Typical vs. Alternative Growth Paths for Your Business

I’ve been thinking a lot about growth lately, and I wanted to share a friendly reminder with you.

We often feel this pressure to grow our businesses the same way everyone else is growing, but here’s the thing—there’s no one-size-fits-all approach.

For example, in my business, a lot of people assume that scaling means building a team, launching an agency, and taking on more projects and clients. I tried that route—and guess what? I hated it. Managing a team pulled me away from what truly lights me up—working directly with my clients. It wasn’t sustainable for me, and it definitely didn’t fuel my passion.If you have a product-based business, maybe you’ve heard that wholesale is the key to scaling.

But, just like me, you might prefer sticking with direct-to-consumer because it aligns more with what excites you. 

The pressure to follow the “one-to-many” model is everywhere, but it’s not the only way.

You have to think about what will make you happy. What will keep you fired up as an entrepreneur? That’s the stuff you can sustain, and it’s the key to long-term success. Focus on your vision, and the rest will follow!

Here are some examples from different industries:

👚 Fashion & Apparel

• Typical Growth Path: Grow by expanding collections, increasing wholesale orders, opening more retail locations or online stores.
• Alternative Path: Focus on sustainability and exclusivity, building a direct-to-consumer model with limited drops, custom designs, and cultivating a loyal community around your brand’s story, prioritize organic UGC. 

💵  Finance & Accounting

• Typical Growth Path: Grow a firm, hire more accountants.
• Alternative Path: Focus on serving a niche market with highly personalized, high-value services. Offer a membership or subscription model for financial advice rather than expanding to larger volumes of clients.

🍲 Food & Beverage

• Typical Growth Path: Open more physical locations, partner with larger retailers, expand product lines, or focus on wholesale distribution.
• Alternative Path: Focus on local partnerships, unique collaborations, or limited-time offerings. Focus on building a strong local community of customers rather than scaling distribution.

👩‍🏫 Coaching

• Typical Growth Path: Run group programs, create an online course, hire other coaches.
• Alternative Path: Offer a premium, high-touch coaching model with fewer clients and more personalized services. Create a smaller, intimate membership group where clients can get exclusive access.

Neither of these paths are right or wrong. Business is personal and so is the growth of that business. 

For me, what lights me up is the one-on-one work with my clients. It’s the reason I left the agency world to start 2Ls. Now, I use my content, free offers, and workshops as my one-to-many touch points and focus my paid offers on deep, custom, one-on-one work.

Hear me out…I’m not against the one-to-many model, and I know it works beautifully for so many people—but I’m here to remind you that growth and scaling your business doesn’t have to look the same for everyone. And that’s a beautiful thing.

What does growth look like for you and your business? I’d love to hear what lights you up and what you’re building!

If you want help figuring out what sustainable growth can look like for you, let’s chat. I love to dig in to what inspires you and get creative around how to leverage that to grow your business.