How to stretch your capacity for success in your business

Photo by Kalen Emsley on Unsplash

I started an artisan granola company back in 2015 (pre-kids) on the side of my corporate job. 💻

I won an award just six months after starting it up. I put so much hard work and proper passion into it. When I look back now at what I achieved it was flipping kick ass. 🏆

But I did not take ownership of any of it. 😳

And in fact, I often did the opposite, playing it down or actively trying to play it down and keep it hidden. 📦

👉 I rehearsed my sentences over and over before even mentioning it to any of my colleagues.

👉 I had to psyche myself up to reply to enquiries from people about where they could buy it.

👉 I nearly withered away under the table when someone I knew turned up to a food fair I was at.

👉 I turned my phone on silent when a local radio station called for an interview.


I said I wanted it to be successful, but honestly I felt silly. ☺️

I worried that other people would think I was happy ‘just’ baking all day long. 👩‍🍳

For dabbling to bring in pocket money. 💰

I don’t know how many hours I put in without having any real income to show for it. 😥

I was happy to do everything behind the scenes, but putting myself out there in any way was so painful. 😬

There were so many moments of joy and accomplishment in that stage of business, but at least an equivalent number filled with sweat, a red face and a hyped up heart rate.

The business had so much going for it, but my nervous system just was not ready.

At the time, I felt tangled up in knots, determined to make it work but then also getting in my own way at every opportunity.

Now, I really see it as a good thing that I did.

I have put in so much work to be able to regulate my nervous system and know when I am pushing it to its limits.

And it’s something that I will continue to work on because I do want an expansive business, but one where I am easing out of my comfort zone, rather than stretching it beyond it’s capacity.

And this is one of the reasons that I am a strong advocate of slow growth.

To me slow growth is much more typical of what we see all around us in nature, where it can take several cycles of the seasons before a plant is fully established and flourishing and ready to spread it’s seeds.

What are your thoughts? What do you like about the idea of slow growth and what puts you off? If you’d like some support in growing your business step by step then download your free Regenerative Business Starter Kit here to get the framework you need to turn sporadic action into sustainable results.