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The 90-Day Sales Sprint: how to get a stalled team hungry again
For the owner who is still the best salesperson in the building: the twelve-week structure that builds a team who hits the number while you lead.
04 · Growth
From $8M to $20M, margin intact.
You built, or inherited, a real business. The next tier needs more leaders, a sales engine that does not depend on you, and numbers you trust. We map the road and walk it with you.
- $17M / yrfounded and ran his own firm
- $11M → $27M+branch sales as VP
- 25+ yrsleading teams of 5 to 50+
What is Growth Strategy for Owner‑Operators?
Growth Strategy for Owner-Operators is Coach to Success’s advisory program for founders and second‑generation owners of service businesses at $8M–$10M who want to reach $20M and beyond profitably.
Organizational design · the hiring plan · a sales-capacity model tied to the revenue goal · an operating cadence (weekly, monthly, quarterly) · P&L discipline · succession readiness. Delivered as a three-, six- or twelve-month retainer with Steven C. Lindstrom, who founded and ran his own $17M-a-year firm and later grew a branch from under $11M to $27M+.
Sound familiar?
The owner’s questions.
- My dad built this to $8M. I do not know if this team can take it to $20M.
- Every big decision still runs through me.
- We hire when we are drowning and fire when we are scared.
- I know sales, not operations — or the other way round.
- Revenue is up and profit is flat. How?
- A PE firm called. I do not know what my numbers should look like before I talk to them.
What we do
What does the plan cover?
Growth diagnostic
Where you are: P&L by month, sales capacity, org chart, customer concentration, cash. Where the next $10M will come from — and what it will cost to deliver.
Organization and hiring plan
The roles a $20M business needs, in the order you can afford them, with scorecards for each. No hiring in a panic.
Sales-capacity model
How many sellers, at what productivity, in which markets, to hit the number — and how to grow them (see Sales Team Transformation).
Operating cadence
Weekly scoreboard, monthly P&L review, quarterly plan. The rhythm that lets you lead the business instead of chasing it.
P&L and EBITDA discipline
Job costing, indirect costs and pricing standards so growth adds profit instead of diluting it (see Operations & Profitability).
Succession and exit readiness
Whether you are handing the keys to the next generation or preparing for investors, the business runs on systems — not on you.
- $8MOwner runs sales and ops
The weekly scoreboard begins. One definition of margin.
- $10MFirst sales manager
A job-costing standard from estimate to invoice.
- $12MOperations lead
Monthly P&L review with owners and actions.
- $15MController or fractional CFO
Quarterly plan; second sales team forming.
- $18M–$20MGM or president-in-waiting
The cadence runs without you. Options open.
How it runs
A twelve-month climb.
Growth is a sequence, not a leap. We work the plan with you in the order that protects cash and margin.
- Month 1Diagnose and map
Growth diagnostic, the $20M model, the organization you will need, the first 90-day plan.
- Months 2–4Build the engine
Sales capacity, key hires, job-costing and pricing standards, the weekly cadence.
- Months 5–8Scale with discipline
Second wave of hires, manager development, P&L review every month, quarterly re-plan.
- Months 9–12Institutionalize
Leaders own their numbers, the cadence runs without you, succession and exit options are clear.
What changes
What does a $20M-ready business look like?
Bigger, yes. But mostly calmer: leaders who own their numbers, a sales engine that runs, and an owner who can take a week off.
Hires sequenced to cash
A plan you can fund
Hires and investments sequenced against cash and margin.
Managers owning the monthly
Leaders who own numbers
A management layer that runs the weekly and monthly cadence.
Sales without the owner
Sales without the owner
A team and a manager who hit the number while you lead.
GM % held as volume rises
Profit that grows with revenue
Pricing, job costing and indirect costs under control as volume rises.
Cadence-run weeks
Systems, not heroics
The business runs on cadence and standards, not on one person’s memory.
Exit-ready in 12 months
Options: hand over, sell, or step back
Ready for the next generation, for investors, or simply for a better life as the owner.
Questions
Asked often.
It changes the conversations, not the numbers. Steve founded and ran his own firm for more than seven years and later stepped into a family-owned company to lead its growth — he understands the mix of pride, history and pressure. We work with the owner and the next generation together.
We help you build a business that runs on systems and produces reliable EBITDA — which is exactly what investors pay for. We are operators, not brokers; we will be plain about what your numbers say.
A retainer includes a weekly working session with the owner, a monthly P&L and plan review with the leadership team, and access between sessions. On-site time is scheduled for key moments.
Then you will know it in month one instead of year three, with a hiring plan and scorecards ready. Honest assessment is the most valuable thing an outside operator can give you.
Next step
Where will you be in twelve months?
Thirty minutes. Bring last year’s P&L and your org chart if you have them, the ambition if you don’t. We will tell you plainly what $20M would take — and whether we are the right people to walk it with you.
- You talk to Steve, not a salesperson
- Replies within one business day
- Based in Tampa
- Nationwide
Or write to info@