Normally I’d use today as a jumping-off point for data and updates (which you can still find later in the issue). Instead, here’s a hilariously perfect video I shared on Instagram because… honestly, I can’t say it any better than this.

I get this question a lot. Usually from founders who previously spent their careers laboring in businesses where the obligation was to “maximize shareholder value.” 

You know, classic business school economics: make every sale, make as much money as possible, and profit as much as possible. Reinvest every dollar to make at least three for the company’s owners.

Basically, you must grow as much as you can possibly grow -- and then you must grow some more. Because if you’re not looking at a chart showing a hockey stick up and to the right, you’re doing something wrong.

Then there are the solopreneurs who tell me, “I actually like my business at this size. I don’t want to hire people. Do I have to grow this business?” 

Their satisfaction was shattered by someone started chattering in their ear: 

“This business could be so much bigger, you could own this market! You’re thinking too small, change your mindset! Have you seen X, Y, Z growth opportunities? Jump on ‘em now, before someone else does!” 

Which is how you end up asking: 

Am I obligated to build a minion army? Am I a bad business owner if I am happy where I am? Am I a bad capitalist if I don’t chase all the growth, all the time? 

So today, I’m here to give you permission. Permission to grow. And permission to pause or stop -- to choose what our friend Keila Hill-Trawick at Little Fish Accounting calls “build to enough.”

If you want to grow as much as possible, you usually have to start using other people’s money in the form of equity. And once you agree to use other people’s money, you agree that they can impose their expectations: 

And there are other tradeoffs. 

You cap what you can pay yourself, because as much money as possible has to go back into growth. You start hiring people who aren’t a fit because you’re trying to build the machine. You start partnering with people who are out of alignment. You end up compromising the mission because it doesn’t fit the growth story. (Or you're Feeld and there aren't enough ethically non-monogamous people to reach your next funding milestone.)

So if what you really want is flexibility, control, and a business that actually supports your life, you have to be honest about what you’re trading away when you chase “more” just because “more” is available.

When I work with clients on this, we get specific:

What’s wild is that a lot of business owners can pay themselves more by building a solid, profitable, controlled-growth company than they ever could as the CEO of a venture-backed rocket ship.  

You might be able to build a higher-revenue business with investors, but your pay will be capped in favor of maximizing growth. Without investors, you can absolutely choose to take a small or no wage. But you don’t have to. 

Here’s my question: if your goal is to be a $1 million business and to give yourself total compensation of $350,000, and you can do that -- are you mad about it? What about paying yourself $1 million a year by making $4 or $5 million? Would you feel like you hadn’t built a “real business” if you owned that company?

“Noise” can come in a lot of different wavelengths.

Mine is the looking-over-the-back-fence thing: businesses you think are like yours. That person who started around the same time as you is suddenly posting that they moved abroad because they were forced to sell their horse ranch, and you’re like:

“Dang, we were at the same conference four years ago and now she’s flipping horse ranches… and I’m still over here!” 

That’s when you have to ask yourself the only question that matters: was that your goal? Did you want to buy a horse ranch? 

Someone will always bombard you with unwanted noise. The perceived competition blares all over social media and Substack. Sometimes, they seem like they’re being nice, but in reality they’re inviting you in to blast their noise all over you. They need you to know how “successful” they are, and they need you to be jealous. 

So, of course, we succumb to our internal fears: 

“Oh, I guess I wanted the wrong things.” 

But we need to make our own choices. For ourselves. We need to say, “This is what I’m choosing for me. An asset that does not require the daily cleaning up of poop.”

Really, that’s all that matters. 

If you’re not sure, start by getting clear on what your goals actually are. Because if you don’t know what you want for you, you’re setting yourself up to absorb someone else’s scoreboard for success. 

Start simple: write down what “enough” looks like for you.

This should be a real number. What revenue range would feel healthy? What do you want to pay yourself out of that? And what are you not willing to trade away to get there: control, flexibility, mission, your time?

That’s the work. Not, “How big can I get?” 

The better question is: 

“How big do I need to be to live the life I actually want, and can I choose that on purpose?”

Set your own goals. Make your own ground rules. Win your own game.

Ready to get started? Great, here’s what you do:

Need a sounding board for defining what growth looks like for you? Book a free 20-minute strategy session.

Time to get serious -- are you filing on time or taking an extension? Should you be an S-corp this year?

If you want to make a 2025 retirement saving contribution, make sure you know which deadlines go with which dates. A quick reminder, the personal contribution deadline cannot be extended. The business contribution deadline can. And any ticking clocks stop on the day you file your taxes.

The macroeconomic environment. The February jobs report was ugly, even the healthcare sector lost jobs. Moody’s downgraded US government debt, which will make future borrowing more expensive. Mortgage rates briefly jumped back to 7% and oil prices are all over the place. While February inflation was flat, the report dates ended before gas prices were impacted. The Fed meets March 17-18 and will provide their outlook on job growth and inflation. 

Costco offers IVF. Move over coffins and potting soil, we need the shelf space for the cryobank. Costco members can now access $99/month fertility support services and receive up to 80% discounts on related medications. Non-members can also access these services for a higher price, but if you’ve ever explored the costs of IVF, most of which are not covered by insurance, you’ll snag an Executive Membership. In a prudent move, medical interventions will not be done in-warehouse.

Voter registration. While we have months left until the midterms, primaries are well under way. Local and state elections can also happen multiple times per year. Many states have removed voters from their rolls. If you intend to vote in your upcoming primaries, please check your voter registration and know your registration deadlines. Keep checking regularly.

ICYMI, here are resources you should know about:

An important International Women’s Day reminder we all need: “women’s rights mean nothing if we can’t defend them.” If you’re an American woman, you know that today you have fewer rights than you did three years ago. Globally, right now, women and girls only have 64% of the legal rights of men. And it will take 273 years to close the wage gap. And we’ve learned about at least one cabal of old White man pedos who have governing control. So yes, let’s celebrate International Women’s Day, and use the opportunity to look with clear eyes on our current reality.

Congratulations, you can now accidentally create a privacy incident thanks to Meta smart glasses! Meta’s Rayban smart glasses funnel what you record into a workflow where human contractors may review it (even the wildly personal stuff). UK regulators are now asking Meta some pointed questions about transparency and control. Because if you wear these around personally identifying information (PII) or protected company information, congrats, you just invented a brand-new hands-free cyber leak. From cash registers and check-in counters to regulated environments like law and healthcare, be like Diana Prince and take those glasses off before you do your Wonder Woman deeds.