Hurry Up and Grow!

Today's Marketing Cookie is about being content.

One might argue that the advice in today's fortune is the opposite of what ignites American capitalism. There's a tightly wound-up little engine buried deep inside the business culture that drives us to build our businesses, expand our reach, and grow our revenue. If I can capture $1 million in revenue and keep $100,000 in profit after paying my overhead, why wouldn't I be happy with that income?

I don't know.

Well, for some reason, we aren't happy with just $100,000 a year when we see the potential to earn more. We will most likely wonder why couldn't I double or triple this model and bring home $300,000 a year for my family? This is just how we think.

The trouble with expansion is that you may not be able to do it alone. You'll have to add more people into the mix, which requires moving the business out of your kitchen and into an office. Everyone will need equipment, supplies, support staff, and insurance. Now, with all of that new overhead, instead of doubling or tripling the model, you may need to increase the entire operation by a multiple of ten times... or more. With such expansion, you may exceed the demand, or you could run into competition who are trying to accomplish the same expansion goals.

Even if you're hitting your numbers and making more money, this is still where hair loss, heartburn, and headaches can set in. At the end of the day, you may look back with great fondness to the time when you had a quiet little operation in your comfy kitchen and wonder why you scrambled and rushed to make everything so big. You'll wonder if it was worth it. You'll wonder if today's fortune was right when it says, "It is better to have beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear."