There’s a reason the term “growing pains” is one that entrepreneurs know well. Business growth isn’t easy, change is uncomfortable, and the future is hard to predict. 

All new business owners dream of wild growth: overnight fame, fortune and popularity dropped on their proverbial doorstep. And it’s only natural that they do. After all, these things are indicators of success and potential longevity. However, the very thing you desire could eventually be your undoing.

Consider another familiar saying: “Be careful what you wish for.”

Back in 1997, We Take The Cake began as a modest mail-order bakery. In 2004, Oprah named our Key Lime Bundt Cake to her “Favorite Things” list. It seemed like an entrepreneur’s dream come true. Our bakery was launched into the public spotlight. Overnight, we became the success we had wished for. It was the kind of story that entrepreneurs might think ends with “And we lived happily ever after,” without ever considering the battles lost, dragons slain and villains fought.