Redefining Growth: From a Team of 10 to a Team of Two with Lauren Harvey

Today on the podcast I chat with Lauren Harvey, who is the owner and founder of Full Stop Accounting with her husband, Alex. I think so often we view running a business as a very linear journey, but often it doesn't really look like that.

Over the last 15 years of owning their business, Lauren and Alex started off with just Lauren, grew to a team of 10, and then intentionally scaled back down again to just the two of them. We talk about that experience, how they had to unlearn the traditional narrative of "success," and the new niche they've settled into.

We also discuss what it is really like working with your life partner, why they opened a stationery shop, and why we all need to start making decisions based on data rather than our feelings.

I always love to hear other people's experiences of finding their own way, and I hope this episode encourages you to build a business that feels right for you.

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Key Takeaways:

• Growth doesn't always mean bigger: Society often tells us that business growth means more staff and higher turnover. Lauren shares why she scaled her team from 10 people back down to just her and her husband, and how doing so led to a more profitable and peaceful life.
• The power of niching: After 15 years, Lauren and Alex decided to niche down specifically to husband-and-wife (or life-partner) businesses. It allows them to serve clients using their own unique lived experience of running a business with a spouse.
• Working with a life partner: Running a business with your spouse brings unique challenges and benefits. Lauren explains how it allowed them to manage a single shared diary around childcare, but also how they had to work hard to ensure the business didn't completely take over their relationship.
• Stop letting feelings dictate finances: It is incredibly common to make business decisions based on how we feel on a particular day. Liz shares an anecdote about almost dropping an income stream based on a "feeling," only to realise the data proved it was highly profitable. As Lauren says, your bank account doesn't lie.
• You can be a creative AND a numbers person: We often like to put ourselves in boxes. Lauren challenges the narrative that creatives "aren't good at numbers" and encourages everyone to rewrite that negative story to take control of their business's profitability.

Episode Highlights:

04:14: Why Lauren and Alex decided to niche down to husband and wife business teams .

07:58: Overcoming the fear of niching and putting "all your eggs in one basket"

10:53: The reality of running a business with a life partner