Why Grow?
This post will take you about 2 minutes to read.
The line was out the door. And stretched down the steps through the parking lot. A bizarre sight. A long line extending outside a small building in the middle of the country on a farm.
Maple View Farm has been in operation for over 50 years. You can get milk and butter fresh from the farm. And they happen to make delicious ice cream.
Which is the reason all these people, me included, stood in line for over 40 minutes. Just for a cone of Carolina Crunch.
Behind me in line, the question was asked several times. Why don’t they open other stores? The line is too long, why not grow?
People believe that big is better. We’re obsessed with growing and expanding things. Our bank accounts. Our companies. Our customers.
In a perfect world, everything would be bigger. Because bigger is better.
Right?
“If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.” - Yogi Berra
Scratch your head. But that quote is so true.
For example, Cameron Indoor Stadium seats less than 10,000 people. It has no air conditioning. It’s over 70 years old. Duke has won 4 National Championships while calling Cameron home.
Isn’t it time Cameron Indoor grow?
If it was any bigger it wouldn’t be the home court advantage that it is today. Students wouldn’t be able to suffocate the opposing team. And they wouldn’t have home winning streaks that span across seasons.
Cameron Indoor Stadium is just the right size.
Imagine if you could grow your bank account, company, or customer base double its size tomorrow. Would it be perfect?
Far from it. Because you would have a slew of other challenges and problems. When you obsess over growth, you fail to realize what you have.
And sometimes what you have is just what you need.
Maple View Ice Cream opened 2 retail locations in the area a few years ago. They grew. And then they shut both of them down.
Because a line out the door and 40 minute wait is just the right size.