The Biggest Constraints to Growing Your Business

The Owned and Operated community is fantastic. I didn’t think things could get any better than our Facebook group, full of owners who are always looking for that growth and scaling advantage.

But sometimes you need that extra edge to grow.

And then this week’s Breaking $5M Workshop came and blew me away. Some of those owners came in for three days of strategy, real talk, and getting to know one another.

A lot of the discussions during the workshop were about the biggest barriers to growing and getting out of that 'Owner's Hell' of sub-$5M.

Sometimes you’ve got to break those business barriers on your own—the things really holding your growth back.

Think about this: What would you do if $10M in capital appeared tomorrow?

Do you know? Would you solve pain points? Save? Plan?

Or would you lock up because ten million dollars is a lot of pressure?

You wouldn’t be alone. Time to talk about the the biggest barriers for your business when it comes to large-scale growth.

Is Capital A Blessing Or Curse?

Capital is usually considered to be the biggest barrier to growth.

After all, you could do whatever you wanted if you just had the money. Right?

But the secret is that capital constraints—or a lack of—are sometimes a symptom and not a cure.

In the case of home services, capital is often the barrier that leaks out into other problem areas like talent recruitment, operations, and development.

Having money is one thing. Knowing what to do with it is entirely different. This is where having capital can become a danger.

We tend to spend money when we have it. Smell a hole burning in your wallet?

Even for me, this is why a capital constraint is a net good for business. It forces us to be frugal, hire effectively, and learn how and when to use resources.

That’s educational. When you do start to grow and get big you’ll have the muscle memory of what to do and where to effectively use that capital.

It becomes all about building the right systems, which doesn’t happen without great leaders.

Get In The C-Suite

There’s a chain of events that creates a massive barrier to growth.

All three are connected. Lead flow. Leadership. Capacity.

They feed into one another, and you can’t solve only one. Solving this riddle is the key to your next step and building a good business.

Does our $10M scenario solve each problem? It can if you’re allocating the right way.

C-Suite leadership like a CMO or CFO lends strong leadership and training opportunities.

Those leaders open up possibilities, including a path to solving talent and lead issues. That’s not the full solution, however.

Now, have you been thinking about that $10M? Do you know what you would use it on?

It’s the boring answer but it’s best used for future planning.

The biggest growth planning for your business is sometimes thinking big and preparing for the scale you want.

Think big. I couldn’t imagine what I would plan to do when the company got to $10M. Then, when we hit it, the path forward seemed more simple.

If you’re smartly allocating resources, getting the right leadership, and planning for sustainability then you’re building a foundation for the future.

The question isn't whether you can solve these challenges—it's whether you're willing to invest in a journey that leads to lasting growth.

Plan on breaking those barriers.