Episode 03: Feast or Famine
How Do You Grow When You Can't Predict Demand?
James has run his agency for five years. Revenue grows every year, but month to month it swings between huge months and dead ones. The slow months bring panic. The busy months bring overwhelm. James asks: how do you grow deliberately when you can't predict what's coming?
In this episode, Ashlee and Brad flip the question on its head. The problem isn't that demand is unpredictable. It's that the business isn't built to flex with it. Drawing on Brad's years in the energy industry, they borrow a model from the power grid to look at both sides of the equation – supply and demand – and explore what James can actually control.
You'll hear how to use incentives to add certainty to your pipeline, how to right-size a team to its "base load," why the busiest months quietly create the slowest ones, and the real reason no founder stops panicking until the slow months are covered.
If your business keeps swinging between too much work and not enough, this one's for you.
KEY TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE:
00:00 Intro
01:15 James's Scenario
02:19 First Impressions
09:45 What the Power Grid Knows About Supply and Demand
16:37 The Demand Side: Why Busy Months Create Slow Ones
21:54 The Supply Side: Staffing to Your Base Load
29:13 Separating Role from Function
38:10 Paying for Output and Building Cash Reserves
46:21 Key Takeaways
Have a growing pain you can't quite diagnose?
Send us your scenario at innerworkofbusiness@gmail.com. Tell us what's happening, how long it's been going on, and what you've already tried. If we use it on the show, we'll keep it anonymous.
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Brad Eisenberg is a scalability consultant who helps founders get out of the weeds and build businesses that feel as good on the inside as they look on the outside. Learn more at beleanbusiness.com
Ashlee Berghoff is a fractional COO and author of Eureka Results, building systems that protect sanity, peace, and creative work in a frenetic world. Learn more at [Ashlee's link]
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