Build for Your Bandwidth

Jun 10

Episode 959: Show Notes

Your business needs to be designed with your bandwidth in mind so that you’re capable of doing it in every season! You have other priorities outside of business, and I want to help you design a business with your capacity in mind. I want you to ignore society and other business gurus when they tell you how much bandwidth you need to have for your business, and instead, I want you to design it around you!

There’s a misconception that designing a business around bandwidth limits your capacity for growth, but that’s not true – bandwidth can change! Capability doesn’t equal sustainability, and while there are always things you can handle doing for a short period of time, sustaining them is tricky.

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How to Intentionally Scale Down for the Season You’re In

We’ve been told that the only right way is to keep growing. I want to tell you that that’s not normal! There is no business out there growing exponentially year after year. We often talk about scaling like it’s required of us, but I want you to have the opportunity to build a smaller business if you want to. Scaling down is just as much of a strategy as scaling up! I have personally made changes over the last two years to make this business smaller. My audience has continued to grow, but I have let go of some of my staff, and my revenue is down. It would be really easy to say that I’ve failed and my business isn’t doing well, but these were intentional decisions that I felt good about. I’m okay with my business being smaller because it better matches the season that I’m in. It’s working for me and I’m not even earning less personally! These changes have made me far happier and healthier!

Why More Is Not Always Better!

Often, it is believed that more growth is better. But I want you to challenge yourself and find out why you want to grow. If you can justify it, then you should go for it! But to what end? When you have a certain level of income, I think you have to have a purpose and a direction. What is enough? If you keep focusing on making more and more, you are constantly putting pressure on your business, and you’ve completely lost touch with what you need. Eventually, enough is enough. If you decide to build a business with flexibility at the forefront, then so many things become options for you! These businesses generally grow faster, further, and cheaper because they are structured around flexibility. I want you to consider how your business is structured today. Does it make you breathe easier, or do you feel behind? Are you building for the amount of time and energy that you have today, or are you building for some aspirational version of yourself that may, or may not, be attainable?

Building a Business That Supports Your Greatest Desires

What do you actually want to be known for? Do you want to be known for something? So often we think we have to have a legacy, but do we? Because if your life is more important than your work, does that matter? So often, we over-complicate these aspirations without considering how we want to be remembered when we’re gone. I can bet that for most of you, how you want to be remembered has nothing to do with your work, and that probably means you need more time away from your business. I want you to imagine what is going to happen in five or ten years down the line and what your life may look like. When you do this, in great detail, it is going to open so many doors for you and help you build a business that supports your desires.

Let This Be Your Permission

I want this to be permission that you’re allowed to build a business that prioritizes peace, slowness, softness, and presence. It doesn’t always have to be more, and it doesn’t need more from you. That doesn’t put limitations on your growth, just on how you structure your growth, and that is going to fuel your future. Results don’t just need to be analytical, results can also equal more rest, more clarity, better health, etc. There is an ROI on you being rested! That space is not wasted – it’s where your next idea lives. I want to see you build something sustainable with your bandwidth in mind. If you’re looking for a space that supports this kind of business, you need to join the Co-Op today! Ask yourself, if you could change one thing about your business today to make your life easier tomorrow, what would it be?