Episode 106: Are You Thinking Too Small?

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Dr. Melissa Smith 0:00
If you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner, you’re used to wearing all the hats in your organization. But is that still working for you today? Are you thinking too small?

Dr. Melissa Smith 0:11
Hi, I’m Dr. Melissa Smith, welcome to the Pursue What Matters podcast where we focus on what it takes to thrive in love and work. So I am so excited to bring this episode to you. And I’m not just bringing one episode to you. But I have got a few all on this topic of growing and scaling. This can be one of the biggest challenges. For those of us in business, those of us who consider ourselves entrepreneurs, there are so many uncertainties, so many risks, so many unknowns. And yet, we don’t want you getting in your own way. And I think that that can happen a lot. For those of us who are running small businesses, we’re growing an organization, right, whether you own the organization or not, if you have a leadership role, if you’re part of a small company that’s growing, this episode is for you. Because even if you don’t own it, even if you’re not the decision maker on all, all the things right, like the way you think about the organization, you’re in the way you think about your team, the way you think about growth really has such a big impact on whether you whether you will grow whether you will reach your potential as an organization, and I would say as an individual in terms of the the role of your work. So I hope you will listen up, because there are really great principles for all of us.

Dr. Melissa Smith 2:05
So today with episode, we are asking the question, Are you thinking too small, and we’ll give you some guidance on that. And then I want you to listen up for the upcoming episodes over the next several weeks, because we’re also going to be diving deeper into this because there’s so much that goes into growing and so one of the episodes so we’re gonna we’re gonna have three on this topic, and then a really great book review in the middle that will help you with all of this. And so this podcast is are you thinking too small? The next podcast will be three questions for scaling growth. So these are questions I want you to go through and answer for yourself with your team. So that you can kind of go through your paces, it will be really helpful for you. And then we’ll have an excellent book review that will, it’s so great for helping you do this, do this work so that you can grow right doing the work of assessment and self awareness and self leadership so that you can more effectively lead at work and at home. And so then after the book review, we’re going to have another great podcast episode. And that is you’re ready to scale, you need this map. And so I’m going to get into the details of how how you can map that out. And so it will be a scaling map. And, you know, even if you’re not in a place where you’re ready to grow, I think that can be a really helpful episode for you as you just consider, okay, what what does it take? And what do I need to be anticipating?

Dr. Melissa Smith 3:43
So let’s jump in though, with this with this episode. Are you thinking too small? So right, as an entrepreneur, or a small business owner, you are used to wearing all the hats. It is just an absolute necessity when you start out. You don’t you know, if you’re like most of us, when we start out, you do not have bags of cash lying around looking for ways to be spent. Right. And I think it’s easy for us to say like, oh, wouldn’t that be nice? And what I would say is no, that wouldn’t be nice. It’s probably if you just reflect back on where you’re at in your business, right? It’s probably been a good thing that most entrepreneurs haven’t had bags of cash just sitting around, waiting to be spent, especially in the early days of their business because what is true for most entrepreneurs is they wouldn’t have the foresight, or even the the depth of understanding to know enough about what they need and the best ways to facilitate that growth and to be able to use those resources effectively. We certainly see this when young startups have a big infusion of cash. If they haven’t done their work if they don’t have some some some stability within leadership team. And you know, we think about depth of experience and expertise, right?

Dr. Melissa Smith 5:07
So even though it might be a new startup, maybe we have some seasoned leaders in there, they can just waste that money waste those resources. And when we think about resources that right, it’s much bigger than just money, it’s much bigger than dollars and cents. It is inefficient and ineffective use of resources and you know, your most valuable resource. Is your team, right? Like, are you doing things that help them? Are you doing things that hurt them, or confuse them or frustrate them? And so, you know, I do think it’s probably better off that most of us, in the early days of our growth in our organizations, it’s probably better that we didn’t have a lot of money because it, it pushes you to develop and not everyone develops this, right. It’s all it’s always a choice, but it it pushes you to make the choice to develop some really critical thinking skills, it forces you to be nimble, it forces you to really pay attention to cause and effect. And if I do this, am I going to be able to make payroll, and you have to deal with so many constraints. And I have talked about this in other settings, that constraints are a good thing and can be right. And so we don’t always want to be pushing against constraints, because constraints force us to be better critical thinkers, constraints force us to prioritize, because we can’t do everything at once. Constraints force us or invite us to focus and focus, focus focus is so incredibly important.

Dr. Melissa Smith 5:31
And so every week with the podcast, my goal is to help you pursue what matters and strengthen your confidence to lead because right like this, this business of leading and growing an organization and, and you know, everything that that entails is really frightening work, like there’s so much risk and uncertainty, there’s nothing easy about it, I don’t care what anyone says, I would not believe anyone that says it’s easy, it’s a breeze. Now, you may face less challenges than others, the still not easy. And anytime you’re leaving people, right, it’s going to be a pretty tricky business. And so I really feel so passionate about helping you strengthen your confidence to lead. And we do that in one of three areas. So clarity to lead to what matters and why. And curiosity lead, which is self awareness and self leadership, right, having a having a secure foundation within yourself, so that you can make better decisions so you can be a better leader. And then of course, leading and building a community. And of course, this is so incredibly important, because we never work in isolation. We never work alone.

Dr. Melissa Smith 7:58
And so this week with the podcast, as we think about, you know, are you thinking too small, we’re really paying attention to two primary areas. So the first one, of course, is leading and building a community. Because anytime that you have the prospect of scaling, clearly, you’re not going to be able to do it alone. And that’s really what we’re looking at today. And so being able to assess your needs, assess your team, and figure out like who you need to help to help the organization and to be successful. And then of course, we’re also, you know, going to be focusing on clarity, because you need to have a clarity of purpose. And I think this is where a lot of small business owners and leaders in small organizations, right, you don’t need to have an ownership role. But I think this is where a lot of leaders really stumble. And that is they think too small, so they don’t have clarity of purpose. They don’t have a vision for themselves or the organization. And so when that happens, you know, anything, any challenge will beset you, any challenge will knock you off your course. And so you must have clarity of purpose, and clarity of vision because right like the world will work against you. In terms of, you know, it’s not going to make it easy for you to scale, it’s not going to make it easy for you to grow. And that’s, you know, that’s not some, some evil, hidden force out there. It is just the it’s just the reality of life and work right. There will always be challenges, there will always be fires to put out. And if you’re not thinking with a sense of purpose, and if you don’t have clarity about where you’re going, you will be beset by every single one of those challenges and it just makes it hard for you to progress on your path. And of course, we don’t want that happening to you.

Dr. Melissa Smith 9:51
So let’s talk a little bit about small business numbers okay because it is a brave soul who goes in to business, who’s willing to start a business. So if we look at data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics here in the US, approximately 20% of small businesses fail within the first year. Right. So that’s not good. But right, like that’s, that’s one in five small businesses will fail within the first year. Of course, we know those numbers are way different in the year of COVID. And these numbers, we’re not looking at the year of COVID. Because clearly, that’s a huge confounding factor. And so we’re, you know, we’re not looking at that at this point, but generally 20% fell, and then by the end of the second year, 30% of businesses will have failed. And by the end of the fifth year, about half, so 50% of all businesses will have failed. So right, like, these are not good odds, these are not really great prospects. And then by the end of the decade, so after 10 years, only 30% of businesses will remain. Okay, so, so what is the likelihood that you will be in business 10 years later? Okay, it’s low, right? So there’s a 70% failure rate after 10 years.

Dr. Melissa Smith 11:14
So I think that there are a few things going on here for sure. Right. Like there’s always multiple factors. But I think one thing to pay attention to is, you know, first of all, before an individual has started a business or a group of individuals have started a business, are they going through their paces? And are they really developing a good solid business plan? Are they stress testing it? Are they getting feedback? Or are they you know, pie in the sky vision of what is possible, which don’t get me wrong, like, that’s really important, because that, that gives you hope, and optimism to challenge the the incredible difficulties of starting a new business. So there’s absolutely a place for hope and optimism. But it’s got to be counterbalanced with a very realistic view and a very gritty view in terms of okay, what are we up against? What does our market look like? Is this even a concept that people are interested in. And I think that that is one of the biggest fail points for many small businesses is they don’t go through their paces, they don’t do their due diligence, and actually do what they need to do to start a business off for success. And so really, they’re kind of they’ve kind of lost before they’ve even headed out of the gate. And so you know, that that, of course, isn’t great, because that’s, you know, usually a huge financial investment for most people. And the other thing is, it just can crush your confidence and your belief in yourself. And so of course, we don’t want that to happen.

Dr. Melissa Smith 12:49
And then I think, as the business moves on, right, so if we think about year two, year three, year four or five, I think a lot of organizations run into the problem, which is what we’re going to be focusing on today. And that is, they’re thinking too small, they fail to grow. And they fail to think about growing, so they don’t plan for it. And there is a truism when it comes to the world of business, and that is grow or die. If you’re not growing, you’re dying. And it is as simple as that. And I remember, you know, I had come across this concept before, but I remember sitting in one of my MBA courses, and that that topic came up and our professor was discussing it, we as a, as a class, we’re discussing it, this concept of grow or die. And I remember sitting there, right, so as a small business owner, and just thinking, Oh, no, that’s a lot of work. And kind of having this argument in my head, right, as this lecture was happening, in terms of what if I just want to stay small? What if I just want to keep it, you know, how it is right now. And, you know, first of all, there’s nothing wrong with that way of thinking, except that you may not meet market needs, you may actually become irrelevant in the market. And so there’s nothing wrong with, you know, staying small or being very focused about what you do and how you do it. Right. So we think about like, boutique firms, we think about boutique hotels, right? I think those can be good examples of how small can often be better, but they’re still growth happening there. And so, you know, we want to pay attention to how growth is still happening. And I think that this is where, you know, if we think about these business stats, have a lot of businesses that go out of business after year two, year three, year four, year five, and even up to 10 years. It’s because there’s a failure to grow. There’s a failure to think about scaling and consider how can we still be relevant how do we serve more people? How can we increase the strength of our products and our services. And so in a word people get complacent. In a word people get scared. In a word, you know, people, people, this is two words, they lose sight. Right. And so that’s, that’s probably not going to result in a very sustainable business long term.

Dr. Melissa Smith 15:27
And this doesn’t mean you have to be running the business long term, right. The other thought that I had when I was sitting in that business class was, I don’t know that I’m prepared to do this business for, you know, the next 40 years, or whatever that might entail. And that felt like a lot of pressure, right? Like, I’m like, I like having options. And so I don’t like feeling like I don’t have an option. And so when they were talking about grow or die, I was like, Whoa, I don’t I don’t, I don’t know if I’m ready for that kind of commitment, which is kind of funny, because I mean, I’d already made a huge commitment. So it wasn’t about not having a willingness to do the work or not being committed to the work. But it just, it’s a lot, and it can feel overwhelming.

Dr. Melissa Smith 16:10
And so today, we want to, we want to speak to that. And if you’re feeling overwhelmed, if you’re feeling like I don’t know how to grow, I don’t know, if it’s right to grow, then hopefully, this conversation and the upcoming podcast on this topic will help you to first of all, have clarity about your path, and what that needs to look like for you right like that. So you can make your decision rather than failing to make a decision because you’re thinking too small, and then the market makes the decision for you, the market says you’re out of business. Now, we don’t want to happen like that, we want you to be intentional making choices that really work best for you, for your organization, and for those you serve. And so that’s really what we want to pay attention to.

Dr. Melissa Smith 16:58
So let’s think about those first, you know, months and sometimes years of being a small business owner, or being in a small organization, right, where you’re a team member on a small in a small organization, right? Like it can be, it can be touch and go. And I think also, like just so much work. And so you’re you’re kind of wearing all the hats in your organization, everyone’s doing a little bit of everything. But as you may get past the the first fragile months or years of being in business, and you know, you, you can actually kind of catch your breath for a minute, maybe because as far as like the wolf is not at the door. So you’re maybe beginning to have success. And you’re not, you’re not too worried about making payroll, and all of that, that good stuff, right? That’s where a lot of leaders rest on their laurels. And they’re like, Okay, this is good. Like, I just want to breathe here. And that’s, that’s good, right? We all have times of pushing and pausing. And so I’m not saying that you should push beyond what is beneficial. But this is the zone where a lot of leaders and a lot of teams get complacent. Because they’re like, okay, like we’re doing okay, like this is working, this is good. But they’re not considering growing. And so this is how we can think too small. And so when you get past those first fragile months or years, and you’re starting to have a little more success in the business, this is when it’s time to think about scaling. And I think it’s, it’s always a good time to be thinking about scaling. Even if you’re not ready to do that we this is part of clarity, we want you to have a sense of that timeline, and have a sense of what’s on the horizon. And how are we actually moving to that horizon. And so regardless of where you’re at in the organization, you should always have growth in mind. And that, I mean, that’s actually an ethical responsibility as a business owner, and to those you serve and to those you work with. So it’s time to start thinking about scaling, right.

Dr. Melissa Smith 19:09
So I also want to say here that your scaling or your growth may look very, very different from the scaling or the growth of the entrepreneur down the street, or who you read about in the Wall Street Journal, right? So don’t compare and don’t get lost in that. But here’s the thing, regardless of where you’re at the size of your organization, when you have a team or business that is growing, there are some really important keys to guide you through the scaling process. So it doesn’t matter how small or big right when you’re scaling, there are some principles of growth and scaling that every organization needs to pay attention to. Now, right, if you’re a larger organization, those questions can get more complex, right because there are a lot more moving parts, but these principles are consistent. Okay. And so And the the main point here is that in order to succeed, you must change, right. And I’ve already kind of talked about that, that there comes a time in the life of any entrepreneur, small business owner or small organization that you have to reconsider the way you do things. And don’t get me wrong, the way you’ve done things has been great, right? Like it’s led you to success when so many others have failed, right? Like when almost 70% of other businesses potentially have failed, especially, you know, one in five in that first year. And so because of your success, it is now time to take a step back and assess the situation.

Dr. Melissa Smith 20:42
This work also applies to teams. So even if you work within a large organization, a fast moving startup, there is always a need to reassess. And so here are some of the questions that I want you to take a look at. So first, what are you doing? And you can answer that for yourself, you can answer that for your team, right, as a team, you could answer that all together. So what are you doing? How are you doing it? Who is doing what? And how effective? Is all of this? Right? So are you pretty effective at what you do? Or do you are you barely hanging on? Right? Because you want to have clarity about what you’re doing? how you’re doing it? And who is doing what, right? Those questions are pretty simple questions. But they will just provide you some laser focus in terms of what’s happening in the organization.

Dr. Melissa Smith 21:34
And I think the last question is a really, really important one, because it helps you to understand the readiness for growth, the readiness for scaling, right? And so that question, again, is how effective is all of this, right? So how effective is, is all of this that we’re trying to do? And if you take an honest assessment, and you look at, you know what, our customer service is lousy, right? Like people are not happy with the product, they’re not happy with the service, that would be one of those signs that tell you, you’ve got some you’ve got some shoring up of your foundation to do before you are ready to take the next step. Right. And so these questions really do help you assess the readiness of your team to grow. And so really, really important. And if you know the answer to some of those questions of how effective is, is all of this that we’re doing is, you know what we’re having a long like we’ve got, we’ve got our systems figured out, we’re, you know, we’re cohesive, we’ve got a really strong culture, customers and clients really love the work, they’re asking for more. Okay, then, you know, right, there’s a good indicator that it is really time to get serious about growing. And so Marshall Goldsmith, has famously said, “What got you here won’t get you there.” And boy, this is so true, right? Like, it really does respect the fact of all the work that you have done to get to this point, but you know, I just think about climbing a mountain. And when you’re climbing a mountain, conditions both on the ground, the features of the mountain, and certainly the weather system, and your own personal experience, require you to have different skills require you to face new challenges, right, maybe there are parts of the mountain that you have to scramble, maybe there are parts that are super steep, maybe you’ve got some nice, lovely Meadows along the way. And so you know, what got you to the base of the mountain will not be enough to get you to the top. And so I want I want us to think about that for a little bit. So if you continue to see your business as a tiny startup, or you know, this is just my little small business here. And if you continue to operate from a perspective of I must do everything or I need to wear all the hats, or everything hinges on me. You’re in big trouble, right? It’s a recipe for burnout, stunted growth, and frustrated team members because it’s so ineffective. It’s so incredibly inefficient.

Dr. Melissa Smith 24:15
So what is it that you need to change? And what is it that needs to remain the same? Right? Because when we think about that statement, what got you here won’t get you there? There are two parts of that right? What got you here? There, there are absolutely some essential elements of success that helped you to to make it pass all the other businesses that went out of business and so we don’t want to abandon everything at the foot of the mountain. I mean, that would be so foolish. But so this is where we want to look at what what needs to remain the same. And then the second part of that statement, you know what got you here won’t get you there. We really want to take a look at what needs to change right in order to grow So that’s really what we’ll be talking about in the next podcast. So next week, but let’s focus now on what needs to remain the same.

Dr. Melissa Smith 25:09
Okay, and there are two really essential pieces that need to stay the same. And of course, there’s a little more detail with each of those. So the first thing that needs to remain the same is your purpose and your meaning in your work, right? Like that is that is clarity, right? That is the mountain peak, you know, you’re going to climb that mountain. And so we often think about purpose and vision as the mountain peak, and moving you there. And so what’s true is that purpose really unfolds over time for most of us, but it can also remain fairly constant, right. So you may not have perfect clarity about that all the time. But you have kind of a deep felt sense of what’s important. And so are, you know, your sense of purpose should not be shifting, like sand. That it really should be fairly constant. But it’s okay, if you don’t have that totally pinned down explicitly.

Dr. Melissa Smith 26:14
So you think of the mountain peak in the distance that you’re climbing to, sometimes it’s hard to see, and you really have to be willing to be flexible in your approach to the mountain, right, you’re going to need different skills, but your desire and your willingness and commitment and effort to climbing the mountain remains the same. And so this is where you know, part of purpose and meaning. We really want to think about your your virtues, right like your your work ethic, the things that have really helped you. Whether that is you know, what, I’ve got a curious mind, and I keep, I keep looking for answers and direction. And that does maybe helps you to be successful. A really strong work ethic will make a big difference. It’s not everything right? When we want to work smarter, not harder. But your purpose in the work will be you know, a steadying hand, it is that guiding force. And so we want that to remain the same even as you look at growing and scaling.

Dr. Melissa Smith 27:13
The second big area that we want to remain the same would be your values. So like purpose, your values become incredibly important signposts along your journey right along your climb up that mountain. So these are like key principles that guide your behaviors and help you to answer these questions. So what will you do? What will you not do? And then of course, why or why not? And the why question really gets to that purpose, right? It ties you back to that sense of purpose. And our values are those signposts along the way, right. And so we always want our values showing up in our behavior, they should be there every single day. And so in a very real way, values guide decision making. And so what will you do? What will you not do? If I make this decision, does that undermine my purpose? Does that get me off track? Or does it move me closer to that vision? Does it move me closer to that mountain peak? And so you know, of course, you will always need to make changes in your work in order to keep up with times, shifting demand and supply. But we don’t ever want you to compromise your values. Right.

Dr. Melissa Smith 28:30
And so Adam Grant talks about this concept in his excellent book, Think Again, I did a book review on that not too long ago. So I will link to that in. And so the way that he talks about this is, you know, in terms of the error that many make is that they hold tight to their beliefs and opinions. We kind of, we stake our stick in the ground around beliefs and opinions. And this actually serves to keep you closed off from learning and improving your practices and your approach. Because right, like best practices are always evolving. And Adam Grant, I think he talks about better practices instead of best practices. Because best practices kind of denotes, like, it’s been determined, the case is closed, the book is closed, this is what you should be doing. And so I think he uses the term better practices. And it really connotes like this openness to learning and growth and always improving, always growing. And so instead, Grant invites us to hold tight to our values, but be open to rethinking your beliefs and opinions. And that’s a really important distinction, right? So when we can hold tight to our values, it can be a guiding force as we make decisions, but it also keeps us steady. So we’re not tossed about by every wind of change. And so we take new new beliefs, new opinions, new suggestions and recommendations, and we hold them up against our values, and then we can really answer you know, Is this right for me? Is this right for our organization? Is this something that we really need to be paying attention to? Or is this something that really isn’t relevant, it doesn’t really fit consistent with our values. And so I think it can be such a helpful way of thinking about it.

Dr. Melissa Smith 30:17
And so Adam Grant said this, “if knowledge is power, knowing what we don’t know, is wisdom.” And so really, I love that because it kind of speaks to this importance of humility, which of course, is a great value for anyone leading and growing. And so a little bit more from him. He said, “we all have blind spots in our knowledge and opinions, the bad news is that they can leave us blind to our blindness.” And that’s the problem with holding tightly to our thoughts and beliefs. So continuing on from Grant, he said, “which gives us false confidence in our judgment and prevents us from re-thinking.” So this is the good news from Grant. “The good news is that with the right kind of confidence, we can learn to see ourselves more clearly and update our views. In driver’s training, we were taught to identify our visual blind spots, and eliminate them with the help of mirrors and sensors. In life, since our minds don’t come equipped with those tools, we need to learn to recognize our cognitive blind spots, and revise our thinking accordingly.” And I just, I love that perspective. And so one of the things that we want to remain the same are your values, but you need to be open to new ways of thinking and new ways of doing things. Okay.

Dr. Melissa Smith 31:34
So just a couple other thoughts from Adam Grant, he says, “we listen to views that make us feel good instead of ideas that make us think hard.” And I think that’s true. I, like I am sad to say I, I hope I’m wrong. But I feel like we are lazy thinkers more and more in our society. And it’s not doing us any favors. And so we need to push ourselves to grow, we need to push ourselves to critical thinking. And I think part of the reason we’re getting worse at that is because it’s uncomfortable. And I think there has been a time where we embraced hard things more than we do today, I think there are ways that we, we avoid what’s hard. And there, there’s a certain amount of acceptability around that. And I don’t think it’s doing us any favors. So we want to lean into the hard and not hard for suffering sake, or that doesn’t move us towards purpose or vision. But whenever we’re moving towards something meaningfully, it’s going to be challenging, it’s going to test ourselves, and that’s a good thing that’ll make you better and more capable and more able to contribute.

Dr. Melissa Smith 32:46
So your values light the way and help you remain steady in decision making, right? So some of the questions to ask, what matters? What is the priority? How do we contribute? Right? So we as an organization, you personally, how do you contribute? And what will this decision mean, for those that we serve? That’s a really important question to ask, because you may have a decision that makes perfect sense within the organization, for your team members, for you, for the health of your organization, even. But it may be very difficult for those you serve. And that doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t do it, right. Because sometimes we have to make those hard decisions all the time, that that you know what, we can’t continue to provide this service or we can’t continue to provide this product, and you have a fiduciary responsibility to make those tough decisions. But we want to think about the impact that that has, we want to think about ways that we can still serve and actually mitigate some of that impact for those who would be impacted by those types of decisions. And then, you know, essentially the what remains the same. So what matters and why it matters stays consistent throughout. And so that’s really what we want to pay attention to, when we’re looking at whether you’re ready to grow.

Dr. Melissa Smith 34:13
And so these are all questions, everything that I’ve talked about in today’s podcast, are really focused on helping you to answer this question: Are you thinking too small? And to assess your readiness for growth and for scaling. And the last thing that I would just say is you can do it. It there’s so much uncertainty, and you can feel completely overwhelmed. And so you don’t have a freaking clue what you’re doing. But that and sometimes when we have those feelings, we feel like that means we’re doing it wrong. And I’m just here to tell you, it may not mean you’re doing it wrong, it may it may mean you’re taking the exact next step you need to take and it’s Just the nature of that mountain climb, it’s scary. It’s hard, it is risky. And so I would say, you know, one of I can’t remember if I’ve talked about this before, but one of the most powerful benefits that I received, as a result of my MBA program, is I learned, I learned that I was doing a lot better than I thought I was as a small business owner. Because when you are in a small organization, and you’re making these difficult decisions, it’s so isolating, you can feel so alone. And you know, depending on what you do with that fear of the risk and the uncertainty, right, if you bury that fear, because you’re ashamed, or you feel like, gosh, I should have it all figured out. You cut yourself off from support, and you cut yourself off from connecting with others who can provide you perspective, and who can say, Oh, yeah, I felt that way too, or you’re not alone. And then you can actually just get on to the business, of tackling the decisions and asking these questions around assessment and readiness. And I would say, you know, that that was one of my take home experiences.

Dr. Melissa Smith 36:10
I think the other thing, so, you know, just going back to looking at those business stats about just how challenging it is to start a business and to be successful, as I got into my MBA program, and learned, you know, all of these things. And this was years after I had started my business, it wasn’t too long after I was still like, in year one through, like three, I think, during my MBA program. So I was definitely not out of the woods, by any stretch of the imagination. But I remember sitting in a lot of classes and just thinking, I can’t believe I started this business. And I can’t believe I’ve been successful, because the odds are really against me. And there’s so so many things that I didn’t know, right. And so I did have that experience, but I also had the experience of I’m doing better than I think I am and I’m doing better than I give myself credit for. And so that was probably one of the biggest confidence boosters. And it’s not because you know, I was doing anything perfectly or had it all figured out, like very far from it.

Dr. Melissa Smith 37:11
But what I learned, as I got into it, as I leaned into the difficult things and leaned into the parts of the business that made me really uncomfortable and things that maybe I didn’t fully understand is I learned that that was okay. And that that’s actually one of the first steps to, to growing and learning and getting better. Because what happened is I opened the door to so much support and perspective and people that really could help me. And so that was a really powerful take home for me. And so for you, if you are wondering if you’re thinking too small, or if you’re wondering if Gosh, it’s time to scale, it’s time to grow. I hope that these questions that we’ve talked about today can be very helpful for you. And I just want to let you know that you can do it, don’t try to do it alone, though. You can absolutely be successful, you can take these next steps in your business. And so I really hope that you take that to heart and that you will go through these questions and really assess okay, what are my next steps here because you’ve got what it takes, there’s absolutely no doubt about that.

Dr. Melissa Smith 38:26
So head on over to my website to check out the show notes with the resources and links for this episode. You can find that at www.drmelissasmith.com/thinkingsmall. So once again, that’s www.drmelissasmith.com/thinkingsmall so one word THINKINGSMALL Of course, you can find the podcast on iTunes or Spotify, and of course at my website that I just shared with you. And if you wouldn’t mind taking a minute or two and just sharing a review of the podcast I would so appreciate it helps other people to discover the podcast is also great feedback for me about what’s working, what’s not working. And of course, I’m totally social. So I’m on Instagram. You can find me there @dr.melissasmith, and I’d love to connect there as well. So I’m Dr. Melissa Smith. Remember love and work, work and love. That’s all there is. Until next time, take good care.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai