Your message got me thinking. Because while the majority of the business world is growing, calculating, organising and structuring, you and many others proof indeed that there is another way: one of consciously not growing. Not because it can’t be done, but because it doesn’t have to be done. In an age where we measure everything in KPIs and FTEs, that’s almost revolutionary. Staying small as a strength. As a compass – to use your words.

The myth of more

We live in an economic culture where material growth is still too often equated with success. More turnover, more staff, more market share. But what if that “more” comes at the expense of what is truly valuable? Relationships. Meaning. Peace of mind. Care. It is striking how rarely we consider small scale to be strategically or morally valuable. On the contrary, entrepreneurs (like myself since the pandemic) who consciously choose to remain small are often asked, “When are you going to expand?”, as if their current form is a temporary phase — a stepping stone to the real thing.

Small is not a lack of ambition

What I sense in Kevin’s and my own story is just the opposite: a deep form of leadership. No ambition to become bigger, but to do business better, more honestly, more humanely. That’s not just romantic idealism. It is a form of radical care. Care as a craft, rather than as architecture. Not a programme, but a daily practice. Not an incentive, but an instinct.

My reflection: doing good works, even without a growth plan

In my book Doing Good Works, I write about companies that are building cultures rooted in care, fairness, and meaning. Often, these are organisations with teams, structures, and systems. But I also write about my Company of One local butcher — who, every Saturday morning, reminds me what true customer service and product quality look like. And about companies like DaddyKate and Teal Partners, who deliberately cap their growth at the minimum needed to fulfil their purpose. I believe the real question isn’t to scale or not to scale. The real question is: what is the right scale to realise the positive impact you want to have on the world — no more, no less? Growth for growth’s sake is indeed just ego in disguise. A trap I’ve fallen into more than once. But scaling just enough to serve your purpose well? That’s discipline. That’s leadership.

About de-growth: sustainable growth is not the enemy of care

That said, I do not believe in the so-called “degrowth” movement. A world without growth would be a disaster — not only economically, but also socially and morally. Growth and human flourishing are deeply interconnected. The real question is therefore not whether we should grow, but how. Growth that exhausts, exploits and alienates is harmful. But growth that uplifts people, deepens relationships, strengthens systems and respects the planet — that growth is essential. It is this kind of sustainable, caring growth that we need. Even if that means, in some cases, remaining small in size but growing in significance.

Conclusion

Kevin’s question cuts to the core: why are entrepreneurs almost never encouraged to consciously stay small? Why do our subsidies and incentives worship scale, but ignore care? What if we started rewarding those who don’t expand, but deepen? Who don’t set up HR departments, but simply lead with heart? It’s time we stop treating smallness as a phase and start seeing it as a powerful form of leadership. In a world buckling under the weight of endless growth, we need more craft, less construction. More soul, less systems. And more business owners with the guts to stay small and true — rather than grow big, lose themselves, and live in fear of collapse. The paradox? That kind of grounded integrity will lead to the right kind of growth. Because doing good — really good — works. Doing Good Works entrepreneurship does not start with the number of employees. It starts with the courage to remain true to what really matters — even if that means consciously staying small.