Why Building a Website as a Solopreneur Can Feel So Heavy — And What to Do Instead

Brand Elevate
Apr 24
3 min read

Updated: May 6

Laptop on an empty desk showing an entrepreneur has deserted their desk because building a website is too challenging — Each website I create is cultivated like a garden—the seeds are planted mindfully and with purpose, designed to grow, flourish, and thrive.

It begins with a screen.

A glowing field of pixels, humming quietly.

Your hand rests on the mouse, still.

So many templates, so many decisions — and none of them feel like you.

For many purpose-driven entrepreneurs, the act of building a website feels like being asked to translate something soulful into a language you don’t speak. It’s not just tech overwhelm — it’s disconnection. The interface, the templates, the editing menus… they don’t feel alive. They don’t feel like home.

My client's story:

She stared at the blank homepage template for the third time that week.

— cursor blinking, layout untouched, hero image slot still empty. It was supposed to be simple. Pick a template. Write a few headlines. Plug in your offerings. But how do you capture your essence — your values, your voice, your purpose — in a few boxes on a screen?

And here’s the part that stings: this wasn’t the first week. It had been two years since she “started” her website. Two years of circling back to it, telling herself she’d get to it when she had more clarity, more time, more confidence. Two years of feeling invisible online — not because she didn’t care, but because the idea of making a digital version of her soul’s work felt… impossible.

This is a story shared with me by of one of my clients before we started working together.

When “Just Build a Website” Isn’t So Simple

If you’re a purpose-driven solopreneur, chances are you’ve felt this too. That invisible weight of needing a “professional online presence” — while also wanting it to feel true to you and to your values. Not salesy. Not loud. Not like every other coaching, healing, or consulting site out there.

And yet… every time you open the template, a quiet panic sets in:

“Is this how I’m supposed to sound?”
“What if I say the wrong thing?”
“Do I even know what I’m offering yet?”

The heaviness isn’t just about tech. It’s about identity, clarity, and the pressure to make something “perfect” before it’s even begun.

The Deeper Truth Behind the Delay

Here’s what I’ve noticed again and again, in myself and in the sensitive, values-led clients I support: The website isn’t delayed because you’re lazy or resistant. It’s delayed because your work is alive — evolving, deepening, becoming.

And no basic template can hold that kind of emergence neatly.

So when we try to force it, our bodies say no. We freeze. We scroll other websites, comparing and shrinking. We call it procrastination, but really — it’s protection.

A Gentle Reframe: Your Website as a Garden, Not a Stage.

What if your website wasn’t a grand performance or polished storefront?What if it was a garden — something alive, rooted, and slowly growing in the background of your business?

A space where your future clients can wander through, feel your presence, and sense the care behind your work. Not everything needs to be blooming at once. Some sections can still be seeds. Others might be in full flower. That’s okay.

Start with what’s ready. Nurture it. Add to it one page at a time.

Your homepage doesn’t need to hold your whole story — just enough for someone to pause and say, “Yes, I feel safe here.”

If You’re Stuck, Begin Here.

If you’ve been circling your website for weeks, months, or years — you’re not alone. And you’re not behind.

Try asking yourself these questions:

What do I know to be true about my work right now?
What’s one sentence I’d whisper to someone who needed what I offer?
What feels alive in me — even if it’s unfinished?
What’s one page I could shape around that — not the whole site, just one small space that feels real?

Let that be enough.

Build one page at a time.

Tend your site like a garden — adding gently, pruning as you grow, and trusting that even quiet roots are part of the bloom.

🌿 Gentle Invitation

If your homepage still feels heavy, pause.Instead of trying to “capture your essence,” try this:

Write one paragraph that feels like a moment in the garden of your work. Something you’d gently offer to someone passing through, curious and open.

Let your presence — not your polish — do the work.

Because the right people aren’t looking for perfection.

They’re looking for resonance. And resonance starts with real.

Marine Lavaupot

Founder & Creative Director, Brand Elevate

View My Bio