The Beauty of Slow Business Growth: Lessons from Laura Ingalls Wilder, Elizabeth Prentiss & Charlotte Mason

Some of the greatest lessons I have learned about growth did not come from business books or marketing experts. They came from the pages of books we read during our homeschool years. Laura Ingalls Wilder taught me to trust the work of planting. Elizabeth Prentiss taught me that growth often happens through circumstances I would never have chosen for myself. Charlotte Mason taught me that character is formed through countless ordinary days. Together, their words remind me that some of the most meaningful growth in life cannot be rushed.

I am often amazed at the pressure we place on ourselves to perform. I am especially guilty of this. Whether it’s in my diet, my workouts, my small business, or even in the coziness of our home, I expect to see results quickly. After a few hard days of work, I get frustrated when I don’t see the muscle gain or weight loss, the business growth, or the finished kitchen I desire.

Yet the books that have shaped my life remind me that some of the most meaningful growth happens far more slowly than we would like.

This passage from The First Four Years feels especially fitting for a homemaker building something meaningful over time:

The image here is that the farmer does not expect a harvest the day after planting. He works faithfully, season after season, trusting that growth is happening long before he can see it. Before the seed ever produces fruit, it must establish roots. The farmer trusts this unseen work because he knows the harvest depends upon it. The roots provide the strong foundation the plant needs as it continues to grow.

In the same way, much of the work of building a sustainable business happens before anyone notices. It happens while you are learning, writing, creating, serving, and refining. These quiet acts may not look impressive from the outside, but they are establishing the roots that will support future growth.

Elizabeth Prentiss’ book Stepping Heavenward speaks to the fact that spiritual growth happens gradually through ordinary faithfulness. The character, Katherine’s, progress is slow. Though even as she struggles to grow toward maturity, she learns that maturity is not achieved through dramatic breakthroughs but through daily obedience over many years. After some physical sufferings, she says, “…if I had been told what I was to learn through these protracted sufferings, I am afraid I should have shrunk back in terror and so have lost all the sweet lessons God proposed to teach me. As it is, He has led me on, step by step, answering my prayers in His own way; and I cannot bear to have a single human being doubt that it has been a perfect way. I love and adore it just as it is.”

Whether you are growing in Christlikeness or growing a business, there are lessons to be learned along the way. Like Katherine, we often pray for growth while quietly hoping to avoid the circumstances that require it. We want confidence without uncertainty. We want wisdom without mistakes. We want a thriving business without the long seasons of learning and perseverance that produce it.

Yet many of the qualities that sustain meaningful work are developed precisely in those slower seasons. Patience is learned while waiting. Wisdom is gained through experience. Faithfulness is formed when we continue showing up before the results are visible.

Looking back, we often discover that the seasons we would have chosen to skip were the very seasons that prepared us for what came next. Perhaps in the process, we will learn, like her, that His way was perfect.

Our homeschool years were greatly shaped by the words and philosophy of Charlotte Mason. Charlotte Mason frequently emphasized that education—and by extension character formation—is the work of many years. One of her most quoted principles is:

Though not directly about business, it reminds us that meaningful growth is cultivated through consistent habits and daily practices rather than rushed outcomes. A thriving business, much like a well-educated child, is often the result of hundreds of ordinary days rather than a few extraordinary ones. Charlotte Mason understood that habits formed over time shape both what we do and who we become.

You plant a garden in spring because that’s when seeds are planted—not because harvest is guaranteed tomorrow.

You teach a child to read because that’s today’s work—not because you’ll see the fruit immediately.

The woman who consistently writes, serves, learns, creates, and shows up for her work is becoming the kind of person capable of stewarding growth when it arrives.

In a culture that celebrates overnight success, slow growth can feel discouraging. Yet nearly everything of lasting value grows this way. Gardens, children, character, marriages, faith, and meaningful businesses are all cultivated over time. The roots grow first, hidden beneath the surface. The fruit comes later. If your progress feels slower than you hoped, take heart. The work you are doing today may be accomplishing far more beneath the surface than you can yet see.