in 2026, I wouldn't just be clear on what I enjoy doing, I would be intentional about how I invite people into my world. I'd stop offering vague, open-ended retainers, and I would start with more concrete, transformative strategy sessions that pave the way for deeper work. I would talk about outcomes, not just tasks, because people don't pay premium rates for support. They pay for clarity, for leadership, for transformation. So let me give you an example. So one of our accredited students came into the program offering general OBM services, things like calendar management, project coordination. I would say like a little bit of everything, but it wasn't until she owned her background in HR and teen dynamics that things really clicked. She repositioned her offer around team operations, onboarding, hiring, leadership structure. Within just a few weeks, she had multiple high retainer clients reaching out to her why, because she leaned into her edge. She stopped being that generalist and really started being the go-to OBM for team growth. So if you're not sure about where to start, think about what lights you up, what kind of problems that you love solving, what kind of work feels effortless, even if it's challenging, right? That's your starting point and test your offers, see what sticks, don't wait for perfect, iterate and build as you go. And finally, if I were starting in 2026, I would get support early. Not just courses or templates, but real support, community, mentorship, feedback, accountability. I didn't have any of this when I started and I spun my wheels for too long, for years too long. I now know that the fastest way to build a business is not by doing more, but by getting clearer sooner. And inside the OBM school, I've watched students collapse timelines that used to take me years. They show up, they ask questions, they plug into mentorship, they join the trending calls, the hot seat coaching, the co-working sessions, and they grow faster because they're not doing it alone. Before we wrap up, don't forget you can grab a ton of free tools, templates and trainings to help you grow as an online business manager at obmschool.com/resources. And when you're ready for your next step, whether that's joining the OBM Accelerator or becoming an accredited OBM or connecting with our advanced community, everything you need to know is waiting for you at obmschool.com, forward slash programs. Thanks so much for tuning into today's episode. If this episode gave you clarity courage or just that little nudge that you need it, send it to a fellow OBM or friend who might need it too. Subscribe, leave a review and stay close because this year we're not just growing businesses, we're building legacies. I'll catch you in the next episode.