Most businesses should stay small.
There’s a story you’ve been swimming in. Grow fast, hire ahead of revenue, raise the round, exit big. It’s a compelling story, but it’s a trap.
Small creates leverage.
You know the shape. Solo operator pulling $300K with no employees, no investor letters, no Wednesday-afternoon all-hands. Two-person agency. Three-person fractional practice. A fifteen-person studio that turns down work it doesn’t want. Speed of decision. Customer intimacy you can’t fake at scale. Optionality. Tuesday afternoons.
The pull to scale doesn’t come from inside your business. It comes from outside. Founder Twitter. The conference you attended. The partner who keeps asking when you’re going to “do this for real.” You’ve felt it. You’ve nearly given in.
Don’t.
The big version has its own headaches. And you don’t get to keep your evenings if you pick this path.
You don’t need permission to be small. But if you’ve been swimming in the other story, you might need someone to remind you: it’s an option.
Small gives you permission to keep your leverage.