⚠️   Working Harder Is the Problem
🚧   Plateau Is a Signal
đź’¸ Â Â Uncertainty Tax Is Back
⚠️ Working Harder Is the Problem
When it feels like you are pushing a rope up a hill while wearing butter slippers, take a step back. Sales shouldn’t be this hard!
When I joined my family’s business, we thought we had a sales problem. Revenue was in decline and we were struggling to gain traction.
It got so bad that we implemented “Pit Time”: two hour cold calling blocks, three times a week. We were smiling and dialing, and it was brutal.
Worse, the customers we did get were terrible. They were unprofitable, unethical, and unpleasant to work with.
The harder we worked, the worse it got.
We were wrong. We did not have a sales problem. And this is the key point: Most of the time, you can’t fix a sales problem with sales and marketing alone.
Our market changed. The IT Staffing industry transformed in the early 2000s to a “wholesaling model,” but we didn’t get the memo. We were operating on a low volume, high quality model, while our customers were looking for high volume, low fee services.
We were left behind.
When revenue stalls or growth slows, the issue is rarely a lack of effort. Chances are you are working harder than ever for fewer results.
The real issue is structural. Your company is not configured or built to serve where your market is heading.
đź“ŠÂ One Stat to Watch
0%
EBITDA margin grew at 0% for mid-market companies in 2025, compared to 4.8% in 2024, according to Chief Executive.
🚧 Plateau Is a Signal
Companies have predictable revenue plateaus. You can hit them and get stuck, almost indefinitely.
$12 to $14 million is one of the most challenging revenue plateaus. This is the transition point from an owner-operator to a management team.
It’s an expensive transition, and if not navigated well, a company can bump along here for a long time with shrinking margins.
In the CoStrategy program, we focus on building for the next level to get to the next level. You get a proven system to grow past $10 million and then $30 million in revenue, two of the thorniest revenue plateaus.
When you hit a plateau, the natural instinct is to add complexity: more services, more markets, more headcount, more equipment.
Avoid that temptation, at least to start. The first step is to prove where your business will grow profitably. You want certainty on your strategy before you invest to scale.
A revenue plateau is a signal for change. You don’t punch through it. You don’t outwork it. You evolve by building for the next stage.
The first question I ask: Who and where are the customers that will drive your next stage of growth?
‍
‍
💸 Uncertainty Tax Is Back
For the past couple of years, fuel surcharges have not been an issue. But they are roaring back. The price of oil is up 50% in a month, from $68 to $105 a barrel (as of March 16, 2026).
When oil hits $100, everything else gets more expensive. Costs increase rapidly, but come down slowly.
This is a continuing trend from 2025, or round two of the Uncertainty Tax. Every time the rules change, you’re stuck with the bill.
Rising costs and shrinking margins are now a constant. You can’t negotiate this inflation away, and cutting costs only gets you so far.
Growth is the strategy. You have to move faster and more deliberately to stay ahead of inflation, because you’ll run out of room with 5% annual growth.
In your strategy, pull three levers:
- Grow Revenue
- Reduce Costs
- Increase Throughput
You used to be able to focus on just one lever at a time, but in an era of persistent inflation, you have to master all three all the time.
‍Ask me about CoStrategy: Don’t scale guesswork. Drive profitable growth first. The next group starts in May.
🤔 Thoughts on Today’s Issue?
We’d love to hear your feedback. Message with any thoughts, comments, or ideas for future issues.