Owning and running a business is a lot of fun, unless of course you are in that terrible phase where you’ve just started growing.
The most popular subject regarding business is how to grow your business!
And there is no wonder.
Just like most business owners, when I first started my first business I had amazing passion and motivation. I had so much fun, I felt like I’m doing meaningful work for people and even though it was pennies in today’s standards I saw money flowing in my bank account.
Then expenses started piling and taxes were due, suddenly I felt like I wasn’t doing enough money – the solution was simple – make more money – grow the damn business.
So, Much like so many people I went down the rabbit hole of learning marketing and sales and everything i could find about business and
Woops – the business started growing.
A dream come true right? Well, I guess a nightmare is also a kind of a dream right…
Sales went up, income went up, but suddenly I had payroll to pay and it seemed like for every dollar of revenue I got a dollar worth of expenses.
So from the outside it seemed great – the business was growing and I was quote on quote successful, but It wasn’t just the financial stress that was nerve wracking.
I ended up doing less and less of the things I truly loved and wanted.
The kind of things I started my business for to begin with, and I was doing more and more administrative work, finance, sales and marketing.
Not that I have anything against doing these things, it’s just that It was not my passion.
I thought something was wrong with me, that I’m a crappy CEO, I thought about selling or closing the business and starting it fresh or even finding a job.
You get it? A person who started a then seven figure business wants to close and find a job.
So if you could press the like button, so that youtube will show this video to more people and hopefully help more people who are in a similar situation I would really appreciate it.
Luckly, because I seemed so successful from the outside, several business owners and entrepreneurs had come to get my advice on their various business troubles.
And even though there are many different types of businesses and problems I started to recognise patterns, one of them is what I now call the “TRAP PHASE” in business.
The phase in which you are growing but so does your expenses, It can happen several times when a business is constantly growing and scaling but – I believe the most difficult one, which is also the one most business owners and entrepreneurs do not survive – is the first.
After you work by yourself or with 1 employee or a couple of freelancers, and you reach the point where you need a team. This is where most entrepreneurs fail, most of them deciding that it’s not worth it because scaling makes them lose money instead of increasing profits.
What I want to tell you is this.
First, you do not have to grow. If you like your business the way it is, if you like working as an army of one, you can create an amazing business like that – and if people criticize you, you can smile and say thank you or show them the door.
Second, if you do want to scale realise that it might not be true for you, but most businesses require money to grow, even when the owner things its not the case. I’m not saying you must have an investor or take a loan from a bank.
But I am saying that seeing a decline in profits is natural – it doesn’t mean you are not doing your job or that you suck as an entrepreneur, have a plan, understand that you probably undervaluing the expenses and have 3 eyes on your finances at these times but if you are growing, have a right business model and you have the longevity to wait for profits – they will come.
And for those who do reach this phase and complete it, the prize is beyond belief.
Just like when you become successful as self employed and couldn’t believe how you have ever had a job – after you get after this phase you won’t believe how you could ever do everything by yourself.
At the end of this micro journey there absolutely is freedom and once again focus on the things you love the most.
So paying the short term price could be worth it – but it’s for you to decide if it’s worth it for you and if it’s worth it now.
