Many businesses reach a million in revenue through sheer effort but then stall. The shift to scaling requires achieving product-market fit, which creates leverage and pulls in customers, leading to exponential profitability instead of diminishing returns from just pushing harder.

Many founders run "too lean," maximizing short-term profit at the expense of long-term growth. Strategically investing in a team, even if it lowers margins temporarily, frees the founder to focus on scaling, leading to greater overall profitability and less burnout.

Instead of chasing massive, immediate growth, Chomps' founders focused on a sustainable, self-funded model. This gradual scaling allowed them to control their destiny, prove their model, and avoid the pressures of early-stage investors, which had burned one founder before.

A business transitions from a founder-dependent "practice" to a scalable "enterprise" only when the founder shares wealth and recognition. Failing to provide equity and public credit prevents attracting and retaining the talent needed for growth, as top performers will leave to become owners themselves.

Entrepreneurs quit when they hit a predictable rough patch, mistaking it for a flaw. SaaS is slow to start, e-commerce has cash flow issues, services are people-heavy. Success requires pushing through your chosen model's inherent difficulty, not switching to another.

Rapidly scaling companies can have fantastic unit economics but face constant insolvency risk. The cash required for advance hiring and inventory means you're perpetually on the edge of collapse, even while growing revenue by triple digits. You are going out of business every day.