Fit Matters More

There’s a point in every founder’s journey where the opportunity in front of you looks good on paper - the funding amount available, well-known brand association, maybe even aligned in funding theme, but something quietly doesn’t sit right.

And here’s the truth most people won’t say out loud:
Not every opportunity is meant for you.

It might be too early.
It might be pulling you off course.
Or it might be funding something that feels strategic to them, but tangential to your actual business priorities.

And still, because there is cash available, we feel pressure to go for it.
To throw time, energy, and resources into the submission.
To say yes - because it’s there.

But sometimes, the wisest decision is to step back.
Not because you're underqualified. But because you're clear.
Because fit matters more than funding.

The Quiet Cost of Misalignment

Founders often tell me they’re burned out, not by the hustle, but by the false starts. The applications that went nowhere. The decks that led to “let’s revisit next quarter.” The tenders, challenges, or grants that sounded promising but, in the end, diverted them from what their business actually needed.

These moments are rarely dramatic.
They’re quiet.
They start with curiosity and end with a feeling of “Why did I spend all that time on something that was never going to fit?”

We rarely account for these costs.
But they’re real.

• The hours reading and researching

• The days spent redrafting responses

• The sleepless nights spent wondering if this will be the thing that changes it all

And the opportunity cost? Enormous. That’s time you didn’t spend:

• Closing sales

• Nurturing partnerships

• Refining your product

• Serving the customers already backing you

We call it “capacity building.”
But for too many founders, it’s a capacity drain.

Readiness Isn’t Just About Compliance

Being “grant ready” doesn’t mean you’ve got a pretty pitch deck or a folder of templates.

It means you know:

• What kind of funding supports your growth, not just your survival

• Whether your business model aligns with what the funder is truly looking for

• If the timelines, deliverables, and reporting make sense in the context of your current operations

• Whether you have the internal bandwidth to deliver what you say you're going to deliver 

Because if the opportunity requires you to reshape your business to fit the funding, rather than the funding fuelling your existing direction - that’s a massive red flag.

Let’s Talk About Fit

As founders, we talk about ambition.
We talk about resilience.
We talk about hustle.

But we rarely talk about the quiet decision to not do something.
To say, “This isn’t right. Not like this. Not right now.”

That takes discernment. And frankly, it takes privilege. Not every founder can afford to walk away from a funded path. But the more we normalise this kind of decision-making, the more we treat alignment as a strategic asset, the stronger we become.

Because when you only pursue the opportunities that truly fit:

• Your work resonates deeper

• Your results land stronger

• And your growth becomes sustainable, not reactive

Fit is functional.
And it will save you hours, sometimes days, that would otherwise be spent chasing what was never yours to win.

Don’t Waste Your Energy in the Wrong Room

If you’ve ever found yourself halfway through an application and thought:
“This is taking me away from what actually matters…”
You're not alone.

What you need isn’t more effort - it’s better filters.
A process for checking fit before diving in.
A structure that helps you self-assess readiness before spending 40+ hours trying to make something work.

That’s why I created the Grant Readiness Review. Not to tell you what you want to hear, but to show you where your time will be best spent. Because funding is only helpful if it moves your business forward - not sideways.

🔗 Take the Readiness Review
Understand if the opportunity aligns with where you are and where you’re headed.

Final Thought

There’s courage in the yes.
But there’s power in the pause.

And in a world full of opportunities, your ability to say “no” to what doesn’t serve your business is one of the greatest strategic moves you can make.

So the next time a grant lands in your inbox or a well-meaning advisor says “you should go for this,” pause and ask:

Does this truly fit my business?
Or will chasing it cost more than it’s worth?

Because funding can’t fix what fit will break.
Choose wisely.