Part 1 of the Breaking the Founder-Led Growth Ceiling Series
Many B2B boutique firms start strong with founder-led sales, but at some point, growth stalls. Leads dry up, revenue becomes inconsistent, and no matter how much effort the founder puts in, scaling feels impossible.
This isn’t a random slowdown—it’s a predictable growth ceiling that every founder-led business eventually hits. The problem isn’t effort; it’s structure. I sat down with Miles, founder and CEO of OTM, to break down why this happens and how to recognize when your business is stuck.
Why Founder-Led Businesses Get Stuck
“When founders start their sales processes from an early stage, they work through their personal networks,” Miles explained. “They really are starting at the bottom of the funnel and ultimately working their way up. It’s easy to connect with your peer group, network, and build some sales. But it’s very different to take that and scale.”
In other words, the tactics that help a founder win early—leveraging relationships, referrals, and personal expertise—don’t translate to scalable growth.
Scaling requires a shift from personal selling to a repeatable system. Without it, businesses get stuck. Watch Miles dive more into this in the YouTube short below.
Signs Your Business Has Hit the Growth Ceiling
- Clients come exclusively from the founder’s network.
“That’s really the first big item we identify.” - Lead flow is inconsistent.
“When you look at your CRM, are you getting a cadence of leads consistently? Or are you seeing revenue bumps and lead choppiness?” - Marketing feels reactive.
“Does it feel like we’re just being reactive? Does it feel ineffective? Are we actually spinning up campaigns and looking at the data, or is it just whack-a-mole?” - The founder is the bottleneck in sales.
“Is the founder reaching out to prospects? Do they have a structured, thought-through, intentional sales process—or are they just winging it?” - Revenue stalls at a certain level.
“It differs by client industry, but usually you’ll find that you struggle to scale beyond a certain revenue point when growth is dependent on founder-led sales.”
The Difference Between Growing and Scaling
Many founders assume that more effort = more growth. They try to push through by selling harder, networking more, and investing in marketing tactics. But that’s not scaling—it’s just maintaining momentum.
“Recognizing that growing and scaling are two different things is important,” Miles said. “Everybody wants to jump into scale, but they really have to look and determine where they are in that growth stage and if they’re ready for scale.” Watch Miles chat more about this in the video below.
Growth vs. Scale: What’s the Difference?
In the Growth Stage, businesses must:
- Validate problem-market fit (“Have you identified that the problem you’re solving has a market?”)
- Define their ideal customer profile (ICP) (“That is kind of the key part in the grow stage.”)
- Establish a structured sales process
In the Scale Stage, businesses must:
- Create repeatable, coachable sales and marketing processes (“As we move to scale, scale starts to typically look like doing the same thing consistently. Is it coachable? Is it improveable?”)
- Ensure similar solutions for similar customers (“Do we have a tight market? You could have multiple markets, but do you have tightly defined markets around those buyers?”)
- Focus on customer retention (“Without retention, you’ll never hit scale.”)
Why This Matters: If You Try to Scale Before You’re Ready, You’ll Fail
Scaling before you’ve built a structured sales and marketing process leads to frustration. This is where many businesses make the mistake of hiring reactively instead of strategically—which we’ll cover in Part 2 of this series.
According to Miles, this is one of the most common reasons businesses waste money on hiring sales and marketing teams that don’t deliver results.
“Many businesses go out, hire a salesperson or a BD person, and hope that person will ‘fix’ the problem,” he explained. “But if there’s no clear strategy, process, or metrics, those hires end up working on busy work rather than driving meaningful results.”
What Comes Next: Why Hiring Sales & Marketing Won’t Fix a Broken Growth Model
If you’ve recognized the signs that your business is stuck, the natural next step might be to hire a salesperson, marketer, or agency to fix the problem.
Don’t do that—yet.
Most businesses that fail to scale make the same mistake: they hire reactively before defining their sales and marketing system.
In Part 2 of this series, we’ll break down why hiring sales and marketing won’t fix a broken growth model, and how to build the right foundation first.
→ Read Part 2: The Growth Trap: Why Hiring More Sales & Marketing Won’t Fix the Problem
Additional Resources:
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Miles Kailburn is the CEO and Co-Founder of OTM, a marketing and sales enablement firm helping founder-led B2B service businesses move from stagnant to scalable. With more than 15 years of experience guiding growth-stage companies through strategic inflection points, Miles leads with a blend of technical acumen and entrepreneurial empathy. His passion lies in helping businesses break out of founder-mode by building systems, aligning teams, and clarifying strategy to drive sustainable revenue growth.
Schedule a 30-Minute Consultation with Miles to get a complimentary strategy call and learn more about the next best steps to take for your business.