Five reasons not to grow

While researching Beyond Solo, I spoke with several business owners who admitted an uncomfortable truth: the high highs of business growth had made them miserable.

Whether they were working all hours to keep up with the momentum, spending all their time dealing with people problems, or spending all their revenue outsourcing the things they used to love doing themselves, growth wasn’t working for them.

Plenty of small businesses look super successful on the surface. But peel back the curtain on their triple digit growth or seven figure revenue reports, and the human cost becomes clear.

Stretch any business owner too far, and they’ll snap.

Growth is not always good. To avoid falling into a toxic growth spiral, be clear on why you want to grow. What do you want more of? How might that make your life better?

If your answer veers into any of these five categories, red flag alert! These might not be good reasons to grow:

1. Because that’s what small businesses do. Our modern productivity culture glorifies the hustle. But growing just because your accountant, business coach or life partner expect you to… well, it could be a fast-track to resentment.

2. Because I want to prove I’m a success. Oh, so you want to have something to brag about at a party, or become an award-winning superstar? That’s growth for ego’s sake. Or, perhaps some underlying insecurities.

3. Because everyone else is doing better than me. Comparison is the thief of joy – and of course, no one knows what’s really going on behind the scenes on those look-at-me LinkedIn posts.

4. Because I can’t go backwards. Actually, scaling back might help you be more successful – whether you define success as financial, opportunities, or impact.

5. Because I’m afraid to fail. There are risks in every business, and consequences to every choice you make. Don’t go for growth blindly: get comfy with the potential downsides. You can either lean into it – or back away.

There are plenty of good reasons to grow. Here are just a few:

• Because I deserve to earn more money

• Because I want to set myself up for lasting financial security

• Because I want more control over my time and energy

• Because I want more opportunities to stretch my skills

• Because I want to create something that can outlast me.

What growth means to you will be different to what it means for your co-working space colleagues, your accountant, your life partner, or your business coach. And it’s worth remembering you can make a more meaningful impact with less. A micro business can still be a mature business.

To learn how to grow better, not just bigger, you’ll need to read Beyond Solo.