The moment we stopped trying to grow fast

Something happens when you start hearing other people's numbers.

You hear what someone else is making, and suddenly your brain starts doing math you didn't ask it to do. Am I behind? Should I be growing faster? What are they doing that I'm not?

I had a conversation a while back with someone who had been in this industry for ten years longer than I had. I was feeling real imposter syndrome that day, the kind where you start second-guessing every decision you've ever made.

So I asked them how much they were spending on marketing.

"Oh, I'd spend more," they said, "but Google won't let me spend more than $10K a month. It's honestly the only way to grow. If you're not spending that, you'll never grow fast enough."

Our businesses were doing almost the same revenue.

And we had stopped spending anything on Google ads. Zero. Zitch. Nada.

The reason we could do that? We focused our energy on being really intentional about finding the right clients, in the right locations, looking for the right things. Clients who stay. Clients who refer. Clients who leave five-star reviews because the experience actually matched what we promised.

Out of curiosity, I looked up his reviews after that call.

2.9 stars.

When your reviews look like that, you have to keep spending to grow. You're always replacing the clients you're losing.

We sit at 4.9. We attract low-maintenance clients. We grow at a pace that doesn't grind us down. Jen writes full-time. I go to the gym in the middle of the day and spend a big part of my week coaching people in this exact space, because I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't share it forward.

That's what slow, intentional growth actually looks like on the other side of it.

Fast isn't always forward. Sometimes it's just expensive.

Vic

P.S. Building fast or building to last, there's no wrong answer. The Inner Circle is full of owners choosing the pace that fits the life they want.