When Growth Feels Heavy: Recognizing the Signs Your Business Model Needs a Redesign
- Kimberly DeShields-Spencer
- Oct 4
- 4 min read
My friend Mark was a brilliant chef who started a small, artisan bakery. His croissants were legendary. He started with a small shop, and within a year, the demand was overwhelming. He was working 18-hour days, seven days a week, just to keep up with the pace. He hired a few employees, but he was still the one kneading the dough, managing the books, and serving the customers. He was "growing," but it felt like he was running on a treadmill that was speeding up every day.
One morning, I found him sitting on a bucket in the back of his shop, staring blankly at the wall. When I asked him if he was okay, he just sighed and said, "I'm so tired. The business is a huge success, but I feel like I'm a complete failure."
Mark was a victim of a common business paradox: growth that feels heavy. Not all growth is good growth. The kind of growth that leaves you feeling exhausted, stressed, and resentful isn't a sign of success; it's a symptom that your business model is flawed. It’s a sign that you’ve scaled your workload without scaling your systems, your pricing, or your team.
We often believe that growth is the ultimate goal, but the truth is, if growth is making you miserable, it's not a win. It's a signal that your business model needs to be reevaluated and possibly redesigned. It's time to stop chasing growth for growth's sake and start restructuring for sustainability.
The Burnout Paradox: When Profit Doesn't Equal Peace
The most common sign of a broken business model is the feeling of burnout. You're working harder than ever, your revenue is increasing, but you feel more stressed, not less. This is often because you've added more work without providing the necessary support, pricing, or processes in place.
You might be making more money, but if every new client adds to your personal workload, you're not building a business; you're building a job for yourself. You're trading your time for money at an unsustainable rate. This is a clear indication that your business model needs to be reevaluated.
Conduct a "Profit vs. Peace" audit. On a piece of paper, write down your five most profitable clients or projects from the past six months. Next to each, write down how much mental and emotional energy the project consumed. Were the profits worth the stress? If the answer is "no," you have a clear signal that your business model needs to be adjusted. You may need to raise your prices, streamline your processes, or even let go of certain types of clients who are a source of stress rather than profit.
The "More is More" Trap: Scaling Without Systems
When your business starts to grow, your first instinct is to take on more. More clients, more services, more projects. But if you don't have the systems in place to handle that increased volume, you're not scaling; you're simply adding more chaos.
A business built on personal effort and long hours will crumble under the weight of rapid growth. A sustainable business is built on repeatable systems that enable you to handle a higher volume of work without increasing your personal workload. This means documenting your processes, automating your tasks, and building a team that can take on the job without your constant supervision.
Identify the one process in your business that feels the most chaotic and time-consuming. It could be your client onboarding, your project delivery, or your content creation. Document every single step of that process. Then, look for opportunities to automate or delegate. Could a simple email template save you time? Could you hire a virtual assistant to handle a few steps? This small act of building a system will free up your time and energy, allowing you to handle more work with less stress.
The Pricing Problem: When Value and Cost Don't Align
Your pricing is a core part of your business model, and it's often the first thing that breaks under the pressure of growth. If your prices are too low, you'll be forced to take on an unsustainable number of clients just to meet your financial goals. You'll be constantly busy, but you'll never feel like you're getting ahead.
A sustainable business model is one where your prices align with your value, allowing you to work with fewer, better clients who are willing to pay for your expertise. This frees you from the exhausting cycle of constantly chasing new business, allowing you to focus on delivering high-quality work to a select group of clients.
Research what your competitors are charging, but don't just copy them. Instead, conduct a "value proposition" audit. What is the unique problem you solve for your clients? What is the tangible and emotional value you deliver? Are you saving them time, money, or stress? Once you have a clear understanding of your value, set your prices accordingly. Don’t just raise your rates; raise them with the confidence that comes from knowing you are providing a premium service that is worth the investment.
The Restructuring for a Sustainable Future
Mark eventually stepped back from his bakery. He hired a manager to oversee the day-to-day operations and a baker to assist with kneading. He spent the next six months developing a new business model: selling his artisanal croissants wholesale to local coffee shops. He was no longer working 18-hour days, and the business was more profitable than ever. He had redesigned his business model to be a vehicle for his life, not a prison of his own making.
The signs that your business model needs a redesign are clear: you’re exhausted, your growth feels heavy, and you’re constantly stressed. These are not signs of a failed business; they are signals from your body and mind that it's time for a change. It's time to stop seeing growth as a number and start seeing it as a feeling. If growth doesn't feel good, it's not good. It's time to take a step back and redesign your business for a sustainable and more peaceful future. What is one small change you can make today to make your business feel lighter?
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