expanding their service or product bouquet is in fact a step towards growing big.

Enhancing your product line is a good idea if you have customers who are likely to buy the additional products as well. That is a new revenue stream from an existing business and is a logical step to take if you want your business to grow. But if that is not your life ambition, you need to take a hard look at the situation.

At this point in time, you have to make a firm decision about growth. It’s a heady feeling to have customers who insist on giving more business to you and

One of the best things about the 5K business model (a business you start for $5,000 or less) is that it is tailored for people who want to be their own boss, live their lives on their own terms, enjoy their work thoroughly, and still make a tidy profit. Though the popular notion is that you want start a new business because you want to make pots of money, there are thousands of people who are motivated by the flexibility and freedom a small business offers more than financial growth.

But if you have ever picked up a book on starting and running a small business, you know most of them are written for people who want to start small but grow big. Almost all of these books talk about taking loans, renting or buying office property, and hiring employees with the end goal of expansion in mind. That is not the kind of advice a typical 5K biz owner is seeking. The 5K Biz owner has a different objective to be achieved from her business. At the same time, it doesn't mean that a 5K business does not have the potential to grow; it is a matter of the owner’s choice.

Having said that, I would also say that expansion in a "5K biz" is not easy to avoid and some amount of organic growth is always there. I have met many business owners who lamented the fact that they have to strain their resources and change their original plans because they have allowed their business to grow larger and larger. The demand for more products or more services drives them to expansion. It can become difficult to manage because this growth is not by design and may disrupt the balance of work and family in their lives.

My successful 5K business owners must decide after about 2 to 3 years if they want to stay small or grow into a larger enterprise. This sets the course of your business and all your marketing efforts and selling can be geared towards the end objective.

If you want to stay small, you would have to decide the magnitude of work you want to handle every year: the number of clients you want to have and or the length and breadth of your product and service lines. This is very important because a lot of times business owners make the mistake of stocking more products or offering a second service because there seems to be some demand for it. What they don’t realize is that expanding their service or product bouquet is in fact a step towards growing big.

Enhancing your product line is a good idea if you have customers who are likely to buy the additional products as well. That is a new revenue stream from an existing business and is a logical step to take if you want your business to grow. But if that is not your life ambition, you need to take a hard look at the situation.

At this point in time, you have to make a firm decision about growth. It’s a heady feeling to have customers who insist on giving more business to you and a

ou know most of them are written for people who want to start small but grow big. Almost all of these books talk about taking loans, renting or buying office property, and hiring employees with the end goal of expansion in mind. That is not the kind of advice a typical 5K biz owner is seeking. The 5K Biz owner has a different objective to be achieved from her business. At the same time, it doesn't mean that a 5K business does not have the potential to grow; it is a matter of the owner’s choice.

Having said that, I would also say that expansion in a "5K biz" is not easy to avoid and some amount of organic growth is always there. I have met many business owners who lamented the fact that they have to strain their resources and change their original plans because they have allowed their business to grow larger and larger. The demand for more products or more services drives them to expansion. It can become difficult to manage because this growth is not by design and may disrupt the balance of work and family in their lives.

My successful 5K business owners must decide after about 2 to 3 years if they want to stay small or grow into a larger enterprise. This sets the course of your business and all your marketing efforts and selling can be geared towards the end objective.

If you want to stay small, you would have to decide the magnitude of work you want to handle every year: the number of clients you want to have and or the length and breadth of your product and service lines. This is very important because a lot of times business owners make the mistake of stocking more products or offering a second service because there seems to be some demand for it. What they don’t realize is that expanding their service or product bouquet is in fact a step towards growing big.

Enhancing your product line is a good idea if you have customers who are likely to buy the additional products as well. That is a new revenue stream from an existing business and is a logical step to take if you want your business to grow. But if that is not your life ambition, you need to take a hard look at the situation.

At this point in time, you have to make a firm decision about growth. It’s a heady feeling to have customers who insist on giving more business to you and

easy to avoid and some amount of organic growth is always there. I have met many business owners who lamented the fact that they have to strain their resources and change their original plans because they have allowed their business to grow larger and larger. The demand for more products or more services drives them to expansion. It can become difficult to manage because this growth is not by design and may disrupt the balance of work and family in their lives.

My successful 5K business owners must decide after about 2 to 3 years if they want to stay small or grow into a larger enterprise. This sets the course of your business and all your marketing efforts and selling can be geared towards the end objective.

If you want to stay small, you would have to decide the magnitude of work you want to handle every year: the number of clients you want to have and or the length and breadth of your product and service lines. This is very important because a lot of times business owners make the mistake of stocking more products or offering a second service because there seems to be some demand for it. What they don’t realize is that expanding their service or product bouquet is in fact a step towards growing big.

Enhancing your product line is a good idea if you have customers who are likely to buy the additional products as well. That is a new revenue stream from an existing business and is a logical step to take if you want your business to grow. But if that is not your life ambition, you need to take a hard look at the situation.

At this point in time, you have to make a firm decision about growth. It’s a heady feeling to have customers who insist on giving more business to you and

w into a larger enterprise. This sets the course of your business and all your marketing efforts and selling can be geared towards the end objective.

If you want to stay small, you would have to decide the magnitude of work you want to handle every year: the number of clients you want to have and or the length and breadth of your product and service lines. This is very important because a lot of times business owners make the mistake of stocking more products or offering a second service because there seems to be some demand for it. What they don’t realize is that expanding their service or product bouquet is in fact a step towards growing big.

Enhancing your product line is a good idea if you have customers who are likely to buy the additional products as well. That is a new revenue stream from an existing business and is a logical step to take if you want your business to grow. But if that is not your life ambition, you need to take a hard look at the situation.

At this point in time, you have to make a firm decision about growth. It’s a heady feeling to have customers who insist on giving more business to you and

expanding their service or product bouquet is in fact a step towards growing big.

Enhancing your product line is a good idea if you have customers who are likely to buy the additional products as well. That is a new revenue stream from an existing business and is a logical step to take if you want your business to grow. But if that is not your life ambition, you need to take a hard look at the situation.

At this point in time, you have to make a firm decision about growth. It’s a heady feeling to have customers who insist on giving more business to you and ask for more products. But if your objective is to have personal freedom rather than lots of money out of your business, you have to resist that temptation.

The only way to enjoy your work is to keep it at a comfortable level. This way you can make good use of your skills and not overextend yourself. If you derive satisfaction from what you do, then staying small becomes a matter of growing up and sticking to your plan. Growing a big company is not every business owner’s dream.