What if You Just Tried It? The Power of Experimentation

What if you just tried it? That’s the radical, liberating question at the heart of this episode of Small Business Casual. Host Emily Aborn, a self-described 'dichotomy' of stability and restlessness, shares how her own life and business have been shaped not by rigid consistency, but by a relentless experimental mindset. She argues that trying things—whether a new content format, a social platform, or even a new city—without the pressure to commit forever is the fastest path to clarity, growth, and joy. Drawing on real-world examples—from her failed 104-experiment Substack to her successful in-person content co-labs—she dismantles the myth that experimentation equals flakiness. Instead, she frames it as a data-driven, low-stakes way to test ideas, reduce decision fatigue, and discover what truly resonates. The episode is a manifesto for curiosity over certainty, and a practical guide to turning 'what if?' into 'let’s try.' Aborn walks listeners through five actionable steps: identify curiosity, set a low-stakes trial, pick one metric to track, debrief honestly, and decide to keep, pivot, or quit. She offers concrete experiments—from testing Pinterest marketing to attending a group three times before joining—proving that small bets yield big insights. Ultimately, she champions the idea that failure isn’t the opposite of success; it’s the feedback loop. The real cost isn’t trying—it’s not trying at all.