As an aspiring entrepreneur, you must dream about having a successful business, right? You might be beating yourself up because you haven’t gotten to where you want to be, right? If you look online, like Forbes 30 Under 30 or CNBC’s YouTube series Make It, it can make you feel bad for only starting a business, and it’s not an immediate success, right? 

You need to have success in the long run, and just because you’re aiming big doesn’t mean you should only focus on big; sometimes, it’s about stability. Besides, starting small is more realistic, too. So, with that all said, here’s why you’re better off starting small and slowly working up to become big!

Less Pressure, More Freedom

Starting small means less pressure and more freedom to experiment and explore. Instead of pouring all your savings into a big, flashy launch, you can take things one step at a time and see what works. It’s like dipping your toe in the water before diving headfirst into the deep end. Plus, starting small gives you the flexibility to pivot and adapt as you go without feeling like you’re locked into a certain path. 

Here’s a perfect example: you’re a candle maker, and your small business is about home decor and candles. But instead of throwing a whole bunch of money at social media marketing and influencer marketing, why not go small? 

For example, you could get some outdoor banners for a cute display and start selling at the local artisans or farmer’s market and then slowly work your way up from there like a website, high-quality content marketing, and then social media marketing. This is merely just an example, but it shows that starting small can be easier, and cheaper, but still effective too. 

You Get to Learn as You Grow

When you start small, you have the opportunity to learn and grow alongside your business. If you’re trying to just start big, it’s just not going to work out because your customers are going to see your mistakes, your competitors will, and they’ll take advantage of it. If you jump big, you risk falling big, too- it’s not ideal. You’ll make mistakes, sure—but that’s all part of the journey. 

Every setback is a chance to learn something new and refine your approach. And trust me, those early lessons will pay off big time down the road. So embrace the journey, soak up the knowledge, and don’t be afraid to fail forward.

Building Up Strong Foundations

If you want long term success, then you absolutely need a strong foundation, you just can’t do it otherwise. Besides, starting small allows you to build strong foundations for your business to grow upon. Instead of trying to do everything at once, you can focus on laying the groundwork for future success. It could be something like refining your product or service, building relationships with customers, or fine-tuning your business model; starting small gives you the time and space to get things right from the get-go.

It Can Be a Way to Keep Costs Down

Do you remember the example earlier of just immediately jumping into marketing to get into the spotlight? Well, it’s really expensive, massively expensive, and there might not be a return on this either! All right, so generally speaking, starting a business can be expensive. But when you start small, you can keep costs down and stretch your resources further. Instead of splurging on fancy office space or expensive equipment, you can bootstrap your way to success with a lean, mean operation. 

Plus, keeping costs down in the early days means you’ll have more runway to invest in growth later on. Generally speaking, for most industries, starting smaller can be easier and cheaper- sure, you might not get exactly what you want in terms of success, but if you are patient, it can work out. 

Ideal for Staying Agile

What if you change your mind when you start off? What if you decide to change your demographic? Your branding? Your tagline? Anything really! When you’re under the radar, it’s easier to do this until you feel comfortable and confident. It’s not possible when starting big. To a degree, this does involve being agile. But you also have to keep in mind that agility is key to success. When you start small, you’re nimble and agile, able to pivot and adapt to changing market conditions with ease.

Again, when you begin your business, you’re going to learn, which means you might change your mind on some things. Starting small also means that you can test new ideas, iterate on your products or services, and respond to customer feedback in real-time. It’s like having a superpower that allows you to stay ahead of the curve and outmaneuver the competition.

It’s Easier for Building Up a Connection

People love supporting the little guy, the little business, the business they know for a fact who needs their support. There’s no reliability if you’re big or trying to appear really big. So think of it this way: starting small allows you to foster a genuine connection with your customers from the get-go. 

How? Well, with fewer customers to manage, you can dedicate more time and attention to each individual, building relationships that go beyond just a transaction. If you’re wanting a parasocial relationship, it’s easier to do it this way too. You’ll get to know your customers on a personal level, understand their needs and preferences, and tailor your offerings to meet them. 

And let’s be real—people love supporting small businesses with a personal touch, so building those connections can be a powerful driver of loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals. There’s a domino effect, but it only works if people know you’re small and if they know you’re trying to do what you can to make it a success. There’s no need to support something that’s already a success, right? Well, hardly. 

Test the Waters Without Taking a Plunge

Again, starting a business is expensive, and trying to go all in is going to be even more expensive. Just think of it this way: starting small is like dipping your toe in the water before taking the plunge. Instead of committing to a full-scale launch right off the bat, you can test the waters with a small-scale operation and see how things go. 

Maybe you start with a pop-up shop, an online store, or a limited product line—whatever it is, starting small allows you to gauge interest, gather feedback, and validate your business idea before going all in. It’s a low-risk way to test the viability of your business without risking it all from the get-go. 

Again, it’s what was stated earlier: you might want to make changes, or you might have some things wrong, so dipping your toes and figuring things out slowly can massively help out (and it’s less expensive).

It’s Easier to Innovate

If you’re trying to focus on being a big then you might only want to think of “what is already proven to work” or just follow trends. Now there’s nothing wrong with this, but it is a bit boring, and there’s nothing special when you do this either. So, with that said, when you’re just starting out, you have the freedom to innovate and experiment in ways that larger, more established businesses can’t. 

You’re not bound by tradition or legacy systems—you’re free to think outside the box and try new things. Being small means you can test out a unique marketing campaign, a creative product offering, or a novel business model, but you can do what others won’t do. This alone will make you stand out. In general, starting small gives you the freedom to innovate and blaze your own trail. Who knows? You might just stumble upon the next big thing.