Why I Don't Want a $20 Million Business | Episode 340

I watched a guy recently running a $20 million coaching business.

He had a hundred employees. Legal issues popped up. Customer problems. Compliance headaches. And just like that, the business went from $20 million down to $2 million. He had to lay off 95 people in a few week.

I watched that story unfold and thought, "Yeah, no thank you."

In this episode of The Expert Edge, I'm breaking down something nobody talks about in the coaching industry: why bigger isn't always better, and why I've chosen to build a $2-3 million business instead of chasing $20 million or more.

Everyone's always talking about scaling. Hit seven figures. Hit eight figures. Build an empire. But at a certain point, you're not building a business anymore. You're building a job with 100 employees and compliance issues in multiple states.

Here's what I've learned after 17 years in this industry: there are two types of people. The entrepreneurs who want to build massive enterprises. And the artists who want to build profitable businesses that give them freedom to do work they love.

I'm the artist.

What you'll learn:

→ Why I don't want to build a $20 million coaching business (and the real cost of scaling that big)

→ The sweet spot for profit, freedom, and sanity (hint: it's $2-3 million)

→ Artist vs entrepreneur mentality - Which one are you?

→ Why simplicity beats complexity every single time

→ The real numbers nobody talks about (60% profit margins at smaller scale)

→ How to honor your limitations instead of pushing through everything

→ Why being connected to your craft matters more than empire building

→ The book that changed how I think about vocation

→ Why Instagram's "$7.4M in one week" posts are misleading

→ How to build a lifestyle business that actually feels like freedom

→ The difference between building a business vs building a job

Real insights from the episode:

• The $20M guy who went down to $2M in weeks (and why)
• Why I stopped traveling to speak when my kids were young
• My journey from $800K with one staff member (60% profit) to my current model
• What the "fun zone" actually looks like
• Les McEwan's Seven Levels of Business Growth framework
• Why infrastructure requirements change everything
• The advantage of digital delivery vs physical products
• How I stay deeply connected to my craft as a coach
• What it means to be an artist first, entrepreneur second
• How I think about team size (3-4 people max)
• The maturity that comes with honoring your limitations
• Parker Palmer's "Let Your Life Speak" - listening to your own vocation

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If you want to build a small, profitable, simple coaching business that gives you freedom, credibility, and profit, you're in the right place.

At the time of this post, we have ONLY 2 spots left!

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See you in there.

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For all the show notes and links:

https://www.expertedgepodcast.com/blog/episode340

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