Insights

Useful thinking for owners building better companies.

Essays on performance, profit, operations, owner dependency, and the work of making a company stronger as it grows.

Performance & Profitability

Updated 2026-09-01 · 7 min
Your Company Doesn't Need More Revenue. It Needs More Profit.
Many $2M–$50M companies do not have a sales problem. They have a profit problem hiding under a growth story.

Updated 2026-08-21 · 9 min
The Owner Dependency Problem
Owner dependency is the degree to which a company relies on its founder for decisions, customers, and daily operations. It limits growth, value, and the owner's life.
Updated 2026-07-30 · 7 min
What Would Happen If You Left for 30 Days?
If disappearing for 30 days makes you uncomfortable, the business may be successful but it is not independent. Here is how to read that answer.
Updated 2026-08-14 · 8 min
The $10 Million Company That Still Owns Its Founder
Scale does not automatically produce independence. Many $10 million companies still cannot operate without the person who built them.

Updated 2026-08-06 · 8 min
Why Growing Businesses Run Out of Cash
Growing companies run out of cash when working capital, timing, and margin do not keep up with sales. Profit is not cash.

Updated 2026-09-02 · 8 min
Why Revenue Growth Can Make a Business Worse
Revenue growth can hide margin erosion, cash strain, and owner dependency. Here is why a larger top line often produces a weaker company.

Updated 2026-06-18 · 8 min
Seven Signs Your Business Has Outgrown Its Management Structure
When a company outgrows its management structure, adding people makes the week more complicated instead of more capable. Here are the signs.

Updated 2026-09-04 · 7 min
When Reorganization Makes More Sense Than Hiring More People
Hiring into a broken operating model produces a more expensive version of the same week. Sometimes the structure has to change first.

Updated 2026-09-08 · 8 min
The Difference Between Building Revenue and Building Enterprise Value
Revenue is what the company sold. Enterprise value is what someone would pay for the future of the company if the owner stepped back.