Economies of Small is our framework describing the four strategic advantages that emerge when a business chooses strategic self-imitation over infinite scale: Tangibility, Flexibility, Accountability, and Resilience.

Think of it as the counterweight to the mainstream "Economies of Scale." Business theory has focused almost exclusively on the advantages of getting bigger, but that's only half the story.

Small size offers distinct advantages that disappear as you grow. Understanding both sides lets you make strategic decisions about an appropriate size rather than defaulting to "bigger is better."

No. This is about strategic growth rather than blind growth. It's about being able to both grow and eventually grow up.

We're not saying you should never grow. We're saying you should ask better questions before you do:

• What would we gain by growing?
• What would we lose?
• Is growth the best way to scale our impact, or is there a better strategy?
• What is an appropriate size for our business, given our mission and context?

Some businesses should grow. Some should stay small. All should eventually grow to a certain point and then stop. We give you the framework to figure out which applies to you.

Appropriate size is the sweet spot where your business is:

1. Large enough to be profitable and deliver on your value proposition
2. Small enough to maintain the economies of small that make your work tangible, flexible, accountable and resilient
3. Positioned to scale impact better through strategies beyond growth

This isn't a fixed number. It's different for every business depending on your mission, market, geography, resources, and the problem you're solving. Defining an appropriate size is a skill you must develop through trial and error. We have built our framework and process to help you do that.

This is one of the most toxic myths in business.

"Grow or die" assumes the only way to stay viable is to get bigger. But plenty of businesses thrive at stable sizes, from craft breweries, family firms, professional services, and specialized manufacturers. They're not dying. They're just not on the venture capital growth track.

What actually kills businesses is:

• Chasing growth they can't sustain
• Losing their core advantages while growing
• Overextending financially
• Losing touch with what made them good in the first place

Strategic self-limitation help you avoid these traps by providing the proper foundation in values, ownership, finance, and business models to thrive without growth.

We're translating those and other alternative economic theories into practical business strategy.

Degrowth, post-growth, doughnut economics, and wellbeing economy. These are important frameworks for thinking about the macroeconomy. But most businesses don't know how to apply them day to day.

In House of Small, we offer you concrete tools:

• How to define meaningful limits for your company
• How to protect those limits through ownership and finance structures
• How to leverage economies of small to drive a radical green transition (and a thriving business)
• How to scale impact without growth (7 other proven strategies

Think of House of Small as the bridge between alternative macroeconomic theory and sound business practice.

We've seen Economies of Small work across industries: food systems, energy, manufacturing, tech, services, retail, and agriculture.

The principles are universal, but the application is specific. A software company's appropriate size looks different from a farm's appropriate size. A B2B service business applies these strategies differently from a consumer product company.

That's why our courses focus on frameworks and processes, not one-size-fits-all guides. You learn how to apply these concepts to your specific context.

Yes, you need to scale. But scaling impact is not only scaling your company's size.

There are eight proven strategies for scaling impact. Growth is just one of them. Others include:

• Open-sourcing your supply chain or methods
• Franchising or licensing your model
• Building networks or movements
• Creating standards or certifications
• Teaching others to replicate your approach

Companies like iFixit and Einhorn have a massive impact without becoming giants themselves.

The answer is that the dominant business culture is obsessed with growth. Business schools teach economies of scale. Investors want unicorns. Media celebrates million-dollar exits.

The advantages of small size exist. Companies experience them every day, but we lack language and frameworks to recognize and leverage them strategically.

That's what we're changing. The ideas aren't entirely new (we build on thinkers like E.F. Schumacher, Vandana Shiva, Vanessa Andreotti, David Fleming, Donella Meadows, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, and more), but we've synthesized them into a coherent, practical framework for the first time.

Traditional small business advice often accepts smallness as a limitation you have to work around. "Here's how to compete with the big guys despite being small."

Or, they treat small as a stepping stone. "You're small now, here is how to get bigger to achieve economies of (large) scale".

We flip that. Smallness doesn't have to be a weakness or a stepping stone; it's a strategic advantage when leveraged correctly.

We're talking about small businesses outperforming large ones. Small businesses with ambitious impact goals that choose strategic limitation as the best path to achieving them.

This helps explain phenomena such as how small farmers feed the world, or how a bottom-up energy revolution is taking place in Pakistan while Denmark's big/mega/giant energy projects are constantly cancelled or postponed, or how small, independent book stores are making a comeback (Amazon didn't kill all of them).

Yes. Though it's scattered across different fields.

The climate and biodiversity science is clear. We cannot solve these crises through growth. There's no empirical evidence that we can achieve sufficient reductions in energy and materials while maintaining current global growth rates.

The business evidence comes from multiple sources:

• Research on organizational effectiveness and size
• Studies on innovation in small vs. large firms
• Data on employee well-being and company size
• Supply chain resilience literature
• Case studies of companies that deliberately limit size

We synthesize all of this in our book and courses, with full citations.

We focus on businesses that are driving (rather than waiting for others to do the hard work), environmental and social impact, because that's where the need is most urgent. The climate and biodiversity crises won't be solved by business as usual.

But the principles we teach apply more broadly than sustainability. You have choice about what you want to use the economies of small to achieve.

Therefore, Economies of Small is relevant for any business that wants to:

• Maintain quality over quantity
• Build long-term resilience
• Stay close to their work and customers
• Preserve flexibility and accountability
• Define success beyond revenue growth

The Edge Playbook ($19):

• Entry-level introduction
• Learn the 7 strategies for scaling impact without growth
• Real-world company case studies
• You can read it in one sitting
• Perfect for getting started quickly

The Edge Toolkit ($9):

• Hands-on worksheets and frameworks
• Practical exercises you can do today
• Works alongside the Playbook
• Best for people who want to start implementing immediately 

The Edge Masterclass (launching in 2026):

• Our flagship course
• 12-15 modules with full process
• 4-6 strategic decision-making tools
• 10-20 company cases
• Complete framework for defining and leveraging your edge
• Goes deeper into ownership, finance, organization, and strategy
• For serious practitioners ready to transform their business

Think of it as: Playbook = introduction, Toolkit = starter kit, Masterclass = complete transformation.

Start with the Playbook now, if:

• You're new to these concepts
• You want to test if this resonates with you
• You're on a tight budget
• You want quick wins while you wait for the Masterclass

Pre-order the Masterclass now if:

• You're already convinced this is your direction
• You want early bird pricing
• You want early access as modules become available
• You're ready to go deep immediately
• You want to help support us in building the House of Small

Content (in the making):

• 12-15 modules covering the complete Economies of Small framework
• 4-6 concrete decision-making tools
• 10-20 real company case studies
• An overarching model and process for strategic limitation

Formats:

• Self-paced online learning (available on-demand)
• Online cohorts for community learning
• Possibly physical cohorts (to be confirmed)

Approach: Our format is inspired by:

• IDEO's Design Thinking (clear process)
• Strategyzer's Business Model Canvas (frameworks for clarity)
• Donella Meadows' Leverage Points (systems thinking)
• DO Lectures (community and real-life application)

Access:

• Lifetime access to all materials
• Updates as we add new content
• Community of practitioners

We're launching as a crowdfunding campaign in late January 2026.

Some modules are ready now (content from The Edge Playbook and Toolkit). More will be available at launch. The complete Masterclass will be finished and delivered after the summer 2026.

Pre-order customers get:

• Early bird pricing ($199)
• Early access as modules become available
• Input into final module development
• Community access

Fair question. Here's our commitment:

We're not venture-backed. We're not raising millions and promising the moon. We're two founders who've already written the book, created the Playbook and Toolkit, and have clear plans for the Masterclass.

The crowdfunding campaign determines how much time we can dedicate to finishing it, not whether we finish it. Some modules already exist. The framework is complete. We have a physical 240-page book in Danish to prove it (Smådriftsfordele / Economies of Small), and hopefully an English translation of that available in 2026 too.

We need the funding to dedicate the time to build out the full course properly.

If we don't reach our crowdfunding goal, we'll still deliver, just on a longer timeline and without any extras.

You also have our track record: 9 years running the consultancy "Abel", published a book with Denmark's most renowned publisher, 50,000 followers, and hundreds of satisfied customers from existing products.

For the Playbook and Toolkit: Yes, 30-day money-back guarantee if you're not satisfied.

For the Masterclass pre-order: Yes, once you have access to the full course, you'll have a full money-back guarantee if you finish the course and are still not satisfied. But we're confident you'll find it valuable.

Yes. Email us at [email protected].

We evaluate discount requests on a case-by-case basis because, at this point, it doesn't make sense to automate it.

We want these tools accessible to people doing important work, regardless of budget size.

Yes. The Masterclass includes access to:

• Online cohort learning (live sessions with other participants). If you choose this option, which is more costly than the on-demand course.
• Community discussion forum
• Case study sharing among members
• Possibly in-person events (depending on location and interest)

The Playbook and Toolkit are self-study, but newsletter subscribers join our broader community of 50,000+ people rethinking business.

You're right that capitalism is a root cause of many of our crises.

But here's the pragmatic reality: Founders and leaders are operating within capitalist systems. They can't single-handedly dismantle capitalism, but they can build businesses that operate differently within it. And that's where change starts, from the bottom up.

Strategic limitation is both pragmatic and radical:

• Pragmatic: It's implementable today by real businesses
• Radical: It directly challenges growth-obsessed capitalism

Will this alone solve the climate and biodiversity crisis? No. We need policy change, systemic transformation, and cultural shifts, too. But businesses that prove you can be successful without infinite growth become lighthouses for broader change.

We're building from the inside out, teaching businesses to operate by different rules, which helps shift the culture and creates pressure for systemic change.

In that way we also hope that House of Small will act as a beacon.

This is the "growth is necessary for jobs" argument, and it's more complicated than it seems.

First: Not all growth creates good jobs. We've had decades of growth alongside wage stagnation, precarious employment, and burnout.

Second: Quality of work matters. Economies of small can create better jobs—more autonomy, clearer purpose, closer connection to outcomes.

Third: If we continue current growth patterns, we'll have bigger problems than job creation (climate breakdown, ecosystem collapse). The question isn't "growth or jobs," it's "what kind of economy creates both wellbeing for all and planetary stability?"

Fourth: At the individual business level, you can absolutely create good employment without pursuing infinite growth. You need to be profitable and resilient at your chosen size.

This is ultimately a macro-economic question beyond the scope of individual businesses. But businesses that prove sustainable, no-growth models work are part of the answer.

Another legitimate challenge. A few thoughts:

Privilege exists: Yes, some businesses have more freedom to reject growth than others. If you're barely surviving, strategic limitation sounds absurd. We get that, and that's why we are not anti-growth for all. We believe in the nuance that some must grow, some must shrink, and eventually all must grow up.

But: Many businesses, especially in the Global North, chase growth they don't need because they assume it's necessary. Not because they actually need it. Our framework helps you distinguish between the two.

Also: Strategic limitation often makes you more resilient and profitable, stronger cash flow, lower overhead, less risk. It's not about "affording" to reject growth. It's about building a more stable foundation.

Finally: The businesses facing the most pressure to grow are often those backed by VC or other growth-demanding capital. For them growth is built into the fabric of the company, and that gives you the "grow or die" trajectory. One of our key teachings is about ownership and finance structures that give you freedom. This is exactly about creating more options for more businesses.

Everyone operates within constraints. Our framework helps you work strategically within yours.

The "what if everyone" question assumes we're advocating universal no-growth, which we're not.

We're advocating strategic decisions about size rather than a blind growth pursuit.

If everyone made strategic decisions:

• Some businesses would grow
• Some would stay stable
• Some would shrink
• Some would close and free up resources for better alternatives

That's actually healthier than an economy where every business feels compelled to grow regardless of whether it makes sense.

Would GDP growth slow? Probably. Is that a collapse or a transition to a potentially sustainable steady-state economy? Depends on your perspective and timeframe.

The climate and biodiversity science is clear: we can't continue current growth trajectories. So the question isn't "what if everyone stopped growing" but "how do we transition to an economy that functions without requiring infinite growth?"

Our framework helps businesses navigate that transition. At a larger scale, that becomes the foundation for post-growth economics.

We're not academics theorizing from ivory towers. We're practitioners who've lived this.

9 years running the consultancy, Abel: We supported green startups and SMEs, working directly with founders facing these exact challenges. We've seen what works and what doesn't.

We closed a successful consultancy: In 2024, we walked away from Abel. A profitable business with good clients and a team, because we believed we could have greater impact teaching these principles than consulting one company at a time. That's conviction, not theory.

We've written the book: Literally. Smådriftsfordele (Economies of Small) synthesizes research from E.F. Schumacher, Vandana Shiva, David Fleming, Donella Meadows, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, and others, combined with analysis of 200+ companies and our own experiments.

We're practicing what we preach: House of Small is a bootstrapped business. We work 1-2 days per week on it while doing other work to pay bills. We're not chasing venture capital or trying to build an empire. We're building something powerful at a small, and appropriate scale.

50,000+ followers and 250+ testimonials: These aren't vanity metrics. They represent thousands of people finding value in what we teach.

Yes. In both Abel and House of Small, though we learned lessons the hard way.

At Abel: We experienced what happens when you grow without strategic intention. At our peak, we were five people working 55-60 hour weeks. But we weren't solving the right problem. And we were organized and oriented towards getting bigger. We were seeing the diminishing returns of our size, more coordination overhead, less direct impact, diffused accountability.

At House of Small: We're practicing strategic limitation from the beginning. Two founders, 1-2 days per week, bootstrapped. No fancy office. No employees. And we're having greater impact than we ever did at Abel because we're focused on the right thing.

Is it perfect? No. Are we still learning? Absolutely. Do we practice what we preach? Yes.

Because success isn't just profitability. It's impact.

Abel was profitable. We had good clients. A strong team. But we kept seeing that the real barrier wasn't lack of services, it was lack of the right frameworks. Companies didn't need more consultants. They needed better language, tools and concepts.

We could help ten companies a year as consultants, or thousands as educators. The math was clear.

Closing Abel was scary. Walking away from guaranteed income to bootstrap a learning platform? Not the conventional path. But it was the right decision for the impact we wanted to have.

And frankly, it proved our point: Sometimes having a greater impact means getting smaller, not bigger.

1. We developed original theory: Economies of Small isn't repackaged business advice. It's a new framework synthesized from years of research and real company experience.
2. We focus on implementation: Theory is abundant. Most businesses already know they "should" have a positive impact. What they lack are practical tools and frameworks. That's what we provide.
3. We challenge the dominant paradigm: Most business education reinforces "bigger is better." We're giving you permission and tools to question that.
4. We have skin in the game: We're not selling advice we don't follow. We're practitioners building our own business according to these principles.
5. We're radically honest: We'll tell you when strategic limitation is hard. When it conflicts with stakeholder expectations. When it might not be right for your situation. We're not selling a miracle cure.

Consulting: No, we deliberately don't offer a standard consulting service right now. We closed Abel to focus on scalable education. Consulting doesn't scale well, and we'd rather build tools that help thousands of companies than work one-on-one with a few.

Speaking: Yes, we do public talks and keynotes, primarily in Denmark currently (though we're expanding internationally).

If you're interested in having us speak at your event, contact [email protected].

Email us at [email protected]

We read every message and often update this FAQ based on questions we receive.

We don't offer sales calls right now, but here's what we recommend:

1. Read our newsletter (free)—you'll get a clear sense of our approach
2. Start with the Playbook ($19)—low risk way to test if this resonates
3. Hit us with an email (free) — we aim to answer all. Not within 24 hours, but within a week.

That's okay. Strategic limitation isn't for everyone.

If you're genuinely building something that needs to be huge to work (maybe you're tackling infrastructure-scale problems), this might not be your framework.

If you're chasing unicorn status because that's what success looks like to you, we're probably not aligned.

But if you're unsure because you've been told you need to grow but something feels off about that path, that's worth exploring. Start with the Playbook and see if it clicks.