A 30-year-old Reddit user shared a question that resonated with many in the r/smallbusiness community: “Anybody ever question why we’re still doing this?”
Person explained he’s been running an app marketing and development agency for the past 7.5 years.
His business brings in $1.5 to $2 million in annual revenue. But despite those impressive top-line numbers, he said, “I only net like $50-$100k, maybe $200k on a good year.”
‘This Sounds Kinda Cool but It’s Not That Great’
At first glance, the numbers might sound like a success story. But the post is more about frustration, exhaustion and rethinking everything.
“It kinda sucks actually,” he wrote.
“I risk it all every year to make less than any of my friends who just took white-collar jobs who started at $100k and make like $350k+/yr now.”
He admitted he probably could have followed the same path. Instead, he chased the dream of being a business owner.
“If I could just go back in time and yell at the stupid ambitious boy I used to be,” he said.
Growth Plans and Big Risks
The post sparked hundreds of comments from small business owners, freelancers and entrepreneurs.
The thread quickly turned into a deep, emotional group therapy session with hundreds weighing in to say they’ve felt the same.
One of the top comments simply said, “Get poorer friends,” which the original poster admitted gave him a much-needed laugh.
But the deeper replies exposed a common pattern: many small business owners feel caught in the messy middle.
They have enough revenue to look successful on paper but not enough profit to match the effort, stress and risk.
“You’re just in that messy middle where growth costs more than it pays,” one person wrote.
“You’re stuck between scaling up or burning out.”
Another said, “That space between ‘looks successful on paper’ and ‘feels like I’m barely hanging on’ is where a lot of founders quietly live.”
Freedom vs. Security
Dozens of business owners said they constantly wrestle with whether the freedom is worth the stress.
One shared, “I’d put my head in my own oven before I’d ever work for someone else again.”
Another added, “It’s knowing that nobody owns me does helps me sleep at night.”
Still, some said they had quit entirely. One user closed a retail business during COVID and now works a remote tech job making $175,000 a year. “Zero regrets,” they said.
Annual ‘Black Swan’ Events
In follow-up comments, the original poster explained why his margins are thin. He said he tends to run into some kind of unexpected business crisis every year.
Staff turnover, client loss, and dried-up sales pipelines have all wiped out projected profits.
“Every year I project I’ll make $300k,” he wrote. “Then some black swan event happens and takes a hot shit on my margins.”
Many users pushed back on that mindset, arguing that if those setbacks happen yearly, they’re not exactly black swans.
What’s Next?
Despite the venting, OP says he has a plan. He wants to start acquiring other agencies and eventually sell the group as a larger, more stable company.
“The only way out is through,” he said.
That resilience showed up again and again in the comments. Some said their businesses took more than a decade to become truly profitable.
Others reminded him that owning a business, even one that doesn’t feel glamorous, still provides a level of autonomy and potential few jobs can.
Or, as one person put it: “We tried, maybe we didn’t hit a home run, but you hit a double. That’s better than most people do in life.”