{"podcast":{"title":"Profit by Design","slug":"profit-by-design-984581","podcast_index_feed_id":984581,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/profit-by-design/","website_url":"http://www.tapthepotential.com","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/279ca741-8722-4002-baa6-251513c8bcd8/ttp-profit-by-design-thumbnail-and-logo-4-1.png","author":"Dr. Sabrina Starling","episode_count":407,"summary":"You work hard in your business. On the Profit by Design Podcast, we ask the BIG question: What has your business done FOR YOU lately? Join Dr. Sabrina Starling, The Business Psychologist™ and founder of Tap the Potential weekly, as she brings you tips, tools and strategies to support YOU in making intentionally profitable AND sustainable business decisions to live the lifestyle you desire. After all, work supports life, not the other way around. Dr. Sabrina is the author of the The 4 Week Vacation® and the How to Hire the Best Series. Profit by Design is a Tap the Potential Production.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/profit-by-design-984581"},"episode":{"title":"392: Why Most Small Businesses Plateau — And How to Start Growing Again","slug":"392-why-most-small-businesses-plateau-and-how-to-start-growing-again","published_at":"2026-03-12T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/profit-by-design-984581/392-why-most-small-businesses-plateau-and-how-to-start-growing-again","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/profit-by-design-984581","url":"http://www.tapthepotential.com","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/8ca97182-8dd9-47e2-8807-5238e514c1ef.mp3","summary":"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…","meta_description":"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 kee…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1461,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/profit-by-design-984581/episodes/392-why-most-small-businesses-plateau-and-how-to-start-growing-again/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/profit-by-design-984581/392-why-most-small-businesses-plateau-and-how-to-start-growing-again.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}