# 392: Why Most Small Businesses Plateau — And How to Start Growing Again

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/profit-by-design-984581/392-why-most-small-businesses-plateau-and-how-to-start-growing-again
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/profit-by-design-984581/392-why-most-small-businesses-plateau-and-how-to-start-growing-again.md
Podcast: [Profit by Design](https://stenobird.com/podcast/profit-by-design-984581)
Published: 2026-03-12T07:00:00+00:00
Episode link: http://www.tapthepotential.com
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/8ca97182-8dd9-47e2-8807-5238e514c1ef.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/profit-by-design-984581/episodes/392-why-most-small-businesses-plateau-and-how-to-start-growing-again
Duration seconds: 1461

## Resource

When you go into business, you work really hard to get things going, but as you achieve success, the business takes over your life, right? You want to keep growing your business, but you can’t work more. You’re already exhausted and stretched too thin. If you’re tired of being the fixer, the one with the fallback plan, and the one who holds it all together, you are not alone! If you’re like most business owners we work with, you have revenue coming in, but you are still not profitable. You struggle to make payroll and attract profitable clients that you enjoy working with. This is why we created the Tap the Potentia l solution: a step-by-step, simple framework to increase your profitability while working fewer hours so that you can take your life back from your business. On average, our clients experience a 716% increase in time off, a 215% increase in profit, and a 55% increase in owners’ pay—all within 12 months. In this episode, Melissa Kay and Dr. Sabrina Starling reveal why most small businesses hit a growth plateau, the hidden reason revenue increases don’t lead to profit, why entrepreneurs stay stuck in survival mode, how working less can actually increase profitability, and the simple framework successful business owners use to reclaim their time. If you’re ready to take your life back from your business, this episode will show you the path forward. Profit by Design is a Tap the Potential production. Show Highlights: Reasons for a growth plateau in small businesses: trying to do it alone, hiring the wrong people, and mishandling the revenue needed to grow Understanding the hidden costs in payroll for the wrong people Design your business to be sustainably profitable. The business owner’s blind spots contribute to growth plateaus. Revenue doesn’t equal profitabi…

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## Transcript

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