Should You Focus on Growth or Holding Steady Right Now?

Terrand Smith, Founder/CEO, 37 Oaks

You’re checking the numbers again.

Sales are slower than last year.

Costs keep creeping up.

You’ve run the ads, gone to the events, posted on social, and yet, nothing seems to be moving upward.

💭 You start wondering: Am I doing something wrong?

This is the moment when the question shifts from “How do I grow?” to “What does my business need right now?”

Why This Question Matters In 2025

In just the past month, we’ve seen:

• New sweeping tariffs roll out, impacting everything from raw materials to packaging.

• Consumer confidence drop to one of its lowest points in decades.

• Inflation tick upward again, squeezing both business and customer budgets.

For small businesses, every decision—pricing, marketing, inventory—carries more weight than usual. And while our instinct as entrepreneurs is to always push for growth, there are seasons when that push can strain or even break the very foundation we’ve built.

Why We Resist The Sustain Strategy

This entrepreneurial culture trains us to always be in motion—faster, bigger, farther. The idea of making smaller business moves can feel like failure. We’ve been conditioned to believe that if we’re not launching something new or chasing the next big customer, we’re falling behind.

But sometimes, the smartest move you can make is to pause intense growth moves for a season—not because you’re stuck, but because you’re watching, learning, and protecting your position. This isn’t about abandoning growth. It’s about recognizing that when market conditions create extraordinary challenges, the most strategic choice may be to embrace the Sustain Strategy.

In a Sustain season, your focus shifts to:

• Serving your current customers exceptionally well.

• Delivering current products and services with consistency and excellence.

• Pressing pause on major launches, risky experiments, or heavy investments.

• Leveraging, optimizing, and reimagining your existing assets instead of stretching into the unknown.

This is often the reality in challenging economic conditions, when pushing for aggressive growth could drain resources and increase risk. Sustaining is not doing nothing, it’s active, intentional, and strategic. You may monitor your market closely for future opportunities, deepen customer relationships, reassess operations for efficiency, and strengthen your capabilities so you’re ready when the right opening comes.

In Prepare to Shift: The Workbook, the book I authored in 2022, I mention that

Sometimes progress doesn’t look like movement. It looks like preparation.

Choosing to sustain isn’t losing momentum; it’s a deliberate decision to protect what you’ve built, learn from the landscape, and position yourself for the right moment to grow.

Growth vs. Sustain Strategy: What’s The Difference?

Neither mode is “better.” Both are critical to a healthy business lifecycle.

And yet, sustaining can feel uncomfortable. In our culture of constant growth, choosing to temporarily pause on major growth can be mistaken for losing momentum. But in truth, both phases fuel each other. A business that never embraces Sustain Strategies eventually exhausts itself. A business that never embraces Growth Strategies eventually loses relevance.

The winning strategy is the one that matches your current reality, not your ideal scenario or someone else’s timeline.

	Sustain Strategy	Growth Strategy
Goal	Protect and maintain current position	Expand reach, customers, and revenue
Time Horizon	Short to mid-term	Mid to long-term
Focus Areas	Customer retention, operational readiness, market observation	New markets, product launches, major investments
Common Tactics	Maintain core offerings, deepen customer ties, watch trends	Launch new offerings, open new channels, invest in marketing & operations
Founder Mindset	Patience, awareness, discipline	Risk-taking, vision, innovation
When to Use	Uncertain conditions, limited capacity, unfavorable macroeconomic factors	Strong foundation, clear opportunity, market readiness, more favorable macroeconomic factors

Signs You May Need To Focus On Sustaining

One of the hardest parts of entrepreneurship is admitting when it’s not the right time to focus on Growth Strategies.

We often push forward, hoping momentum will fix deeper challenges. But recognizing you’re in a sustaining season can prevent overextension. You may need to sustain if:

• Sales are inconsistent or declining.

• Cash flow is just enough to meet your current commitments.

• You’re overly reliant on one sales channel or customer.

• Your capacity, whether time, staff, or resources, is maxed out.

• The market is uncertain, and high-risk moves feel unstable.

• Broader economic conditions—such as tariffs, inflation, or declining consumer confidence—are creating headwinds that make expansion riskier.

• You want to learn more about the shifting market and customer needs before making big decisions.

If you’re here, your priority is to hold steady—protect your current position, keep your customers close, and stay alert for the right way and moment to move.

Signs You May Be Ready To Focus On Growth

If you’ve held steady, strengthened your position, and spotted a clear opportunity, it may be time to lean into expansion. Growth is most successful when it builds on stability and readiness. You may be ready to grow if:

• You have healthy, predictable cash flow.

• You can handle more demand without breaking operations.

• Economic or industry trends are creating favorable conditions you can confidently execute and leverage for expansion.

• Customer demand is rising and consistent.

• You’re seeing traction across multiple channels or segments.

• You’ve identified a specific, timely opportunity to act on.

If you’re here, focus on preparation that scales—align your resources, set clear goals, and ensure your systems can handle the growth without losing quality.

Every Season Has Its Purpose

Every business will experience both seasons, often more than once. The most resilient entrepreneurs understand that sustainability and growth are not opposites; they are partners in long-term success.

Sustaining is not about standing still forever. It’s about holding your ground while the world shifts around you, keeping your customers close, and learning enough to make your next move with confidence.

Sustaining today doesn’t mean giving up on growth, it means ensuring that when you grow, it lasts.

So if this is your sustain season, own it. Watch the market. Learn your customers even better. Hold your position. Because when the moment comes to grow, you’ll be ready to leap—not just step—forward.

Should You Grow Or Sustain?

At 37 Oaks, we help small business owners make these decisions with clarity. Whether you’re sustaining, growing—or somewhere in between—we’ve got the courses, tools, coaching, and resources to guide your next move.

• Growth Lab Membership: Access coaching, courses, tools, and resources to plot your path forward with our 

• Market Insights Community Group and access free articles on current macroeconomic factors that impact your small business.

• 1:1 with a certified 37 Oaks coach, work with our coaches on topics such as strategy, operations, pricing, manufacturing, and more to confidently map out your next best move.

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Who is 37 Oaks?

37 Oaks is an education company that strengthens communities by transforming small businesses into valuable, commerce-driven assets.  Our goal is to empower them through Commerce, Innovation, and Strategy.

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