Systems fix chaos. But once they are working, something new becomes the limiter: leadership.
At a certain point, clean job files and solid workflows stop being the problem. The business hits a wall not because tools are broken, but because the people running them have reached their limit.
That is when you need to start thinking about senior leaders.
The Reality of Growth
You have probably heard the phrase, “How you got here isn’t how you get there.” It is true.
The team that helped you reach one million is rarely the same team that gets you to ten. It is not about loyalty or effort. The business simply changes faster than people can grow.
New structure. Real accountability. Processes instead of hustle. You have to do things you never had to do before.
It hurts to lose people who were with you from the start, but that is part of growing up as a company.
The Peter Principle in Action
There is a name for this. It is called the Peter Principle. It means people get promoted to the level of their own incompetence.
In other words, we keep giving our best performers more responsibility until they reach a role they cannot handle. Not because they are bad, but because they hit their ceiling.
If you want to grow past that point, you need a team that can go further than you or your early hires ever could.
The Leadership Phase
When we were between ten and twenty million, I did not realize what stage we were in. I was hiring, integrating, and making payroll. We were working hard but not strategically.
That was the leadership-building phase. The people I hired then determined how far we could go.
Nobody told me that at the time. So I will tell you now. This is the moment when you start building the team that can take you from ten to thirty, forty, or fifty million.
The Six Seats That Drive Growth
If you are in late seven figures or early eight figures, these are the roles that move the business forward.
Finance (Controller)
You need someone who owns reporting, forecasting, and budgeting. Clean, accurate numbers give you control and visibility.
HR
Once you pass fifty people, HR gets complicated. FMLA, compliance, benefits, recruiting, and retention all matter. You sell time and expertise, so managing people well drives revenue.
Call Center or Inside Operations
This is where revenue begins. The manager owns scripting, booking rates, and outbound strategy. Inside operations may also include dispatch, permitting, and warehouse. A strong leader here turns inbound chaos into predictable work.
Sales
In the trades, sales can feel reactive. Something breaks, and you fix it. But real growth requires a defined process. Training, tracking, and accountability turn random wins into consistent performance.
Fulfillment or Install
No callbacks. No confusion. No wasted labor. You need a leader who owns quality and execution. A solid install process creates fewer problems and happier customers.
Marketing
Most companies outgrow their marketing without realizing it. Lead flow slows down, and no one owns it. You need someone responsible for driving the board daily, even if you still use outside agencies.
When to Hire
Start building these roles in the late seven figures. By ten to fifteen million, they should be in place.
It took us two years to build our leadership team. I wish I had done it sooner. Once those people were in place, growth accelerated across every department.
The Lesson
Systems create capacity.
Leaders create leverage.
If you feel stuck, it is not because you are not working hard enough. It is because you are still doing work that should be delegated.
The businesses that scale are not just good at the trade. They are good at building teams that can think, lead, and execute.
Stop trying to carry it alone. Build the leadership team that carries the business with you.
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