Whether you're in the trenches or taking time to reflect on your business journey, this episode is packed with advice and reflections to help you make informed decisions for 2026 and beyond.

Welcome back to another insightful episode of Empowering Entrepreneurs. I'm your host, Glenn Harper, joined by my co-host, Julie Smith.

Today, we're diving into a subject that many entrepreneurs grapple with: Is bigger always better, or is better just better? We'll explore the delicate balance between scaling a business and maintaining quality, how to decide which path aligns with your goals, and the crucial role of intention in growth strategies.

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Actionable Advice

1. Regular Reflection: Make it a part of your business routine to step back and evaluate where you are and where you want to be.
2. Intentional Planning: As the year comes to a close, use this period for setting clear, deliberate intentions for 2025.
3. Opportunity Cost Evaluation: Consider what you might have to give up in order to achieve your desired growth. Is it worth it?

Running a business doesn’t have to run your life.

Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it’s easy to be so busy ‘doing’ business that you don’t have the right strategy to grow your business.

Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for success

Our clients enjoy a proactive partnership with us. Schedule a consultation with us today.

Download our free guide - Entrepreneurial Success Formula: How to Avoid Managing Your Business From Your Bank Account.

Glenn Harper, CPA, is the Owner and Managing Partner of Harper & Company CPAs Plus, a top 10 Managing Partner in the country (Accounting Today's 2022 MP Elite). His firm won the 2021 Luca Award for Firm of the Year. 

An entrepreneur and speaker, Glenn transformed his firm into an advisory-focused practice, doubling revenue and profit in two years. He teaches entrepreneurs to build financial and operational excellence, speaks nationwide to CPA firm owners about running their businesses like entrepreneurs, and consults with firms across the country. Glenn enjoys golfing, fishing, hiking, cooking, and spending time with his family.

Julie Smith, MBA, is a serial entrepreneur in the public accounting space. She is the Founder of EmpowerCPA™, Founder of PureTax, LLC, COO for Harper & Company CPAs Plus, and Co-host of the Empowering Entrepreneurs podcast. 

Named CPA.com's 2021 Innovative Practitioner of Year, Julie led Harper & Company's transition to an advisory-focused firm, doubling revenue and profit in two years. She now empowers other CPA firm owners nationwide through consulting and speaking, teaching them how to run their businesses like entrepreneurs. Julie lives in Columbus, OH with her family and enjoys travel, coaching basketball, sporting events, and the occasional shopping spree.

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Copyright 2026 Glenn Harper

Hi, I'm Glenn Harper, CPA and owner of Harper Company, CPAS plus and partner in Sula Consulting. In each episode, my co host, Julie Smith, Harper and Company's practice manager and partner in SULA Consulting.

And I will interview a different guest about their entrepreneurial journey.

The podcast features interviews with business owners, AKA entrepreneurs, who bring intriguing and entertaining clarity to the entire entrepreneurial journey, giving others confidence to build their business. Our goal is to provide actual value to you, the entrepreneur, to help you do business or build a business.

Every entrepreneur deserves to enjoy the journey. Learning from others offers valuable insight and inspiration.

We want to provide insight on the why, the how, the shortcuts and the value add that many entrepreneurs wish they would have had identified at the onset of their journey. Sit back and enjoy the journey. Hello everyone. Welcome to another edition of Living Fast Forward. I'm Glenn Harper.

Julie Smith.

What's going on?

Well, you know, I'm really hoping you don't throw me for a loop on the topic that you suggested before we started.

Oh, it's tbd TBD Terma, the most excellent thing to talk about. And I thought, and I guess we talked about this a little bit, but the major question for entrepreneurs, is it bigger better or is just better better?

Which way should you go?

And that's a great discussion to have about clients because if you're an entrepreneur, to get bigger sometimes if you think you're going to do it all yourself, well, something has to give. You're going to take away time from something else to put the time to your business.

What do you mean? I'm just going to apply for more time in a day?

Oh yeah, there is a provision on that.

Fill out the form. I filled it out a lot of times.

Or you try to get smarter and you try to leverage that to try to get bigger. But with bigger becomes more headaches, more houses and more things. But America didn't grow great because we wanted to just stop.

We just wanted to keep getting bigger and bigger and better.

So I think the hefty balance of what is being better and bigger, making that work in a way that you can control that growth where you don't lose yourself in it?

Well, I think we talk a lot about opportunity cost, right?

So is better better in regards to keeping your cards close and being able to control everything and do everything yourself and being able to make those choices? Or is bigger better where, like you said, you're able to leverage certain resources in order to scale your business?

And as we all know, we've all been There, that comes with a lot of headaches.

It's terrifying. Giving up control and responsibility to others. You never know how they're going to handle that.

They can do it, and you find out a little bit too late sometimes. Well, they didn't do it quite right. But that's part of the nature of rowanibilities.

But then I think, you know, what happens is it's time. And although I claim to have some provision to give you more time in a day, I certainly don't.

It's just, where does that time come from and what is the sacrifice you're willing to make? You know, it's all about that opportunity cost.

So, you know, oftentimes, is it time with your family that you're willing to kind of give up in order to grow a business? Is it short term? Is it long term? What does that look like?

I know we just talked about intentions on a, on an episode prior, but, like, if you're going to grow and scale your business, you better be able to carve out that time that, you know, whether you enjoy golfing, you enjoy having time with your family, whatever it is, you're going to have to be able to carve that out. But what if you have to give that up?

Well, but I think that comes back to the whole point is you have to decide if you want to be bigger, to be bigger, or if you want to be better to be better. And that gets reversed. A little bit more to moving with intent of what do you want it to do?

And you map out both and see which one is appropriate for you and say, yeah, I like option A or option B, but if you don't map it out, you don't think it through, you're just going to meander through the desert like everybody else always does.

Well, I think for entrepreneurs, it's really hard concept to grasp because you're in the trenches, head down, right? It's like, next tasks, next task, whatever that is.

And sometimes you get to a certain point without even realizing it, and it's, you know, that awareness and intentions. But, you know, Glenn, what would be your advice to entrepreneurs?

Because as we know, it's really easy to get in a headspace where you don't think about those things. Then all of a sudden you've given up time in relationships and you've done these things and you end up someplace. How do you.

What is your advice for entrepreneurs?

The easy is at some point you're down with your head down, grinding. You just gotta step away.

But how do you know when that time is.

Something is gonna come to a head to push you to that. And sometimes that's what it takes to get you to move with intention somewhere else or to reevaluate. But sometimes it's just good to make that.

Part of your yearly monthly quarterly ritual is just say, I'm going to step away from doing this business and think clearly outside of what I'm trying to do. And, and you can't do it when you got a foot, one finger on the keyboard and you're still in there connected.

You got to literally shut it off and go somewhere else and think it through.

For our entrepreneur listeners out there, now's a really good time to evaluate. Do you want to be bigger and better? Do you want to be better, better?

How do you want to spend your time and really create your intentions around your business?

I couldn't agree more.

And again, there's nothing like a little New Year's resolution or a end of the year pause and reflect and then setting the table to move with intention. Starting off the new year, people, for whatever reason, like the New year as a good cutoff date.

I don't know why, but that's just the way we roll in America. So make the choices. And again, if you do nothing, you just continue on the way you're going. And that's okay too, if that's what you like.

If you think something's out of whack, try to move with more intention. Another fabulous edition of the Fast and famous. I'm Glenn Harper.

And I'm Julie Smith at Harper Co. CPA plus, we just don't care about the numbers. We care about helping you tap into the greatness of your entrepreneurial journey.

You deserve a partner who has helped hundreds of businesses go from paying the bills to building the business and lifestyle of their dreams. Go to our website and download our free guide entitled Entrepreneurial Success. How to avoid managing your business from your bank account.

The link is in this episode's show Notes.