5 Reasons to Slow or Stop the Growth of Your BusinessSometimes, you simply don't want to grow. And that's okay.

In our experience, most small business owners want togrow their companies. There are many reasons to grow your business, includingeconomies of scale. But some entrepreneurs—who could ordinarily grow their businesses—choose to limit the growth of their enterprises. Why?

We've heard the mantra: You have togrow or die. Yet we have found example after example of business owners who debunk this myth. Here are five primary reasons we've discovered why these entrepreneurs have decided to limit the growth of their businesses.

Related:Here's the Secret to Growing Your Small Business

1. Time needed to achieve profitability

New businesses may take a while to reach profitability, as their ownersrefine the business model. In fact, we have often advised entrepreneurs to ensure they have a盈利的商业模式before growing.

If it costs you $7 in material and labor to make a widget that you sell for $5, you're not going to make up the difference in volume. We worked with a home healthcare service that routinely deployed caregivers who cost the company more in wages than the client's bill rate—until we pointed this out to the owners. Obviously, you can'tstay in businessvery long with a model in which you lose money.

2.目的不危及金融稳定

When a business is throwing off sufficient cash for the owner to achieve his or her financial objectives, many people decidenot to incur the additional riskassociated with further growth.

A conversation we had with the owner of anautomotive body shopillustrates this. He explained, "My house is paid for, my cars are paid for, my river house is paid for, my boat is paid for, my jet skis are paid for and the building that houses my business is paid for. I have a lifestyle I love.

"Yes, I could grow my business," this man said, "but that would mean opening new locations. I'd have to make a significant investment in equipment and buildings. That would be risky. I already have everything I want; I'm not going to risk losing it."

Related:How to Grow Your Business

3. Unwillingness to let go

We know a fantasticinterior house painter. He likes to do wonderful faux finishes in high-end houses. He is a true artisan. However, he can't orwon't delegatethe painting to anyone else. He believes that no one can produce the finishes he can. So, if he continues to insist on spending his days with a paintbrush in his hand, the size of his company will remain limited by his own capacity.

Likewise, we know a very successful concrete contractor. Growing his business beyond its current size would requiredelegating day-to-day decision-makingauthority to others. He would need to install a level of management between himself and the primary workers.He is unwilling to do that. Therefore, he has made a conscious decision to not expand his business.

4. Avoidance of regulation

A small bank we know reached 45 employees. At 50 employees, it would become subject to theFamily Medical Leave Act (FMLA)which carries significant recordkeeping requirements. The company president decided not to cross that threshold by choice toavoid the bureaucratic requirement.

A general contractor with four employees laid all of them off andbecame a solopreneurbecause he was tired of dealing with all of the paperwork required by having even a single employee. He told us that the cost of time to complete and manage payroll, taxes,workers' compensationand other requirements outweighed the benefit of additional manpower.

5. Wish to maintain sustainable growth

In some businesses,growth requires capital. Consider a business that has thin profit margins, and requires significant inventory and accounts receivable. A dollar of sales growth may well use more cash than it throws off in the first year.

When this is the case, owners are faced with a decision to eitherobtain external financingor limit growth to a rate that the business can sustain through its own internal cash generation.

Related:Scale Your Small Business