Picture this, you at a networking event and someone asks so how big is your team and you apply. It’s just me right now. But then you get this awkward pause, you see an eyebrow raise and there’s this not so subtle shift in tone like you just admitted your business is some sort of side hustle or something.
And then you get their reply. That’s cute. Cute. You’re pocketing 6 figures in profit with no payroll, no office politics, and the freedom to work from anywhere. But yet somehow your business is cute.
And then the next question. So any plans for growth? Because despite trying to hide it, it’s still just not OK that you’re just one person to them. And they’re clearly not worth their time if you are just one person.
And so when you apply with I’m actually really enjoying Beaver solar partner. So I don’t actually plan plan to grow no. And their response? Oh cool, I’m just going to go grab a drink. And then they make their quick exit looking for someone who’s equally obsessed with vanity metrics and just wants to grow and grow until they can sell.
So they go off and they find someone that can chat tactics and you go with and you’re just left feeling a little bit embarrassed about your solo business.
So this week’s episode is all about smashing that myth that bigger means better in business and showing you that actually you can be more profitable, less stressed, and way happier when staying small.
Hello and welcome to Sniffing Out the Bullshit, a podcast for ambitious entrepreneurs who want help wading their way through the bullshit jungle of entrepreneurship and then the tools, skills and mindset that are actually required for success. I’m your host, Sabrina Chevannes, the no bullshit entrepreneur.
So apparently if you don’t have a team of 20, a court office in Shoreditch and daily standups, you’re not really running a business, right? I mean, that’s exactly how I felt a couple of years ago. And that was literally my life.
And pretty much everyone around me considered me to be smashing it. And I will tell you the, like, reality about situation in a minute. But let me just start off with talking about this obsession with growth first. Because let’s face it, growth is sexy.
You know, more staff, bigger offices, funding lands team faces on LinkedIn with matching mugs and branded hoodies. I mean, that’s what the online entrepreneur crowd wanted to believe at least, right? There’s just a constant narrative that scaling equal success.
You see everywhere 7 bigger businesses now hiring a full time head of vibes or whatever, but let’s just close a 2 million investment round. Oh my God, there’s constant things like this going on, and each one of these updates our company with a crowd of people congratulating them on how well they’re doing and usually just wanted to get them to know them a bit more so they can have a taste of that same success.
The thing is, these guys don’t actually paint the full picture. The founders bragging about growth are not actually also telling you about the shrinking margins, the mounting stress, the broken workflows, and the fact that they now spend their life managing people instead of actually doing what they love.
And this mindset is everywhere, even in the books we’re told to read, right? Blitz scaling, the 10X will think bigger. These books are always recommended by the Hustle Bros as unlocking the keys to success, and they all just have the same narrative.
Grow, grow, grow.



