Why 10x Growth Is Easier Than 2x for Business Owners

10x growth is easier than 2x because it stops being about how and starts being about who. When you aim for 2x, you try to work harder at what you already do. When you aim for 10x, you can’t do it yourself, so you go find the right people and let them do what they do best. The real limit usually isn’t your systems. It’s whether you, as the leader, believe it’s possible and step into the role that kind of business needs.

Can a business grow too fast?

On a recent Tactical Tuesday, the live Zoom training MVMT members attend, a member brought a problem most of us would love to have.

He runs a service business and was about to hire a sales rep who specializes in building territories from scratch. He’d checked with several sources, and this rep had a track record of taking companies from nothing to serious monthly revenue in a few years. His concern: “I’m afraid he’s too good for us. He’s going to take us too fast before we can keep up.”

I asked him one question. What’s the difference between that rep growing it for you and growing it for the last company he worked for?

His answer: “Absolutely nothing. I think I have all the processes in place to handle it.”

So it wasn’t a systems problem. It was a mindset problem.

I don’t believe there’s such a thing as growing your business too fast. What I see is business owners who don’t grow as fast as their business grows. The business takes off, the owner stays the same size, and things start to get out of control. Before your business can transform, you have to transform. You have to believe it’s possible, and not just for somebody else. For you.

Why is it easier to 10x than 2x?

Dr. Benjamin Hardy has a book on this idea, and the core of it is that 10x is easier than 2x. The reason comes down to one shift: it’s about who, not how.

When you’re chasing 10x, the question changes. Who do I need on the team? The big leaps in your business happen when you get the right people in the right seats. A rep who knows how to build territories is a who. He already knows the how. Your job is to make room for him.

How do you become the leader a fast-growing company needs?

Here’s the part most owners skip. Hiring great people only works if you are the kind of leader great people can work for. Your vision has to be big enough to hold players like that. Your belief has to be high enough that you can step into the role.

This is how to do it:

1. Define the role. Ask yourself: what does the leader of the business I’m building look like? Picture that leader running the company at the size you’re aiming for.
2. Write it all down. The full description. Everything you’d have to be, do, and have to be that person.
3. Put it on every morning. When you wake up tomorrow, you put those shoes on, that shirt on, that mindset on. Show up, dress up, and step up to whatever that role calls you to be.
4. Repeat daily. You don’t become that leader in one day. You grow into it a little more every day until you look up and realize you’ve grown as a leader and your whole business has grown with you.

Why do business owners sabotage their own growth?

Growth pulls you out of your comfort zone. When that happens, a lot of us pull back without even realizing it. That’s been ingrained into us. We will never go higher than our belief.

So a few rules:

• Never apologize for the money that’s coming. If you know how to do the work and you’re in the position, don’t shrink from the results.
• Get your mindset ready for it. Be prepared, so growth doesn’t scare you into slowing yourself down.
• Stay grateful. Get into an abundant, grateful mindset about what’s happening. Thank God in advance for the wisdom to handle it.
• Expect it to feel uncomfortable. Every time my business started to run, I stretched thin. I wondered if I could handle it. Then I got back up every day, grew a little more, and kept my focus forward.

You might get disappointed along the way. Go all in anyway. Learn from it. Even if you miss, you’re further along than if you never tried.

What makes clients hand you bigger work?

The same member shared a second story on that call that shows the other side of growth.

Early on, he got in the door with a client who was frustrated with their previous vendors. He was allowed to do part of the work and prove himself. He delivered. Then he delivered again. He kept track of every mistake on the project, and in all that time there was one that was their fault. He owned it, paid for it, fixed it, and told the client about it before they even found out.

The result: the client kept expanding his scope, and has more work lined up for him down the road.

That’s what consistently delivering every single day looks like. Do what you say you’re going to do. Build the relationship. When people are confident in you, they give you more. It’s like the parable of the talents. The one who used what he was given was given more.

Stay humble, keep your head down, keep delivering, and those opportunities keep coming.

Quick answers

Is it possible to grow a business too fast?
Usually the business isn’t growing too fast. The owner isn’t growing as fast as the business, and that’s what makes things feel out of control.

What does “who, not how” mean?
It means the big jumps in growth come from getting the right people on your team, not from figuring out how to do more yourself.

How do I prepare myself to lead a bigger company?
Write down everything the leader of that bigger company would need to be, do, and have. Then step into that role every single day.

Want to work on this with other business owners? Book a discovery call with The MVMT team at themvmt.com/discovery-call.