Getting out of the Valley of Death: How to get your growth unstuck
Scaling a company is exhilarating, but for alot of CEOs, the journey comes to a screeching halt once the business reaches a growth plateau (aka: “The Valley of Death”). These breakpoints often require companies to transition from one growth phase to another, which can include restructuring, rethinking strategy, and even changing leadership styles.
To get to $5 Million (~20-50 employees): Typically, the business outgrows the informal systems and passion-driven leadership that got it to this level, and it needs formalized processes and structure.
To get to $10 Million (~50-100 employees): Requires scalable infrastructure and professional management layers, including middle management.
To get to $20 Million (~100-200 employees): The business hits operational complexity, necessitating more sophisticated systems and delegation.
To get to $50 Million (~200-300 employees: Leadership must manage across divisions, geographies, or expanded product lines.
To get to $100 Million (300+ employees): Often requires global scale, strategic acquisitions, or industry-leading innovation to maintain growth.
Each of these phases costs capital and that can feel like the biggest obstacle of all. The reality is that most businesses hit this ceiling due to three core challenges: unclear priorities, insufficient accountability, and ineffective communication. Without addressing these roadblocks, finding the capital to grow becomes nearly impossible, and you risk losing momentum.
Lack of Clear Priorities and Strategic Alignment: Many businesses struggle to define and communicate their priorities effectively. Without a clear, concise strategic plan, team members may not be aligned or focused on the most critical initiatives. This misalignment can dilute efforts and slow down growth.
Insufficient Accountability and Role Clarity: Growing companies can lack clarity in roles and responsibilities. Defining accountability for every function is impotant to ensure the right people are in the right seats. When there is overlap, gaps, or mismatched personnel, execution suffers. The result is that there are no results.
Ineffective Communications and Meeting Rhythms: Establishing consistent communication rhythms improves alignment and momentum. Many companies fail to maintain these rhythms, leading to poor coordination and missed opportunities to address challenges proactively
Let’s dive deeper into each of these categories to find a realistic path of getting unstuck.
1. Unclear Priorities: Getting Mixed Signals
As companies grow, the complexity of operations, opportunities, and distractions increases exponentially.CEOs often juggle countless priorities, trying to address everything simultaneously. This lack of focus creates team confusion, dilutes efforts, and leads to stagnation.
A national software development company struggled to scale past $8 million in revenue. The leadership team couldn’t agree on the most important goals. Each department pursued its own priorities, leading to disjointed efforts and missed opportunities. The lack of alignment became a bottleneck for growth.
A simple solution to this challenge is to identify a critical number. Choose one key metric that, if improved, would have the biggest impact on your business. This could be increasing customer retention, reducing churn, or boosting sales pipeline velocity. The Critical Number becomes the North Star for the quarter for everyone on the leadership team.
2. Insufficient Accountability: The Right People in the Right Seats
Hiring great talent is only part of the equation. As your company grows, unclear roles and overlapping responsibilities can create confusion, misalignment, and inefficiencies. Without clear accountability, execution falters, and growth stalls.
A fractional finance firm hovered at $9 million in revenue for three years when they realized many of their top performers were stretched too thin, taking on roles they weren’t suited for. Teams operated in silos, leading to missed deadlines and a decline in customer satisfaction.
A helpful solution for this challenge is to analyze each key function in the organization and assign ownership to the person that is responsiblel for that function. This exercise will show you if there are functional gaps as well as redundant resources working on the same function. The goal is to have one person as the owner for each function. This creates clear accountability and someone who be responsible for the success of that area.
3. Ineffective Communication: The Hidden Growth Killer
Communication is the lifeblood of any organization. Without a consistent rhythm of meetings and information-sharing, key decisions are delayed, opportunities are missed, and teams become disconnected. With every additional headcount in the organization, there is exponential growth in the lines of communication between everyone in the organization. There are many more opportunities for messages to be misunderstood.
A great example is a West Coast manufacturing company with $42 million in revenue that suffered from communication breakdowns. Managers operated in silos believing they were effectively focused on their specific functions. However, decisions that required cross-departmental input took weeks. Employees felt out of the loop, and morale began to decline.
Creating a consistent meeting rhythm and purpose for those meetings is critical. Daily, short, focused meetings to share updates, highlight daily issues, and align for the day can free team members up to execute the priorities. Combine that with longer weekly sessions to review key metrics, discuss progress on priorities, and remove road blocks and you’ll start to see growth pick up.
Finding Outside Capital to Fund Growth
If you’re looking for capital to fund your growth and you’ve addressed the foundational issues of priorities, accountability, and communication, you’ll be in a stronger position to attract outside capital. Here are some ways to prepare for securing funding:
Optimize Cash Flow: Evaluate how small changes in pricing, cost of goods sold, or payment terms can dramatically improve cash flow. For example, reducing debtor days by just 10 days can free up significant working capital. Increasing your price by 1% can generate enough capital to bridge the gap and fund your own growth until you can secure more funding.
Leverage Relationships with Financial Institutions: Establish trust with banks and investors by demonstrating financial discipline and a clear growth plan. Building your short and long term strategic plan plus detailed role accountability can show potential funders that your business is well-managed and scalable.
Explore Non-Dilutive Financing Options: Beyond equity funding, consider lines of credit, revenue-based financing, or government grants to fuel growth without giving up ownership.
If your company’s growth has gotten stuck, don’t despair. You’re not alone, and many businesses have successfully overcome similar challenges. Utilizing tools such as The Rockefeller Habits, you can clarify your priorities, establish accountability, and improve communication—laying the foundation for sustainable growth and making your company more attractive to investors.
Remember, scaling up is a marathon, not a sprint. The tools and strategies you implement today will set the stage for overcoming future “Valleys of Death”. You can achieve the vision that inspired you to become a founder in the first place.
Are you ready to get unstuck? Let’s talk.
