I know Sharpay Evans said “bigger is better, and better is bigger”, but is that the ONLY path to success? Well… I don’t think so, and this game-changing realisation not only flipped my business upside down, but also redefined what growth looks like to me.
What started with Paul Jarvis’ book “Company of One”, turned into me rethinking the whole myth of infinite scaling (and the pressures behind what it takes to make money while you sleep), the hidden costs of always chasing more & more, and why small businesses — like your local coffee shop or a two-person studio — often have more impact than corporate mega-brands. Which is why I’m forever inspired by the real stories of solopreneurs building thriving, human-sized businesses without chasing millions of followers or dollars.
If you started your business to define success on your terms: whether that’s free time, mental health, or a community that hangs on your every word… then I invite you to listen to this one! (and I pinky promise you I’m not sponsored or endorsed in ANY WAY by Paul Jarvis, I just really like this book, it changed my life, and I recommend it to everyone).
When we think of successful businesses, we almost always think of growth. Growing faster, growing more than the competition, growing by any means possible.
This Silicon Valley startup mentality has convinced us that scaling equals winning, even in the small business world that has none of the same context or resources as these big corporations.
So many online service providers think that if the numbers aren't constantly growing (sales, revenue, followers, subscribers), their business is failing. And therefore, they are failing as business owners.
But does that logic even make sense for us in reality?
Everyone wants to make more money. It's that "make money while you sleep" and "10x your revenue" dream. But this pressure is such a trap because it ignores a simple truth: scaling isn't neutral.
Growing without a goal or finish line means you're letting go of something else, usually control, proximity, or quality. At some point, the business you started out of passion turns into a management role you never even signed up for.
I'll be the first to say that if your business isn't making money, you don't have a business. You have an expensive hobby. But thinking that if you're not growing more and more every year means you're stagnating? That's simply not true.
A successful business is one that's found its own sweet spot and just needs to be consistently maintained.
Think of the coffee shop around the corner. It might never turn into the next Starbucks — and it's still your local go-to spot because the barista knows your name and your order. The smallness is the very thing that makes it special.
Or a two-person studio might not have the client roster of a mega agency and still have more cultural impact than a 200-person agency — with work that feels braver, riskier, more personal.
Even your newsletter. You might never have a hundred thousand subscribers, but I bet you'll have a more engaged community leaning forward at every email, replying, sharing with their friends, and taking action.
Not infinitely scaling is exactly the point. Because bigger isn't always better, and size doesn't equal relevance.
These success stories lie in the very fact that they're small — that's what allows them to be human-sized and for us to feel seen, connected, and part of something real as consumers. That's worth a lot in our digital world.
Solopreneurs and one-woman shows who don't have millions of followers and aren't making a million dollars in revenue each year can influence niches and industries with way more impact than big brands. Because we believe them. We trust them. They're the ones having the conversations we care about, sharing similar realities to our own, and building real communities around them.
Being and consistently keeping yourself small is a legitimate strategy — and one that's increasingly more valuable. Because when we see the humans, their struggles, their stories and wins mirror ours, that's the intimacy that sticks.
Think about all the very practical advantages of running a smaller business:
It's easier to trust a small brand that sources from local suppliers, uses eco-friendly packaging, or limits production runs because you can see the values in action. With bigger companies, those same words often collapse into greenwashing marketing campaigns rather than day-to-day practices.
Small businesses have the freedom to choose slower and more thoughtful ways of working, to invest in genuine sustainability, and to stay accountable because their customers know them personally. There's a face to the brand. Their size makes their values visible — and that visibility builds real trust, which is worth far more than a glossy sustainable marketing campaign from a global brand.
And that's what I feel people often forget: scaling comes with a price.
It's not this rose-tinted dream of dollar signs falling out of the sky. With more clients comes more money, sure — but there also comes a bigger team, longer meetings, more layers of red tape, more admin, more pressure, more burnout.
Even as small online business owners, with every new social platform comes the pressure to be on all of them — to create more, to post more, to reply more. And the more you grow, the more time you spend just keeping the machine running.
It's easy to think: "I'll just hire someone to do this for me". But every hire doesn't just take work off your plate. It also adds a whole new plate to keep spinning. More team members mean more communication, more management, more overhead — and often more complexity than the work itself ever was.
This kind of growth brings layers between you and the work you actually love doing, the work for which you started this whole business in the first place. The creativity that once fuelled the business turns into exhaustion. The result? Burnout.
So the question that lingers is: is growth really worth it if the price is your creative life itself?
To me, it isn't.
While I still track revenue and follower count because it's important to keep the lights on, pay myself consistently, and make sure the business is viable — I care more about measuring my quality of life.
People like Emelie from Pass the Queso, who managed a 4k revenue gap in 31 days after Meta suspended her Instagram account on launch day. Or Jess from Jess Creatives and The Ordinary Business Summit, who shared a thread saying how even though she doesn't have 100k followers, she's had a waitlist since 2014 and made $200k again this year.
Those are the people who inspire me, and who (maybe without even knowing) are living proof of Paul Jarvis' book.
Because if the logic of "the more you grow, the more money you make" is simple, then believing that with a thousand people who genuinely believe in your work you can build a solid, human, sustainable business is also simple logic.
And it means one critical thing: success doesn't equal growth. It equals having a choice.
The real KPIs could be free time, mental health, an engaged community. Especially now in a world where everyone can create more (there's custom GPTs to help everyone create better content and publish more and sell more), maybe the real differentiator is choosing not to scale: to stay small, focused, consistent.
I don't want to make a devil out of growth. I just want you to question whether growth needs to be the only metric and what success gets to mean to you.
Scaling might be the right path for some businesses. But for others (creators, solopreneurs, small digital brands, the clients I get to work with) success might also look like living from the work you love with autonomy, impact, and quality of life.
So I'll leave you with this: if your business's success wasn't measured by its ability to scale, how would you measure it?
—
✦ "Company Of One: Why Staying Small is the Next Big Thing for Business", by Paul Jarvis
✦ Follow Emelie Sanders, from Pass The Queso
✦ Follow Jess Freeman, from Jess Creatives (and check out her Thread too)
✦ Say hey on Instagram
✦ Get my Uncaged emails
Over the last 5 years as a Brand & Marketing Designer, I’ve helped freaks like us design their unconventional brands so they can step onto the main stage & own their weird. Because if you wanted to be, look or sound like everyone else, you wouldn’t be where you are today. Now it’s your turn.
get to know me
New email every Thursday to make your personality roar.
SIGN UPYou’re not here because your brand needs fixing. You’re here because your brand is evolving, and it’s time to step into the centre ring. When you show up as exactly who you are, something magical happens: The right people lean in. They remember you. They choose you. And then? You succeed with Flying Colours.
All-access ticket to “turn-key” branding, website, and marketing assets for the visionary service provider
leading their industry who just needs their visuals to match their energy.
Every visionary’s best kept secret to their success – the direction and action plan that keeps them from clowning around. Let’s close the gap between your big top personality and juicy business vision.
Launch prep can feel like juggling flaming torches while riding a unicycle & your genius deserves better than spending hours fiddling with fonts and resizing images. Ditch the design stress and focus on what you do best.
.svg){kind=icon}
.svg){kind=icon}