Sydney Twichell LLC

A couple of years ago, my now husband was working at a local business. The business was family owned, and they had put their heart and soul into the company they had created. After doing marketing and PR on their own, they asked my husband about the work I did. At that time, I was doing marketing and PR freelance for small businesses, and my husband had bragged about me enough that they wanted to know more about what I could do for them. 

Excited, I jumped on the opportunity and got to work. Within a month, our work relationship ended. There were a few reasons that they dropped me, one being that I was young and hadn’t built a contract yet. But when talking to them, they explained that I was “too professional”, and that they didn’t feel big enough to have such comprehensive marketing. 

Later, they eventually let go of my husband as well over a misunderstanding. The decisions they had made months leading up to my husband’s departure were not the decisions a business of their size needed. They were still operating as a small start up, not the successful business they were. This led to the business needing to scale back, and future plans being put aside to keep up with standard operations. Because they didn’t grow with the business, they couldn’t execute their visions for the future. They were dealing with a phenomenon that I now call “The Success Gap”. 

Granted, I am sure there is probably a more professional and proper way to refer to this issue, but let me explain what I mean by success gap. Picture this:

You started your business a while ago, and it’s hit a streak of success. Clients/customers are calling for more info, your work load has increased, and your numbers are through the roof. You have hit a wave of success that is elevating the status and level of your business. 

But you’re also tired. There’s so many things on your plate, your social media is dying a bit since you don’t have time to post, and you can barely keep up with the orders or work load you are now attempting to provide. You have reached the success gap. 

The success gap is when your business meets a level of success that you are not operating in. This leads to frustration, burn out, and eventually the business will suffer. The goal when this happens is to close the gap as soon as possible, building your business up so the capacity meets the demand. 

Many businesses have run into this issue, including bigger named ones you are familiar with. It isn’t just the fact that they reached a new level of success, it’s that they didn’t prepare for that success or adjust behind the scenes to meet demand. Many businesses that started small will try to keep their team small, and entrepreneurs end up shouldering more than they can handle in order to cut costs instead of hiring contractors or employees. The reality is though, if your business cannot keep up with this new success it will not be able to move to the next level. So cutting those costs by keeping everything DIY will harm your growth in the long run, and eventually you’ll end up being back where you started. 

Other entrepreneurs will turn down professional services, stating they aren’t big enough yet to invest into services like bookkeeping, marketing, etc. This thought process is rooted in fear and imposter syndrome, and ultimately hurts businesses in the end. When you convince yourself you aren’t ready for something, you will never be willing to invest in it when it is time. Investing in these services may not be for the level of business you have now, but it will be for the future. 

This is why I encourage small business owners to invest in professional assistance now, before they reach that success. In reality, success can hit you out of nowhere, and without a strong team backing you up you run the risk of not being able to keep up. The best way to close this gap, or prevent it from happening, is investing money into professional strategies so you can invest your time in managing the success you have now. Allowing others to help plan your future means you can be more present in your business and personal life now. Yes, the success gap can be overwhelming, but it is also a chance for you to become bigger, stronger, and more successful.