Most founders think growth should get easier with size. It doesn’t.
At the 7-Figure MSP Live conference in Phoenix, Arron Bennett explained why businesses stall between $2M and $10M—and how to fix it with financial clarity, not just more sales.
Here’s what he shared. And why it matters if you’re scaling and still feel stuck.
What Is 7-Figure MSP Live
7-Figure MSP Live in Phoenix took place February 13-15, 2024. Profit First’s Mike Michalowicz gave the keynote at this private event for fast-scaling IT (specifically managed service providers) and professional service founders focused on growth, exit strategy, and financial leadership.
Arron Bennett was invited to speak because of his new way at approaching accounting and strategic finance to help growing small businesses who are ready for more than compliance.
This talk laid out the same roadmap we use with our strategic finance clients at Clarity by Bennett Financials. No theory. Just what works.
The Real Reason Founders Stall at $2M–$10M
“Most business owners only have two ways of exiting the business—sell the company or install an executive team. But they wait too long to build the financial infrastructure that makes either one possible.”
Most founders stay in operator mode too long. They scale sales, but they don’t fix the systems that give them leverage: clean reporting, real profitability metrics, cash flow models, and predictable margins.
Without those, your business hits a ceiling. You keep working harder just to hold the line.
Here’s how that typically shows up:
- Your metrics are missing or misleading
- You don’t know your real margins
- You’re still too involved in day-to-day operations
Revenue alone won’t solve that. It just papers over the problems.
“You Can’t Sell Your Way Out of a Broken Business”
“People try to sell their way out of cash flow problems. It doesn’t work. It just buries the inefficiencies deeper.”
When margin is broken, more sales just means more stress. More delivery. More payroll. More cash out the door.
Arron sees this all the time with $3M, $5M, even $10M founders who are still stuck in the same cash position they were at $1M.
If you want to scale cleanly, here’s what you need to actually measure and manage:
- Revenue per employee
- Cost to acquire a client (including delivery and support costs)
- Consistent forecasting
- A model that works without the founder at the center
These aren’t vanity metrics. They’re the ones that drive profit, not just revenue.
Strategic Finance = Your Exit Plan, Even If You’re Not Selling Yet
“We had one client go from $20,000 a month to $600,000 a month. He just got offered a 25x multiple. Why? Because we tracked the right metrics and removed founder dependency. That’s it.”
This wasn’t luck. It was math.
Once you know what to measure—and how to build around that—you can structure your business to generate real margin and real exit potential. Whether or not you ever take an offer.
Buyers—and internal leadership—look for the same things:
- Predictable revenue
- Strong margins
- Clean financials
- Minimal owner involvement
You don’t need to sell. But you do need the option. And you only get that by building your business like someone else could run it.
How to Solve This (Even If You’re Still in the Day-to-Day)
If you’re past $2M and still stuck, here’s where to start:
1. Fix your metrics. Start tracking revenue per employee, cost per lead, average order value, churn rate, and profit per employee. These tell you what’s broken and what’s working.
2. Forecast everything. Build a real forecast—revenue, profit, cash flow. Then build against it. Don’t operate on gut instinct. Know what happens if you spend more, hire, or raise prices.
3. Cut financial noise. If you don’t have clean books, segment your chart of accounts. Separate sales, marketing, ops, fulfillment. Get a weekly report with the 5–7 numbers that matter.
4. Create margin before you grow. Don’t try to scale a model with thin margins or weak retention. Adjust pricing, reduce scope, or increase contract length to create room before ramping up.
5. Get out of the weeds one lever at a time. Start handing off delivery, finance, and sales reporting to leaders—not all at once, but in a controlled sequence. That’s how you de-risk the business without breaking it.
Solving this isn’t about working more. It’s about finally treating finance like strategy—not just compliance.
The Bottom Line
Most founders plateau because their financial systems never evolve beyond basic tracking.
They scale revenue, but not structure.
That’s what Arron laid out at Phoenix MSP Live. And it’s what we do every day with founders who are ready to grow with clarity—not just hustle.
Book a Strategic Finance Consult
If your business is past $2M and the financial side still feels messy, that’s a problem worth fixing.
We’ll help you:
- Identify real margins
- Build a model that scales cleanly
- Start fixing what’s blocking growth or exit potential