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Business success is dependent on a solid financial foundation & success looks different to everyone & there is a lack of equity of access to resources and information for small business owners and independent contractors & there is a societal narrative making us believe “balance” is our ultimate goal & … There are so many “&”s that impact being your own boss. Let’s have some frank discussions on the basics of business with a holistic focus on everything that helps business owners define and find success.
Molly Beyer: [00:00:08] Welcome to The Ambiguous &: Business Basics and Beyond, the podcast where we have frank discussions on the basics of business with a holistic focus on everything that helps business owners define and find success. Each episode is a reminder that success isn't one thing, it's a whole lot of ambiguous ands. Like subscribe or follow and let's explore these ambiguous ands.
[00:00:35] Hello and welcome to The Ambiguous &: Business Basics and Beyond! I'm your host, Molly Beyer, and I'm here to lead you through frank and holistic conversations on the basics of business. Today, we're really diving into the messy middle of business ownership. That space where strategy meets soul, and success doesn't follow a straight line. And sometimes it comes in waves. So today, it's time to learn to surf. This is for anyone who's found themselves staring down a challenge, wondering if what they're feeling is fear or the first sign of real expansion. So we're going to talk again about growth edge. Now, if you've been here for a while, you've heard me talk about this before. Your growth edge is that uncomfortable, sometimes disorienting moment where the familiar stops working. You've outgrown the routine, the plan, the way of doing business that used to feel safe. And now you're in the water. The surf is rising, you're wobbling and you've got a choice. Paddle out and learn to ride it or let it knock you down.
Molly Beyer: [00:01:39] But here's the thing, a growth edge isn't a crisis. It's an invitation. An invitation to respond, not to react, to pause, to pay attention, and to choose growth over stagnation. It's that edge of your seat moment when you realize you're not breaking down. You're breaking through. So what does it actually look like to say yes to that invitation? That's where strategy comes in. And trust me, this is where learning to surf the wave really matters. Let's talk tactics. Growth edges show up as resistance. It's procrastination, avoidance, maybe even perfectionism or what's common for me, dissociation. But behind that, resistance is often a strategy that's no longer working. So let's say you've grown your business to six figures by being a doer. You're scrappy, you've bootstrapped, and you really know your stuff. But now you're overwhelmed and you're maxed out. And the tactics that got you here, they're not going to take you any further. You're at a growth edge. So you try to hire or you try to scale and suddenly all of your control issues come up. Or you create new offers, but the marketing feels sticky. That's not failure. That's the edge. For me, I often struggle with capacity. I have many responsibilities and some significant health challenges that make it difficult for me to work sometimes. I've had to really figure out what my capacity is and the hardest moments for me so I can build the structure around it.
Molly Beyer: [00:03:09] There are control issues there. Yes, this is my business after all. I feel like I should be the one working the most and the hardest, and there are things that I think are just mine to do that I could actually delegate or outsource. My job is to build the systems, teach others how to use them, and then make sure they're getting done. But that level of letting go is very difficult. When faced with capacity limitations, I can either throw in the towel and say, this business is too much, or I can ride it out. I've always gotten up and ridden the wave, but it looked very different each time, and sometimes I got taken out by the wave and had to get back up on the board. Today I'm learning to ride differently and I can share a bit about that as we talk about how to recognize a growth edge in your business. You're hitting the same wall over and over. This is totally me. I don't generally hit the wall in the same place twice, but I sometimes get pretty close. And this is what we often hear of as insanity, doing that same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. For me, I cannot control much of what happens with my body and when it makes work difficult and puts me constantly behind, I can't control that.
Molly Beyer: [00:04:19] I can't work, but I can control what I do with and about the interruption. You know what you need to do, but you keep avoiding it. I know I need systems in place that can operate without me. I know I need people in place to do the work when I can't, and it isn't that I'm not willing to get these things going, at least not totally, but I have to be constantly in learning mode so I can identify the areas that are still a struggle. And like with many issues in our lives, I have to decide how much pain is too much before I take action.
[00:04:52] You feel overwhelmed even when your to-do list is reasonable. For me, this is my sign that I'm stagnating or moving within the process in a way that no longer serves me. We've talked about the 80 over 20 principle before in relation to focusing our energies down to that 20% of things on our to do list that both light us up and make us excited, and are truly things that are only ours to handle. But this process doesn't stop. Growth pushes us to further narrow this zone of genius. And it's when I start to feel overwhelmed and what seems like a good flow moment, that's when I'm back on that growth edge, and it's time to go deeper into that next 20%.
Molly Beyer: [00:05:31] Your team is growing, but your trust in the process isn't. For me, this is where I really have to examine if it's the process itself or my own control that I don't trust. Many times it's come down to needing a good automated system that feels really overwhelming to build. As this is not my zone of genius, it often requires going to my team or bringing someone in to help, but it has to go a step further than just letting them do what I've asked and then helping test it. Doing here is not where my energy is best spent. The review is. Growth edges are friction points. There are signals and if we learn to read them, they really become our best strategic data. This is where I start to feel as I'm kind of in that ‘do as I say, not as I do’ space, because this is one of the consistent conversations that I have with my coach. And I think this is because I'm in a space of sort of exponential growth, and I do hit growth edges more frequently than I used to. My most recent growth edge has looked like realizing that we do have some systems in place, but they need to be clearer and need to be developed by somebody who isn't me. This is going to give us the best opportunity to scale.
Molly Beyer: [00:06:52] I've also realized that my capacity for client work should be about five hours a week, and that's for a couple reasons. One, my role in this company as it grows is business development, and two, because when my body says no, this is about what I can truly focus on. So all of that, my patterns, my resistance, my capacity limits. That's data. Not just emotional data, but strategic data and learning to pay attention to those friction points instead of powering through or ignoring them has really changed everything. Because here's the truth, growth edges don't always show up on a spreadsheet. But if you're paying attention, they'll show you exactly where to look next. And maybe this episode will be the smack upside my own head that I need to finally realize that I do know how to surf, and I do need to trust what I know. Because growth isn't just tactical, it is deeply emotional. A growth edge often brings up fear and imposter syndrome and shame and grief and grief for that version that you've worked so hard to build, and now you're evolving beyond. Fear that if you stop controlling every piece, it's going to all fall apart. And that is really where that surf metaphor starts to kick in, because at first you might get knocked over a few times and that's okay. Learning to surf your growth edge means learning to fall and get back up.
Molly Beyer: [00:08:17] It means knowing that falling is part of the process. It's the discomfort before the shift, and discomfort doesn't always mean something's wrong. It often means something's working. You're just growing faster than your nervous system can fully process the moment. So breathe. Ah! Let the waves come. You're allowed to wobble. But don't back out. Don't go back to shore just because it's unfamiliar. But let's get practical. Growth doesn't mean burnout. Learning to surf your edge means riding just far enough outside your comfort zone to expand, not to drown. One of the biggest mistakes I see people make, myself included, thinking that growth has to be dramatic, that it has to be all in. That it burned the boats. That's not surfing. That's failing. Sustainable growth means balancing challenge with capacity. And that might look like scaling a single offer instead of launching three new ones. It might look like hiring for one clear bottleneck instead of a full team restructure. It might mean saying no to something you could do because you're reserving energy for what you must do. My ADHD makes me very susceptible to 'shiny things syndrome'. Always getting distracted by a new project or concept or offering. This can quickly get me too deep into growth and cause that major freeze. I often just have to remind myself that I'm in a shiny thing free zone for at least the next six months, just so I'm not tempted to invite a wave bigger than I can handle.
Molly Beyer: [00:09:59] It's really about learning when to paddle and when to float, when to fight the current, and when to let it carry you. I end up so much of the time in a free space when faced with a large wave of growth edge, or I start to get comfortable with that small up and down of the board. You know that floating in peace with that small rolling surf. And then I realized that the movement's increasing. And finally, notice that wave coming. And so much of the time I freeze. And that's when it's good to have others in the water with me, to remind me what to do next. Because truly, we're never alone in the water. I've said this before, and I'm going to say it again and again and again. Growth might be personal, but it's not meant to be solo. One of the biggest gifts I give myself is choosing to not surf alone. I have coaches, mentors, collaborators, a team, a community. Really, the truth is, we can't always see our growth edge clearly. Sometimes someone else has to point it out or to hold space with us while we figure out how to move through it. So maybe it's a mastermind, or an accountability partner, or just a friend who says you're not crazy.
Molly Beyer: [00:11:07] This is just the hard part. Find your crew. Because when you're out there navigating the waves, it helps to know someone's on board nearby saying, you've got this. I'm watching. I'm cheering. I'll help you up if you fail, you're already in the water. If you're listening to this and nodding along, congratulations, you're already at the edge. And that is a good thing. You've already said yes to something bigger. To discomfort, to possibility, to the chance that the next version of your business and your life is even more aligned, more impactful, and more sustainable than what came before. So today I want to leave you with this. Don't fight the waves. Learn to surf and trust that you're strong enough to ride them. Know that the growth edge isn't a threat. It's a signal. It's a sign that you're exactly where you need to be. And remember, growth is never just about more. It's about meaning. Thanks so much for hanging out with me today. We'd love to hear your feedback on today's episode, as well as any requests for future content. Drop a comment or suggestion and join us next time for more frank and holistic conversations on the basics of business. Please also like, subscribe or follow so you never miss an episode. And until next time, I'm Molly Beyer and this has been The Ambiguous &: Business Basics and Beyond. Have a wonderful day!