Proven Strategies For Business And Sustainable Business Growth

I sat down with my brothers and Andy Elliott to break down exactly how to build an empire the right way. Not with hype, not with shortcuts, but with discipline, mentorship, and the right vehicle. These are the strategies for business that helped us go from the car lot to owning multiple companies and real estate. If you’re serious about business growth, this is your blueprint.

There’s a difference between working in a business and owning one.

There’s a difference between making money and building wealth.

And there’s a difference between saying you want to grow and actually putting in the work to scale.

I’ve lived in all three.

I started in the car business, worked my way up, and eventually owned dealerships, commercial real estate, and other ventures. But I didn’t just get lucky. I learned what it really takes to grow, what to do, what not to do, and how to build a company that lasts.

So let’s talk about it. I want to share the same principles that helped me and my brothers scale. These are the exact strategies for business and real business growth that can work in any industry.

Choose The Right Vehicle

If you’re trying to build an empire, you have to start with the right vehicle. You can have the best work ethic in the world, but if you’re in the wrong business model, you’ll hit a ceiling.

I see a lot of people working hard in low-cap industries. They want to be millionaires, but the industry itself caps out before they ever get there. You have to look at the people at the top of your industry. What’s their income level? What’s their market cap? How far can you really go?

You might own an ice cream shop, but unless you plan to own fifty of them, you’ll never reach your goal. That’s not negativity. That's strategy. You have to pick a business that allows you to grow. You need room to scale without selling all your time or your sanity.

The truth is, business growth starts with awareness. You must know if the vehicle you’re in can actually get you to your destination. Otherwise, you’re just driving in circles.

If you’re serious about building wealth, study the top players. See what they’ve built and how they did it. You’ll find that every one of them picked the right vehicle, mastered it, and scaled it.

Get The Right Mentor And Write A Check For Speed

Here’s the truth: everyone needs a coach. Even the best entrepreneurs in the world have mentors because mentorship compresses time.

If you find someone who’s built what you want to build, pay for their time. That’s how you buy speed. You’re not just paying for their knowledge. You're paying for their experience, their mistakes, and their blueprint. It saves you years of trial and error.

But there’s a catch. Don’t take advice from anyone who hasn’t built what you want to build.

Too many people listen to opinions from people who’ve never done it. That’s like asking the out-of-shape guy at the gym how to get abs. You only listen to people who have the results you want.

A great mentor is not just a talker. They’re builders. They can show you what they built and how they built it. They’re lions. They’re always hungry, always growing, and always ahead. Because if your mentor isn’t hungry, you’ll catch up to them fast, and they’ll start slowing you down.

You should want a mentor who pushes you to level up, who calls you out, and who helps you find the blind spots in your business. That’s how you grow.

So if you’re serious about scaling, find someone who can pull you out of the tunnel. Someone who helps you see the opportunities that are right in front of you.

Know Your Numbers And Build Systems

Most entrepreneurs think they know what’s going on in their business, until they realize they don’t.

When I coach business owners, I always ask one question: how well do you really know your numbers. Most of the time, they guess. That’s the first red flag. Because the numbers never lie. They show you where the profit hides, where the waste lives, and where your next opportunity sits.

If you want real business growth, you need systems. You need an operating rhythm. You need scorecards, KPIs, and accountability.

Start simple. Track your leads, close rate, cost per lead, and profit margins. Review them weekly. Ask your team questions. When they can’t answer clearly, that’s where the money is hiding.

Business is a sport. And like any sport, the scoreboard matters. The companies that win long-term are the ones that can look at the scoreboard, see the weakness, and fix it fast.

Here’s another truth, you can’t out-sell bad operations. You can’t out-market poor systems. Scaling chaos only gives you bigger chaos. Build the foundation first, then scale.

Stop Selling Your Time And Start Building Leverage

If you’re constantly selling your time, you’re not building a business. You’re just building a job and you can’t grow when every dollar depends on your hours.

Instead, build leverage. Systemize your processes. Create repeatable offers. Hire and train people who can perform without you being involved in every step. If your business falls apart when you take a week off, you don’t own it. It owns you.

You also need to protect your margins. A lot of people chase growth and end up with more work and the same profit. They double revenue and triple stress. That’s not growth, that’s burnout.

Business growth is about optimization. It’s about building smarter systems, not just bigger ones. You can make more money by tightening operations than by chasing new sales.

You should always be asking: how can I scale this without selling my time, how can I multiply my results without multiplying my hours.

That’s how you build a business that actually gives you freedom.

Build Generational Habits, Not Handouts

Let’s talk about wealth for a second. There’s a difference between being rich and being wealthy. I learned this the hard way. I made money, lost money, and made it again. That’s how I discovered what true wealth really is.

Wealth isn’t about how much money you have. It’s about who you become in the process. It’s about creating habits that last generations. It’s about teaching your kids the mindset that produces wealth and not just giving them money they didn’t earn.

If you give someone money without giving them the discipline to manage it, you’re setting them up to fail. But if you teach them the habits of hard work, financial literacy, and accountability, you’re building a legacy.

That’s why I focus on generational habits, not handouts. Because I don’t just want to make money. I want to make sure my family knows how to keep it, grow it, and multiply it. That’s how you build something that outlives you.

Stay Hungry And Surround Yourself With Lions

The number one reason most people stop growing is because they get comfortable. They stop being hungry.

I’ve met too many people who had momentum and lost it because they surrounded themselves with the wrong crowd. They started listening to people who told them to relax, slow down, or “enjoy what they have.”

That’s fine for most people, but not for entrepreneurs who want to build something great. You have to protect your hunger. You have to keep putting yourself in rooms that challenge you. You have to keep finding new goals that wake you up in the morning.

When I want to reset my hunger, I visit places that stretch my mind. I walk around neighborhoods with $50 million houses and remind myself there’s more to chase. I look at what’s possible, and I let it push me to go harder. That’s how I stay sharp.

If you want to grow, surround yourself with lions. Choose people who are hungry, competitive, and driven. Your environment determines your energy. Your circle determines your ceiling.

Find The Buckets Of Cash You’re Overlooking

Here’s a strategy that works in every business: find the money you’re missing.

Most companies have cash hiding in plain sight. It’s buried in inefficiency, in bad follow-up, or in poor processes. Sometimes it’s in people who are loyal but underperforming. Sometimes it’s in marketing that’s not tracked. Sometimes it’s in wasteful spending that no one checks.

Do a full audit. Look at every part of your operation on sales, marketing, fulfillment, admin, and labor. Wherever your leaders aren’t absolute about the data, there’s usually money hiding there.

You don’t need new sales to grow. You need better systems and accountability. Every improvement you make adds to your bottom line. That’s the real definition of business growth.

The Truth About Scaling

Scaling doesn’t mean doubling your stress or your staff. It means building smarter, not just bigger.

You can scale with lean systems. You can scale with clarity. You can scale when every team member knows their role, owns their numbers, and moves with intention. When you do that, profit grows naturally.

And the best part is you don’t have to give away equity or take on bad debt to do it. When your stock is up and when your brand, systems, and team are strong, that’s the right time to scale.

Scaling is not about luck. It’s about discipline, data, and leadership.

Let’s Build Your Empire Together

If you’re still reading this, I know you’re serious about building something real. You don’t just want to make money. You want to grow a business that lasts. You want strategies for business that work in the real world, not just on paper.

This is what I do every day. I coach entrepreneurs who want to scale the right way, with strong systems, leadership, and profit. You bring the hunger, and I’ll bring the blueprint.

So here’s what you can do next:

You can call me at 571-576-6194 or book a one-on-one appointment with my team. We’ll break down your goals, your numbers, and your next steps. Together, we’ll build the foundation that takes your business to the next level.

You’re closer than you think. You just need the right strategy, the right mindset, and the right coach. Let’s make it happen.