The Hatch and Hustle™

by Georgina Joy Read

If you’re building a business on your own and finding it harder than you expected to stay on track, you’re not imagining it. Early entrepreneurship asks more of you than most people realise — not just in skill or effort, but in how you think, decide, and keep going when things don’t go to plan. I’m Georgina Joy Read. Each week I write No Clucks Given, a short journal for solo entrepreneurs who have already started and are learning — often the hard way — that the business grows only as much as they do. I write about the inner Work of entrepreneurship: the moments of doubt, the habits we fall back on under pressure, the ways we avoid or overcomplicate, and the capacity required to keep showing up. I use examples from my own business as I build it — what’s working, what isn’t, and what I’m noticing about myself as the business asks more of me. This isn’t about fixing yourself. It’s about learning how to get yourself back on track — again and again — so the effort you’re already putting in can compound. Join me. Cluck yes.

Pause.

No Clucks Given Newsletter The 22nd Edition - Pause. Hi Reader Our website has just been updated, and right there on the first page we added one word: Pause. It feels important to state it. If you’re anything like me, energy is rarely the problem. Ideas come quickly. Direction feels available. There’s always another move to make, another path to try, another improvement to act on. And yet, I keep noticing how often momentum is lost not through inaction, but through too much motion. Each new...

3 days ago • 1 min read

Taipei 101 Alex Honnolds free solo climb combatting fear

The Work No One Sees

By Georgina Joy Read No Clucks Given Journal The Work No One Sees Hi Reader Tell me about your future. Who will you become? Master Entrepreneurship (pg 12) This question always stays with me. It doesn’t point to what you will have, it points to who you will be. I thought of it again recently while watching Alex Honnold free solo climb Taipei 101. Did you watch the climb? From the outside, Alex looks calm, the climb almost effortless. That’s what we’re drawn to. What we don’t see is the...

11 days ago • 1 min read

The difference between one good day and many

No Clucks Given Newsletter The 21st Edition - The difference between one good day and many. Hi Reader I hope you’ve been noticing this in your own life. Business outcomes are shaped less by what you do occasionally, and far more by who you are every day. You might know how to make R10 000 in a day. Many people do.Knowing how to make R10 000 every day is different. That requires a different internal setup. That person is someone who can stand repetition.They can work through low energy.They...

17 days ago • 1 min read

Clouds moving over the mountains symbolizing the passage of time

How much Time does it Really Take?

By Georgina Joy Read No Clucks Given Journal How much time does it really take? Hi Reader How long does it really take to do things? Have you ever noticed how you can do something, yet nothing seems to change? I’ve been thinking about this while planning the month, the quarter, the year ahead. Again, I notice that I underestimate how long things actually take. On paper, it works. There is the kind of time we can measure. Minutes. Hours. Deadlines. The kind that fits neatly into a calendar...

24 days ago • 1 min read

What Gets Scheduled — and What Gets Avoided

No Clucks Given Newsletter The 20th Edition - What gets scheduled — and what gets avoided. Hi Reader At the start of a new year, I always find myself back in the same place.Scheduling. Planning. Laying out weeks, months, and the plan ahead, trying to stretch myself while still being realistic. There’s something grounding about seeing things on paper. It creates order and gives you a perspective about possibilities. At first glance, it looks like progress. When it comes time to make a schedule...

28 days ago • 2 min read

What Moves Things Forwards? - Janu-ready.

By Georgina Joy Read No Clucks Given Journal What moves things forwards? Janu-ready. Hi Reader January has a particular energy in South Africa.It’s often spoken about as a month to survive — jokingly called Janu-worry. This year, I’m coming in Janu-ready.Here’s how you can too. Ready means grounded. Oriented. Willing to begin from where you actually are. It’s still early in the month, and you may be thinking about the year ahead. If you’ve written something down for 2026 — a direction, a...

about 1 month ago • 1 min read

The Unexpected Winner of My Business Year

No Clucks Given Journal Georgina Joy Read 18th December 2025 Hi Reader This is the final journal entry for 2025, and looking back over what worked this year, there’s one unexpected winner I want to share with you. I want to share it so you can do it too. The biggest mover in my business this year was, without a doubt, writing weekly to you. I wonder if that surprises you? I’m sure you’ve heard about the value of journaling before, and now, I can verify it. Here are my top three benefits of...

about 2 months ago • 1 min read

If I only do this everyday, my business will grow, quote

Don’t Plan 2026 Blind — Start With Your Start-up-Stage

No Clucks Given Newsletter The 18th Edition - Your Start-Up-Stage Hi Reader This time of year has a way of making you look backward and forward at the same time.You notice what worked, what didn’t, what surprised you, and what you’re still hoping for.It’s a natural pause in the circadian rhythm of a year. You see the results that didn’t land.The things you wanted but didn’t quite reach.And notice the parts of yourself that shifted, that grew, that softened, or maybe even hardened a little. I...

2 months ago • 2 min read

Master Entrepreneurship - A coaching Workbook for Entrepreneurial Growth

The thing you don’t face - follows you 👀

No Clucks Given Journal Georgina Joy Read 5th December 2025 Hi Reader I’ve been paying close attention to discomfort and growth these last few weeks, and I feel like I’m reaching a deeper understanding each time. I hope you’ve been walking this part of the journey with me, because this week another layer became clear. When you face something, it loses its power.When you avoid it, it follows you everywhere. The irony is that we often don’t notice we’re avoiding anything at all. The...

2 months ago • 1 min read

People pondering their vision as they look to the sunrise

What do you see when you look ahead?

No Clucks Given Newsletter The 16th Edition - What do you see when you look ahead? Hi Reader Last week, in the journal, I wrote about how strategy can steady you when you find yourself distracted and chasing something new.It acts as a kind of anchor, a foundation — something you can return to for realignment. This week, I’ve been thinking about the opposite end of the same line.Vision. Strategy is the how but, vision is the direction.They work together, and you’ve probably already noticed...

3 months ago • 2 min read