I sat across from Mark at our usual coffee spot. He owned a digital marketing agency that had grown from zero to $1.2 million in four years, but the exhaustion in his eyes told the real story.
"I've hit a wall," he admitted, stirring his I-don't-even-know-what-number espresso. "Revenue is good, clients are happy, and I'm working 70-hour weeks. I can't scale me."
I nodded, because at that point I'd heard this story more times than I could count. "You're in the Machine Builder stage," I told him. "Congratulations on getting over the traction hump. Now you either build systems that create leverage, or you stay trapped as the business bottleneck forever."
His eyes widened slightly. "There are... stages to this?"
This is the part I love. There's this moment when a business owner realizes their journey isn't just random chaos - it's a predictable path with specific challenges, skills to master, and transformations that happen by design, not by accident.
Here's what most business owners don't realize: the journey isn't just about revenue growth - it's about fundamentally shifting where you spend your time. In Stage 1, you might spend 50% of your time on sales and business development. By Stage 5, that drops to just 5% while strategy and leadership consume 50% of your schedule.
This shift in time allocation is both the cause and effect of successful scaling. The stages aren't just descriptive - they're predictive of how your role must evolve.
My companies and I have guided thousands of business owners through these stages over the past two decades. Along the way I mapped out the path and created a scalable growth framework (The Business Alignment System™) to help owners build for scale. From the scrappy startup phase to building sellable assets, I've walked the path myself and mapped it for others. What I've discovered is this: the journey from founder to leader follows a clear, predictable pattern across nearly every industry and business model.
Let me show you the map.
What Stage are you in right now?
The journey from solo hustler to strategic leader follows five predictable stages. I've seen it happen hundreds of times. Each stage demands something new from you, each transforms both the business and the owner.
These aren't theoretical constructs. They're battle-tested realities I've observed time and again with real business owners across industries - from tech startups to professional services, from manufacturing to creative agencies.
My framework isn't the first to map the predictable patterns of business growth. In 1983, Harvard Business Review published Neil Churchill and Virginia Lewis's groundbreaking "Five Stages of Small Business Growth", which identified similar evolutionary phases. The five stages in my model is designed for startup to sustainable scale, and maps pretty well to the first two-thirds or so of theirs. The Churchill and Lewis framework extends further, exploring what happens after you've built that sustainable machine: Do you optimize for lifestyle or chase aggressive growth?
In my experience, you need to master these first five stages before that choice becomes relevant. That choice is the reward for mastery.
What lies along the Success Path is actually pretty predictable. You can't skip these stages. You can't hack your way around them. But when you know what's coming, you gain an almost unfair advantage. You can prepare for challenges before they arrive and build capabilities before you desperately need them.
You can anticipate and respond rather than react.
Let's walk through each stage of the journey, with real stories from founders who've navigated them successfully.
Remember that feeling? The one where you're doing everything yourself, where your calendar is a chaotic mix of sales calls, client delivery, accounting, and whatever fire needs putting out next?
Welcome to Stage 1: Sales Engine. It's all about making sales.
Your business is fighting to establish consistent market validation. Some days feel victorious, others feel desperate. The market hasn't fully embraced you yet, and the only thing keeping the lights on is hustling to find paying customers. You've got capability, maybe even brilliance in your field, but without consistent sales, you're still proving you belong in the game.
"I had to wear fourteen different hats," one founder told me. "I was the salesperson, the delivery team, the bookkeeper, the janitor. There were days I questioned everything."
This is where you evolve from passionate specialist to business-minded generalist. From seeing sales as "necessary evil" to embracing it as your lifeline. From hoping prospects will buy to confidently showing them the way.
You need one thing above all else - a repeatable sales process that consistently brings in new customers. Not occasional wins, not random referrals. A system.
At this stage, you're spending roughly 50% of your time on sales and business development, 30% on service/product delivery, 15-20% on admin/operations, with minimal time on leadership or strategic work.
Founder, Sarah, started working with my company during this stage. Her agency had talent but unpredictable revenue. "Some months I'd make $20K, others barely $5K," she said. "I never knew if I could pay myself."
We focused on her one critical goal: turning her random sales into a repeatable process. We designed an offer structure that solved her ideal client's biggest pain point, implemented a structured sales conversation, and established a simple follow-up system for prospects. Fundamentals.
Six months later? Her monthly revenue had stabilized at $25K, and for the first time, she could see how to double it. At that point she was so consistent she knew her math: if 'X' opportunities, then 'Y' new clients. (And that means 'Z' revenue.) That's the power of building a Sales Engine.
The shift is subtle but profound. You're no longer wondering if your business can exist - you know it can. Now you're asking: "Can we stick around?"
Welcome to Stage 2: Lead Engine. You have to get control of your lead flow.
Your business has proven it can make sales, but you don't control your lead flow, so growth still feels accidental. Referrals come unpredictably. Marketing is something you do when you "find time." You've proven that the business can make sales, but finding qualified prospects remains a black box.
Commonly heard: "I was good at delivering results. But I realized I was basically hoping the phone would ring instead of making it ring."
Once you have control of your own lead flow, you shift from reactive opportunist to strategic marketer. From hoping people find you to deliberately building paths that lead to your door. The passive waiter becomes the active creator of opportunity.
You need to establish predictable lead flow with basic marketing systems. Not just activity, but a machine that delivers qualified prospects with increasing efficiency.
Your time allocation shifts slightly: 40-45% on sales/marketing, 25% on delivery, roughly the same on admin & ops at 15-20%, and now spending a small amount of attention to leadership and 5-10% on vision and strategy as you build your marketing machine.
James, a financial consultant, hit this stage after three years in business. "I had proven the model worked. Clients loved us. But I couldn't predict where the next client would come from, which meant I couldn't predict cash flow, which meant I couldn't hire ahead of demand."
His was a matter of connecting his strategy with a plan they could execute. We mapped his buyer's journey, established his core marketing channels, and built a simple calendar of daily/weekly/monthly activities. Within 90 days, his lead flow had doubled. More importantly, it became predictable enough to forecast. That predictability changed everything.
Not sure if you're a Stage 1 or 2? Find out and get a 90 Day Business Growth Roadmap.
You've hit a critical milestone many founders only dream of. You have consistent sales. You have reliable lead flow. But there's a new problem: You.
Welcome to Stage 3: Machine Builder. You've got to start leveraging systems.
Revenue is growing, but your time isn't. Every new client means less sleep. Every new opportunity means more juggling. You've become the bottleneck in your own business.
"I had created a job I couldn't escape. I was making good money, but I was chained to my laptop. Vacations were a joke - I'd just work from somewhere prettier." - Ryan, Founder
It's the founder trap. The belief that only you can do it right. The habit of heroics that once served you but now limits you. This is where many successful founders get stuck for years - sometimes forever.
This is where you evolve from doer to builder. From "I'll handle it" to "I'll create a system that handles it." The lone hero becomes the architect of a machine bigger than themselves.
You need to build systems that create leverage beyond yourself. This means documenting processes, starting to hire strategically, and beginning to manage the business rather than just work in it.
What does 'systems' actually mean? Three core areas:
Process Documentation: Your key workflows written down so others can follow them. Not novels - clear step-by-step guides for your most important client delivery, sales, and operational processes.
People Systems: Defined roles, responsibilities, and reporting structures. Who does what, when, and how decisions get made when you're not there.
Performance Management: Regular check-ins, metrics tracking, and accountability structures that keep things running to your standards without constant supervision.
Think of it this way: if you disappeared for two weeks, what would break? Those are the systems you need to build first.
The time shift becomes dramatic here: sales drops to 20-30%, delivery stays at 25-30%, admin and operations slightly 20-25%, leadership/team is now getting 10-15%, and vision & strategy expands to 10-15%.
Example Stage 3: Alex reached this stage with his marketing agency after seven years. "We were doing $600K annually, but I was working 70 hours a week and couldn't grow further," he shared. "Every client wanted me personally involved. Every decision needed my approval. And it had taken me a while to even realize it was happening."
We focused on building his operational machine: documenting his core delivery processes, establishing his organizational chart (even if some positions were still empty), and creating a weekly operating routine that gave structure to the chaos.
Within six months, he had hired two key positions, reduced his working hours to 50, and increased revenue by 25%. "For the first time," he told me, "I can see a future where this business doesn't depend entirely on me."
Find out what advice I would give YOU in your situation with the Business Growth Roadmap.
You've built a machine with moving parts, processes, and maybe even a small team. But now you're facing a new challenge: the machine needs multiple operators, not just you.
Welcome to Stage 4: Team Builder.
Your business has outgrown your ability to manage everything yourself. You need leaders, not just doers. You need people who can own outcomes, not just tasks. But finding, developing, and trusting those people feels like another full-time job.
You built the systems, but the business still feels fragile because everything ultimately comes back to you. Then you realize: you can't scale you doing everything.
Then you have this control paradox. To grow further, you must simultaneously raise standards while giving up control. You must build a team that performs without your daily intervention - a terrifying prospect for many founders.
This is where you evolve from manager of tasks to leader of people. From operational focus to cultural architect. The hands-on supervisor becomes the vision-driven leader.
You need to develop your leadership leverage. This means recruiting, training, coaching, and building a team you can genuinely trust to execute and grow the business. Delegation becomes mandatory, not optional.
Your time allocation starts to reflects true leadership: sales and marketing time is down to 15-20%, 10-15% on delivery, still 20-25% on admin and ops, and now 30-35% spend on leadership/team and 20-25% of time is focused on vision and strategy.
Brian hit this stage when his professional services firm reached $2.5M in revenue with 15 employees. "I had built good systems and hired good people," he explained. "But I was still the bottleneck for major decisions, and when I stepped away, standards would slip."
We focused on three key areas: clarifying roles and expectations for his leadership team, implementing a performance management system that drove accountability, and establishing a culture playbook that formalized "how we do things here."
Within a year, his leadership team was running the day-to-day operations independently and Brian was taking two-week vacations with his phone turned off. "The business finally became what I'd always dreamed - a value-creation machine that didn't depend on my daily involvement."
Get a 90 Day Growth Roadmap tailored to you and your stage of business.
You've reached a level most business owners only dream of. You have a business that can operate without your daily involvement. You have a leadership team driving results. You have systems that maintain quality and culture.
Welcome to Stage 5: Legacy Builder.
With the day-to-day handled, you face the ultimate question: What next? Scale further? Acquire competitors? Create new ventures? Prepare for exit? You have options that were unimaginable in earlier stages.
Owners who have been at this stage will tell you - it can be disorienting.
You have to fight off the strategic drift. Without the urgent pull of operational fires, many founders in this stage lose focus. They chase shiny objects, meddle in operational details, or simply fail to leverage their unique position as visionary owner.
This is where you evolve from business operator to strategic architect. From building a company to building a legacy. The successful entrepreneur becomes the empire builder, investor, or mentor.
You need to embrace your role as strategic owner. This means focusing on long-term vision, market positioning, portfolio strategy, and wealth building activities that go beyond the core business.
At this stage, you might spend very limited time on sales and marketing (~5%), service/product delivery (~5%), and admin and operations (5-10%), with 80-90% focused on leadership (35-40%), vision and strategy (40-45%). The legacy building activities.
Michelle reached this stage after building her IT services company to $12M in revenue over 15 years. "I woke up one day and realized I had accomplished what I set out to do," she said. "The business was running well without my daily involvement. I had to decide what my next chapter would look like."
She needed to look at some different options: keep running it as-is and treat it more like a lifestyle business, geographic expansion, acquisition of smaller competitors, or potentially preparing for exit. She ultimately chose to begin acquiring smaller firms.
Does Michelle's situation remind you of your own? If you're still not sure what stage you're in, find out and get a 90 Day Growth Roadmap tailored specifically to you.
Understanding the Business Owner's Journey transforms how you approach growth. Instead of random tactics or one-size-fits-all advice, you gain clarity on:
The journey is about building a better business AND becoming a better leader. At each stage, both the company and the owner must transform together.
The most telling indicator of which stage you're in isn't your revenue - it's how you spend your time. Here's the breakdown:
Hover over the chart below to see corresponding %s:
This is a guide, and these allocations are directional, not prescriptive. It’s based on patterns I’ve seen coaching owners for 20+ years. Start here, then tune it to your business.
Most importantly, know that if your time allocation doesn't match your stage, you're most likely either stuck or skipping critical development work.
I've traveled this journey in my own companies.
I've also guided countless business owners through these stages for more than a decade.
From these experiences, I developed the Business Alignment System™ - a framework that focuses on the three pillars essential for navigating each stage successfully:
These pillars work together to create alignment - where your leadership capacity, strategic focus, and operational capabilities all support each other rather than conflict.
Without alignment, growth becomes painful or impossible. With alignment, each stage becomes a springboard to the next.
Wherever you are on this journey, the path forward becomes clearer when you know what lies ahead of you.
Maybe you're in Stage 1 (Sales Engine), fighting to make consistent sales. Maybe you're in Stage 3 (Machine Builder), trapped by your own success and looking for escape. Maybe you're approaching Stage 5 (Legacy Builder), contemplating your legacy.
Regardless of your current position, the journey continues. The question is this: Do you want to move with intention, anticipating challenges and developing the capabilities each stage demands?
Or do you want to risk continually stumbling forward, learning every lesson the hard way?
The Business Owner's Journey is both the most challenging and rewarding path many of us will ever walk. It tests us, transforms us, and ultimately rewards us - not just with financial success, but with the profound satisfaction of building something meaningful that can outlast us.
I've walked this path. I've guided others along it. And I've seen the difference that walking it deliberately, with the right map and tools, can make.
Understanding which stage you're in is the first step to breaking through to the next level. The Business Alignment Checkup analyzes where your business stands today and provides a customized Growth Profile and Roadmap to help you navigate your journey.
The more you know about where you are and what lies ahead, the faster you reach your goals → Get a 90 Day Business Growth Roadmap.
Nick Berry is an American entrepreneur and business advisor, whose track record includes founding, leading, and advising award winning small businesses since 2002. He has built companies in multiple industries, hosts The Business Owner’s Journey podcast, and created the Business Alignment System™ framework that helps owner-operators scale without burning out.
After his most recent exit he founded Redesigned.Business to advise and coach to other entrepreneurs and business owners who are looking for a trusted (and proven) advisor.
Among peers, colleagues and clients, Nick has been referred to as 'The Anti-Guru', due to his pragmatic approach and principled leadership. He shares his thoughts, experience, and lessons learned each week in The Golden Thread newsletter.
