The Worst Business Advice I Ever Heard
You Can’t Care About Closing the Sale If You’re Starving
There’s bad business advice, and then there’s dangerous business advice. This is the worse business advice I’ve ever heard: "Increase your overhead to keep you motivated to grow.". I’m being nice here to illustrate the point, but the actual advice was “Yes, buying a Porsche is much more then you can afford. That’s good because those extra payments are what will motivate you to make more money!”.
Seriously? That’s like saying, "Set your house on fire so you have no choice but to build a mansion." or “Piss all your customers off so they all dump you and force you to find new ones!” Sounds bold. It also sounds incredibly reckless and, for lack of a better word, stupid! It’s a fast track to high stress, bad decisions, and potential financial ruin. Let’s break this nonsense down.
The Logic (Or Lack Thereof)
The idea behind this advice is that if you take on more expenses such as renting a bigger office, buying a nicer car, hiring more staff, upgrading all your equipment, you’ll be forced to work harder and scale faster to cover the costs.
That’s not motivation. If you are lucky, that’s a panic attack waiting to happen… but most likely, that’s a fast-track to bankruptcy!
Throwing money at expenses doesn’t magically grow a business. Having a solid plan, strong offers, repeat customers, and filling a need for your clients do!
The Smarter Approach
Instead of blindly increasing overhead, do this:
Invest in revenue-generating activities. If it won’t help you make more money, rethink it.
Grow your expenses in proportion to your income. Hire, upgrade, and expand when and if, it makes sense—not out of pressure.
Stay lean as long as possible. Profitability matters more than flashy expenses.
Bottom Line
Plenty of business owners operate lean and highly profitable companies. Some of the most successful service-based businesses start from home, using a laptop. Overhead doesn’t make you legit; Profits do!
Growth should be intentional, not a desperate scramble to cover an inflated burn rate.
Ready to build a smart, profitable business? I’d love to have a chat with you.
