This morning I had a consulting call with a new client whose been running his own shop for 25 years. He does $1M/year but wants to grow to $2.6M/year.

25 years ago, when the Yellow Pages was around, he was spending $4,000 a month and the phone was ringing off the hook. He was on the path to getting bigger. He doubled his crew.

But he ultimately decided to stay small because he was making the same amount of profit with double the crew.

So I asked him: “what’s changed? Why grow 25 years later? What was the inciting event that told you you wanted to grow?”

He replied, “age,” but I thought his other answer was more powerful:

Because he wanted to.

For the last five years, he’s been getting ready for growth: installing Service Titan, getting rid of commercial work, getting rid of high-end stuff, narrowing his territory, creating SOP’s –

Focusing.

Growth is in his heart. As is perspective that comes with wisdom.

25 years ago, he knows he probably made the same money with double the crew potentially due to not knowing how to price.

But with time he’s realized that while profit is important, the upside of growth is creating a system that scales without him so he can sell the company.

Growth may or may not be worth it.

It’s ultimately up to you and what you want.