Episode 05: Where did the money go?
When More Revenue Means Less in Your Pocket
Marcus just had his best revenue year ever – by a lot. So why is he taking home less than he did last year?
In this episode, Ashlee and Brad resist the obvious move of treating it as a cash flow problem. Instead, they start with a simpler question: where did the growth come from? Tracing the growth back to the source offers the first clues to Marcus’s problem.
From there, Brad introduces the Growth Engine Formula – a three-lever framework that shows you exactly what’s driving (or shrinking) your profit margins – and how it helped an energy efficiency company discover that one service line was quietly losing $100,000 a year.
They also explore why operational complexity doesn't scale linearly, why solving a cash flow problem before understanding its root cause can make things significantly worse, why a single "wages" line on your P&L hides almost everything, and what Marcus needs to understand before he makes his next move.
If your business is growing but your bank account isn't keeping up, this one's for you.
KEY TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE:
00:00 Intro
01:15 Marcus's Scenario
02:07 First Impressions
04:56 Where Is the Growth Coming From?
07:14 Three Growth Paths, Three Different Risks
10:26 The Service Line Losing $100K a Year
16:15 What Your "Wages" Line Is Hiding
20:23 The Growth Engine Formula
24:00 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 ashleeberghoff.substack.com