Breaking the $10,000,000 Ceiling? Think “Exit-Ready” as the Way to Do It

Bruce Eckfeldt Eckfeldt’s recent Inc. article nails a truth the market keeps proving: the playbook that hauled a company to $1M becomes the anchor that keeps it from $10M. He flags five universal founder traps:

• Won’t stop selling: Founder still the #1 rep instead of building a scalable revenue engine.

• Needs to be the smartest in the room: Teams full of “yes” people instead of challengers with scar tissue.

• Too internally focused: Polishing internal processes while the market shifts outside.

• Micromanages people: Tasks over outcomes, every decision funneled through one person.

• Doesn’t leverage external resources: DIY mindset slows capital, expertise, and speed.

Bruce is right. The extension we’d add, fixing these gaps isn’t just about growth it’s about de-risking, succession, and commanding a premium exit. The real prize is optionality: sell, roll up, bring in a CEO-for-hire, or step up to Chair and architect value. None of that is possible if the business still runs on founder fumes.

5 Steps to a Team-Led Business (CEO as Coach)

1. Unified Culture Non-negotiable values and A-player standards. Everyone knows what “great” looks like and how it behaves.

2. Create Collision-Rich Spaces Real debate beats polite agreement. Leadership huddles, customer councils, advisor boards, forums where hard truths surface and ideas collide.

3. Deliver an Aligned Stakeholder Strategy Customers, partners, investors, and employees should all see themselves in the plan. Strategy is a shared contract, not a slide deck.

4. Balanced Decision-Making Data rhythms (weekly, monthly, quarterly) plus disciplined cadences. Gut feel launches; cadence scales.

5. Evolve from Hero to Coach The top job shifts to building leaders and systems, not running point on sales calls or ops fires. Micromanagement fades when scorecards, dashboards, and trust are in place.

Experience Share (Patterns We Keep Seeing)

• Sales Transition: When the founder steps out of frontline sales and a CRO with a real playbook step in, revenue becomes predictable, and buyers value the business, not just the person.

• Leadership Upgrade: Replacing loyal-but-limited VPs with operators who’ve driven past $25M often doubles EBITDA in under two years. Hard decision, easy math.

• M&A as a Growth Lane: Buying margin and capability in weeks instead of building it over quarters accelerates valuation lift.

• Data Room Day One: Treat every quarter like diligence could start tomorrow. Clean financials, normalized EBITDA, labor efficiency ratios, customer concentration data, buyers pay more when they don’t have to dig.

Quick Wins to Implement Now

• Fire the Founder from Sales: Someone else owns the number. Build the system, not the script.

• Talent Matrix: Map A/B/C players; upgrade fast. “Yes” people get expensive quickly.

• Outside-In Rhythm: Monthly market intel briefs, quarterly customer roundtables, annual competitor teardowns.

• Leadership Cadence: Scorecards, 90-day plans, weekly execution meetings. Coach outcomes don’t chase tasks.

• External Firepower: Advisors, fractional execs, smart capital—and yes, coaches—are accelerators. Use them.

Call to Action

If Bruce’s article hit a nerve, good. The next move is clear: shift from hero-led to team-led and build a company that crosses $10M and is exit-ready on your terms.

Reach out to Bruce Eckfeldt and Donald Haché if you want:

• A one-pager overlay of the 5-step model on Bruce’s five traps

• A quick audit of current “ceilings”

• Support building the data room and succession path now, not when an LOI lands

Breaking the $10M ceiling? Think “exit-ready” as the way to do it. #ExitReady #ScalingUp #SuccessionPlanning #MergersAndAcquisitions #TeamLedBusiness #CEO