Growth is overrated.
That’s not to say that it’s not important.
Particularly in the early stages of starting a company, it is absolutely essential for survival.
But at which point does it turn into chasing moving goalposts?
When we first started With Content, our stretch goal was to hit $300k per year in revenue. We achieved that in our second year of operations.
Then it became $500k. That would be enough to pay our team well and not need to grind anymore, we said. And we exceeded this new goal in year four.
Was it enough? My instinctive reaction was that it wasn’t. We could build up our safety net a bit more, I reasoned, particularly in a looming recession. We could expand our brand reach, become an influencer in the marketing industry, reach more clients – all to safeguard ourselves from any risk in the future.
I caught myself at this point.
Yes, we can always do more, and achieve more. But at what cost?
Many enterprises have been built on the backs of burnout employees. The larger and faster a company wants to grow, the more quickly employees become reduced to resources to be used and discarded.
Is there a way of doing business that balances profit and people?