Success Advice
To Take Your Startup From $0 to $1 Million, You Have to Get This Right
your business needs to work at the smallest unit level possible before you even think about scaling

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, small businesses make up 99.9 percent of the businesses in America. That’s impressive. What isn’t impressive, though, is that only 7 percent of them reach $1 million in revenue.
As disheartening as that statistic might be, there’s really only one reason why 93 percent of small businesses never reach the million-dollar mark. In almost every instance, the reason a small business struggles is that the entrepreneur or small business owner fails to get their unit-level economics right. (This term refers to your specific business’s revenues and costs as they relate to an individual unit.)
What does that mean for you as an entrepreneur and would-be empire builder? If you want to build a billion-dollar business—and ultimately, an empire—first you have to build the perfect million-dollar business. No, scratch that: first you have to build the perfect hundred-thousand-dollar business. In other words, your business needs to work at the smallest unit level possible before you even think about scaling.
Get It Right Small
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard entrepreneurs say, “I’ll figure out how to be profitable once I’m bigger.” That’s the mindset that gets small business owners into trouble. Get it right small—or walk away early, before you waste valuable time, money, and effort on a losing proposition.
If you aren’t sure how to do that, don’t worry. We’re going to walk through how to check your unit-level economics right now. For the purposes of example, we’ll use a landscape maintenance company, but the concept holds true for every kind of business in every kind of industry and every geographic market.
The first step to getting your unit-level economics right is to identify what they are. In our mythical landscape maintenance business, the unit-level economics—based on some lightly researched numbers—are the monthly payment, fuel costs, insurance costs, and maintenance reserves for one truck ($1,400), one fully burdened (includes wages and benefits) two-person crew ($8,736), and the operating costs of the equipment necessary to maintain your customers’ lawns: a commercial lawn mower, a blower, a weed whacker, some rakes, shovels, and so on ($400).
Build Your Mathematical Formula for Success
Now that we’ve identified those, we can build a mathematical formula for success. This formula is specifically focused on revenue and direct operating costs; it does not include capital expenditures or Sales and General Administration (SG&A) costs—you’ll factor those in later.
Add these numbers up, and you get your unit-level direct operating expenses: $10,536/month, or $126,432/year. Now, you need to ask yourself a question: Can I bring in enough revenue to cover my direct operating expenses while leaving enough gross profit to cover overhead and generate the minimum acceptable net profit?
Again, let’s use some lightly researched numbers to explore how you can find the answer to that question. For illustrative purposes and simplicity, this example assumes a warm climate where lawns are cut throughout the year. A typical crew can cut 15 lawns per day, at $50 per cut. Assuming an average of about 22 cutting days per month, the average monthly revenue per crew is approximately $16,500, and the average annual revenue per crew is approximately $198,000.
Subtract the annual unit-level direct operating cost ($126,432) from the annual average gross revenue ($198,000) to get the annual gross operating profit per crew. The answer: $71,568, or 36 percent. Now, deduct the SG&A (which includes your costs to manage the business, get customers, pay yourself, and so on). It should never be more than 20 percent, so let’s assume 20 percent, which will leave you with 16 percent in pretax net profit. The minimum pretax net profit percentage a business must achieve to be viable is 10 percent, so in this example, the unit-level economics seem to work.
“To build a successful business, you must start small and dream big.” — Aliko Dangote
Factor in the Variables
Of course, there are a lot of variable costs built into this formula. The cost of gasoline, insurance, and labor costs can go up, for example. So can the cost to service and operate your equipment. The revenue you can get per lawn can fluctuate, too, as can the number of lawns your crew can cut each day. You also need to account for bad weather days or times when a worker calls in sick.
All of these scenarios mean you need to be very diligent about monitoring your variable costs to ensure your unit-level economics remain sound. But ultimately, by getting the variables right and tracking the basic economics of your business at the very smallest level—in this case, the economics of running a business with one crew—you create the foundation from which you can build an empire.
Once you’ve perfected your operating formula, you can determine exactly how to scale to $1 million. Let me show you how to do this using the same numbers we came up with initially. Take your revenue goal ($1 million), and divide it by your annual revenue per crew ($198,000). That calculation returns an answer of 5.05, but since you can’t buy 0.5 of a truck or hire 0.5 of a crew, let’s round up to 6. So, you need 6 trucks and 12 employees to hit your revenue target.
Six trucks and 12 employees will bring in about $1,188,000 in revenue; $427,680 in gross profit; and $190,080 in pretax net profit. To hit your revenue targets, you will need 450 regular weekly customers.
Take Your Business to $1 Million
Again, these numbers are just to illustrate the fundamental concept. The bottom line is that success is tied to your unit-level economics.
Get your formula right at the smallest level, and you will be well on your way to ensuring your small business is one of the 7 percent that reach the million-dollar milestone. Get it wrong, though—or fail to consider it at all because you assume profitability is tied to how big your business is—and chances are high that your business will fail to reach the million-dollar mark…and may even fail altogether.
For more advice on how to take your business from $0 to $1 million and beyond, you can find Empire Builder on Amazon.
Success Advice
Why One-Size-Fits-All Leadership Will Always Fail (and What Works Instead)
The surprising truth about leadership styles that can make or break your team’s success.

Leadership has always been as much about people as it is about performance. Ken Blanchard, in his influential book, “The One Minute Manager”, put it simply: different strokes for different folks. (more…)
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Your first 100 days as CEO could define your entire legacy, here’s how to make every move count

When Tim Cook took over from Steve Jobs at Apple, the world watched with bated breath. Jobs wasn’t just a CEO; he was a visionary, an icon, and a legend of innovative leadership. (more…)
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The Leadership Shift Every Company Needs in 2025
Struggling to keep your team engaged? Here’s how leaders can turn frustrated employees into loyal advocates.

In workplaces around the world, there’s a growing gap between employers and employees and between superiors and their teams. It’s a common refrain: “People don’t leave companies, they leave bad bosses.”
While there are, of course, cases where management could do better, this isn’t just a “bad boss” problem. The relationship between leaders and employees is complex. Instead of assigning blame, we should explore practical solutions to build stronger, healthier workplaces where everyone thrives.
Why This Gap Exists
Every workplace needs someone to guide, supervise, and provide feedback. That’s essential for productivity and performance. But because there are usually far more employees than managers, dissatisfaction, fair or not, spreads quickly.
What if, instead of focusing on blame, we focused on building trust, empathy, and communication? This is where modern leadership and human-centered management can make a difference.
Tools and Techniques to Bridge the Gap
Here are proven strategies leaders and employees can use to foster stronger relationships and create a workplace where people actually want to stay.
1. Practice Mutual Empathy
Both managers and employees need to recognize they are ultimately on the same team. Leaders have to balance people and performance, and often face intense pressure to hit targets. Employees who understand this reality are more likely to cooperate and problem-solve collaboratively.
2. Maintain Professional Boundaries
Superiors should separate personal issues from professional decision-making. Consistency, fairness, and integrity build trust, and trust is the foundation of a motivated team.
3. Follow the Golden Rule
Treat people how you would like to be treated. This simple principle encourages compassion and respect, two qualities every effective leader must demonstrate.
4. Avoid Micromanagement
Micromanaging stifles creativity and damages morale. Great leaders see themselves as partners, not just bosses, and treat their teams as collaborators working toward a shared goal.
5. Empower Employees to Grow
Empowerment means giving employees responsibility that matches their capacity, and then trusting them to deliver. Encourage them to take calculated risks, learn from mistakes, and problem-solve independently. If something goes wrong, turn it into a learning opportunity, not a reprimand.
6. Communicate in All Directions
Communication shouldn’t just be top-down. Invite feedback, create open channels for suggestions, and genuinely listen to what your people have to say. Healthy upward communication closes gaps before they become conflicts.
7. Overcome Insecurities
Many leaders secretly fear being outshone by younger, more tech-savvy employees. Instead of resisting, embrace the chance to learn from them. Humility earns respect and helps the team innovate faster.
8. Invest in Coaching and Mentorship
True leaders grow other leaders. Provide mentorship, career guidance, and stretch opportunities so employees can develop new skills. Leadership is learned through experience, but guided experience is even more powerful.
9. Eliminate Favoritism
Avoid cliques and office politics. Decisions should be based on facts and fairness, not gossip. Objective, transparent decision-making builds credibility.
10. Recognize Efforts Promptly
Recognition often matters more than rewards. Publicly appreciate employees’ contributions and do so consistently and fairly. A timely “thank you” can be more motivating than a quarterly bonus.
11. Conduct Thoughtful Exit Interviews
When employees leave, treat it as an opportunity to learn. Keep interviews confidential and use the insights to improve management practices and culture.
12. Provide Leadership Development
Train managers to lead, not just supervise. Leadership development programs help shift mindsets from “command and control” to “coach and empower.” This transformation has a direct impact on morale and retention.
13. Adopt Soft Leadership Principles
Today’s workforce, largely millennials and Gen Z, value collaboration over hierarchy. Soft leadership focuses on partnership, mutual respect, and shared purpose, rather than rigid top-down control.
The Bigger Picture: HR’s Role
Mercer’s global research highlights five key priorities for organizations:
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Build diverse talent pipelines
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Embrace flexible work models
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Design compelling career paths
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Simplify HR processes
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Redefine the value HR brings
The challenge? Employers and employees often view these priorities differently. Bridging that perception gap is just as important as bridging the relational gap between leaders and staff.
Treat Employees Like Associates, Not Just Staff
When you treat employees like partners, they bring their best selves to work. HR leaders must develop strategies to keep talent engaged, empowered, and prepared for the future.
Organizational success starts with people, always. Build the relationship with your team first, and the results will follow.
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