When Growing Your Business Doesn’t Make Sense

Growth can seem like the only option for small business owners, but for some people, it may actually make more sense to stay small. Rather than following the expectations for growth, your business can be shaped to match your own personal lifestyle and career goals. For businesses who feel like they can’t say no to growth, Business Foundations has compiled a list of reasons why growing your business might not be a good fit for you.

1. You want to spend most of your time working in your business.

Chances are, you started your business because you are passionate about what you do. By growing your business, you will have to spend more and more time working on your business rather than in it. Reducing your ability to be hands on in your business might not align with your reasons for starting a business, which is why you decide to stay small.

2. Growing your business can lead to more stress.

By growing your business and gaining more customers, you will inevitably need to upscale your operations and increase your staff. This can lead to far more responsibilities and stress in your business. Sometimes, maintaining the size of your business may align with your lifestyle needs more than growing your business.

3. Staying small can offer your customers a better experience.

When your business stays small, you can be more selective with the customers and projects you take on. You can spend more time on each customer to ensure they are getting excellent quality every time, rather than delivering rushed work because you have too many clients.

4. You don’t want to work more hours.

Many people start small businesses to escape the 9 to 5 working hours. If your business grows, you may lose the flexibility to work less hours to suit your lifestyle. For example, whilst you may earn more money from growing your business, if you are a working parent who wants to spend more time with your kids, staying small may be more valuable to you.

5. You might be happy with enough.

One of the main reasons for growing your business is to make more money. However, if you are already earning more than enough to get by, there many be little need to grow your business. If you are fine with where your business is, it may be worth just enjoying your work-life balance.

Whilst business growth can be an excellent goal to work towards, for some business owners it makes more sense to focus on maintaining their business rather than growing it. Your business journey is unique, and you should steer your business in the direction that is the best fit for you.