Instead of growing slowly, a new contracting business can rapidly gain market share by committing to a high marketing spend (e.g., 14% of a revenue goal) before making the first sale. This aggressive, intentional brand-building strategy can make a new company seem like an overnight success and quickly overtake established but complacent competitors.

A tool saving a company $20K/mo on ads might only command a $5K/mo price. The exact same tool, repositioned as doubling leads for the same ad spend, could command a $40K/mo price because it aligns with the high-value strategic goal of growth.

Marketing is an accompaniment to a great operations team, not a replacement. If your company culture, leadership, or service delivery is weak, increasing your marketing spend will only expose and accelerate those foundational flaws. You must fix the core business before scaling marketing efforts.

To achieve significant growth (over 10%), contractors should allocate 10-12% of their target revenue goal to marketing, not a percentage of last year's actual revenue. This forward-looking investment is scary but necessary to fund the growth you want to achieve, rather than just sustaining current levels.

Investors and acquirers pay premiums for predictable revenue, which comes from retaining and upselling existing customers. This "expansion revenue" is a far greater value multiplier than simply acquiring new customers, a metric most founders wrongly prioritize.

Many businesses over-index on marketing to drive growth. However, strategic price increases and achieving operational excellence (improving conversion rates, average tickets) are equally powerful, and often overlooked, levers for increasing revenue.

While LTV is important, it's often a lagging and inaccurate indicator. Focusing on the CAC-to-Payback Period ratio provides a more immediate, tangible metric. If the ratio is positive against a set goal (e.g., 12-36 months), it's a clear signal for marketing teams to aggressively increase spend and accelerate growth.

A very high sales close rate (80% or more) is a clear indicator that your product or service is significantly underpriced. Instead of celebrating the rate, view it as a signal to raise prices by 3-4x to maximize revenue, even if the close rate drops.

Pricing is your most powerful lever. For a typical service business with a 10% net margin, a simple 10% price increase goes directly to the bottom line, effectively doubling the company's total profit without any additional operational cost or effort.