The First Signs: When Growth Starts Creating More Friction Than Progress

Joe Mallo • July 23, 2026

Some of the decisions limiting a business were made when the business looked very different.

Growth is supposed to be the reward. 


When demand starts to build, it feels like proof that what you built works. What gets mentioned less is how often that same success can make the business’s old assumptions harder to see.


What Happens When Growth Outpaces You?

One owner built his business from the ground up, producing replacement lenses for name-brand sunglasses. In the early days, he cut lenses himself in a garage, often working past four in the morning around a day job. Years later, the business had steady demand and a growing team behind it, but revenue had flattened.


On one of his first calls with Mikke, the question was simple: what do you do for shipping?


Free, and nationwide. Always had been. It was part of the brand.


Mikke asked what would happen if they charged $1.99 instead.


The silence on the call said enough. Nobody would notice, the owner finally said. They made the change the following week, adding more than $200,000 to the bottom line that year.


The business was still successful, but some of its earliest assumptions had stopped being questioned. The owner was close enough to build the business, but too close to see which decisions were now limiting it.


On the Sigmoid Curve, this is the shift from growth toward plateau. The opportunity had not disappeared. The issue was that the business had outgrown the way it was being led.


Slow Down to Speed Up

The instinct in a moment like that is to keep pressing on the business in the same way that created the growth. It feels responsible. It is also how a business misses the points on the curve that matter most. You cannot tell whether you are still climbing or already being held back by decisions the business has outgrown if you are moving too fast to question them.


Slowing down is what makes growth legible enough to steer. For this business, it took one pointed question from Mikke: why is shipping still free? That pause exposed a decision that had become part of the business without being tested against the business it had become.


Every phase of the Sigmoid Curve eventually asks the same thing of you, and it is rarely more speed. See where you stand clearly enough, and you get to decide what happens next. Keep moving at the business’s pace instead of your own, and eventually the business decides that for you.


by The Point Success Guide in Strategy Posted on 14/07/2026 15:08

Value Beyond Revenue: What Makes a Business Worth More

By Joe Mallo • August 26, 2026
An owner planning to step away within five years had built a $14 million company. Before he could do that, he needed to know whether he had created a valuable business or one that still depended on him to keep it running. Earning $14 million a year might seem like success, but it didn’t feel that way. The company had been stuck at that number for a long time, no matter what they tried. Profit margins had dropped to negative two percent, so for every dollar earned, the business was actually losing money. The owner felt overwhelmed. He wanted to step away from the business within five years, but at that point, it appeared more like a wish than a real plan. There was a lot to do, but no clear order for getting it done. The business lacked structure, and accountability was even weaker. He realized he needed help, so he hired a coach; someone who could guide him through the process instead of just giving him a binder and wishing for the best. The Real Number The first step wasn’t a strategy session. Instead, they did a formal valuation to answer a question he had likely been avoiding: what is this business really worth? For a company making $14 million a year, the answer was humbling. It turned out that the formal valuation was $7 million. They also created a one-page strategic plan. After months of feeling anxious and hesitant about where to start, he finally had a simple, clear guide; a single page showing exactly how the business could grow from $14 million to $30 million. A Business Someone Else Could Run A plan can improve the numbers, but lasting value requires a business that can operate without the owner at the center every day. As long as key decisions and knowledge remain tied to one person, the company’s future performance remains tied to that person too. If a business only works because the owner is there every day, it’s not really an asset; it’s just a demanding job. They moved procedures out of the owner’s head and into the company. Leaders were trusted to make real decisions, and accountability no longer depended on the owner. That shift gave the business value beyond the current owner and made a future transition possible. A Bigger North Star After twelve months, the plan had already shown results. Sales rose from $14 million to $19 million. The company, which had been losing money before, was now keeping six cents of every dollar it earned. Most significantly, the official valuation had risen from $7 million to $20 million. Results like that can change your goals. The three-year target, which was $30 million, became $50 million; not just due to ambition, but because the plan had already proven what was possible. What at one time seemed like a distant dream now looked like the next step. The owner began looking into an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, which would let him eventually pass the company to the people who helped build it, instead of just selling to the highest bidder. This was only possible because the business was valuable and could run without him. For years, revenue made the business bigger. But it took a real plan to finally make it valuable too. by The Point Success Guide

Making $1 Million Manageable: Turning the Goal Into Action

By Joe Mallo • August 26, 2026
The owner had dedicated years pursuing $1 million in annual revenue while revenue held around $675,000. Breaking the goal into monthly targets revealed the real gap: approximately one additional landscaping project a month. Some goals feel overwhelming because of how they are measured. A million dollars in annual revenue can seem impossible and make it hard to see what to do next. An owner might chase that number for years without knowing what a typical month should look like. For years, the owner aimed for that number but never got closer. Revenue stayed near $675,000, and each year ended much like the last. The goal was clear, but the path to it was not. The company also didn’t have a clear idea of its ideal customer, so it was hard to know which jobs would help the business grow. The Size of the Gap The shift started by breaking the annual goal into monthly and weekly requirements, the kind of structure that turns “someday” into a schedule. The gap between current revenue and the goal was about $325,000 a year, or approximately $27,000 each month. That made the challenge much clearer than just aiming to “reach $1 million.” For this landscaping company, that monthly gap meant about one extra project each month. The owner didn’t need to start a new division or change the business model. Just adding one more job most months could close the gap. Choosing the Right Job That reframe changed the shape of the goal. A million dollars had looked distant. One more project a month felt concrete enough to plan a Tuesday around. Another important step was deciding which projects to go after. The company worked on understanding its ideal customer instead of treating every job as equally valuable. Not every project helps the business reach its goal, and the wrong one can take up a month without making much progress. Beyond $1 Million By focusing on the right projects, the company moved beyond its original goal and is now on track to reach about $1.5 million in annual revenue. The goal itself never became smaller. It stopped being one impossible figure and became a string of ordinary weeks, each one asking for something specific and doable. by The Point Success Guide
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