Build a business that works for you

So it doesn't feel like you work for it.

A weekly email for business owners who want to make better decisions, build stronger systems and use AI intelligently, without losing sight of the life they are building the business for.

One thoughtful email each week. Unsubscribe anytime.

What got you here, may not get you there.

You are a capable business owner, who has built something real, but you know that effort alone isn't going to help you reach the next stage of your business.

Your business runs on a series of interconnected systems. When one is weak or not built, the business runs on you.

You make most of the decisions, solve the problems, keep up with customers, think about cashflow, try to understand AI, manage people or suppliers, and try to find time to actually think.

At some point, working harder stops being the answer.

The next stage of your business comes from building differently.

The Intentional Business newsletter helps you do that.

Your business is a system.

An Intentional Business aligns the needs of the owner with the business systems they create.

Because your business is a system. Marketing isn't separate from capacity, AI isn't separate from people. Growth isn't separate from cashflow. Leadership isn't separate from the life you want to live. They affect each other.

That's why every edition of The Intentional Business looks at business through six interconnected areas:

Human · Leadership · Business · Community · Capacity · Digital & AI

Each week, we'll explore parts of the system and help you understand what it means for the decisions you're making now.

That isn't because there's one right way to build a business, it's because there should be a more intentional way to build yours.

You &
Your Business

Six systems, one business

Intentional businesses have six interconnected systems. When they're not built or weak, the owner is the system.

We help you find the one holding you back, build it properly, then make the whole thing intelligent with AI.

Something useful, every week.

The Intentional Business is designed to help you stop, think and make better decisions.

One idea to help you see your business differently.

Evidence, observations and ideas about business, leadership, AI, customers, capability and the changing world of work.

One practical way to apply it.

Questions, frameworks and tools you can actually use in your business.

One question worth asking.

I believe that sometimes the most useful thing isn't another answer, it's recognising the decision you really need to make.

This isn't an endless stream of business hacks or pretending AI will solve everything. I'm definitely not telling you that you need to hustle harder. I just want to provide useful thinking for people building businesses that help them achieve what they want out of life, whether that's global domination or retiring in three years after working from a beach in Bali. That choice is yours.

Written by Sam Hurley.

I started my business in 2015 to initially help my friends and acquaintances navigate business, marketing, and all things digital. I got serious about impact, became a B Corp in 2019 and have conducted extensive research and development to be able to help people succeed in a short space of time.

For more than 20 years, I worked internationally in senior roles in sales, marketing, business development, digital transformation and creating systems of scale. Coupling my commercial experience with my academic background, we focus on your being able to build yourself and learning that stays with you, rather than you just listening to how someone else has done it and following their proven system.

Today, much of my work sits at the intersection of business systems, human capability and AI. I'm excited about the future and what this means for small businesses.

The Intentional Business is where I share ways to help you think about your business, what we're learning, what I'm questioning and the ideas I think are worth paying attention to. So you can make your own decisions about what comes next.

Your business doesn't need more noise.

It needs clearer thinking.

Join The Intentional Business and get one useful email each week to help you build a business that works better for your customers, your people and you.

Free to join.