The real organizational problem
One of the most common things we hear at Biz Hero is: “I know what the problem is. I just need help fixing it.” But once we dig in, the thing that feels most obvious isn't always where your time, money, or energy will make the biggest difference.
I recently joined Yvette Freeman, Founder and Publisher of The Envoy Guide, on Beyond the Page to talk about exactly that—and what growth actually looks like behind the polished websites, revenue numbers, and business advice.
In this podcast, we get into:
When hiring more people is the wrong growth move—including how one company found $83K+ in annual personnel savings.
Why grants aren't the only path to nonprofit revenue—and what happened when one of our clients looked beyond them.
The decidedly unglamorous side of entrepreneurship—losing my first business, Hurricane Helene, and what eventually became Biz Hero.
And yes, how a copywriting business idea eventually became Biz Hero, whose clients generated $12M+ in combined revenue during our first year. Pasted markdown
If you're trying to grow a business or nonprofit and wondering whether you're even solving the right problem—or you're just curious what the hell “strategic growth” actually means—this one's for you.
WATCH THE FULL CONVERSATION ↓
A real problem can still point you toward the wrong solution.
Take leads.
If you aren't making enough sales, it's perfectly reasonable to think you need more people coming through the door. But what if you're already generating hundreds of leads and simply aren't closing them?
Suddenly, spending more money on marketing probably isn't the first move. Maybe the sales team needs better training. Maybe your messaging isn't addressing the objections prospects keep raising. Maybe marketing and sales need to work together differently.
We've seen versions of this across all kinds of organizations.
One nonprofit came to us looking for grants. Grants made sense, and we helped build that infrastructure, but what they really needed was flexible operating revenue. By looking beyond the original ask, we identified a fee-for-service opportunity that ultimately generated $30,000 in earned revenue, 10X what they made in the last 12 month.
Another organization wanted to spend its budget on 10 social media posts for an educational campaign. Instead, we used that budget to build an entire campaign around a landing page, downloadable guide, blogs, and social content. Within 60 days, the landing page had become one of the top eight pages on its 50-page website.
Neither original idea was necessarily bad. It just wasn't the highest-impact place to put their resources.
That's what strategy is supposed to help you figure out.
Good strategy isn't about finding 50,000 more things you should be doing. It's about understanding what's happening well enough to decide what deserves your attention. And what doesn't.
Sometimes that means adding something. Sometimes it means stopping something. And sometimes it means realizing the thing screaming the loudest isn't actually the thing holding you back.
That's a big part of why we developed our Mission Critical Method™: to look across an organization before jumping straight from “this hurts” to “here's the solution.” In the interview, we dig into that approach, how it's shaped by my very weird path from psychology and mental health to entrepreneurship and strategy, and what we've learned during Biz Hero's first year. Pasted markdown
Because there isn't a universal playbook for growth. The better question is: what actually deserves your attention next?
Want to see what that looks like in practice?
We break down five real organizations, five different opportunities, and the lessons they taught us about navigating growth in our free case study, The 12 Million Dollar Question.
