Why Working Harder is Killing Your Business
By Gabe Salinas, Founder of Window Ninjas
Are you running your business, or is your business running you into the ground?
I mean really think about that. Are you waking up energized, or are you waking up to a firehose of problems, already exhausted before your feet even hit the floor?
I’ve been there. I was working my fingers, my mind, and my life to the bone. I was the chief firefighter, the main salesperson, the head of HR, and the janitor, all wrapped into one stressed-out package. I was working so hard, head down, grinding every single day, that I could not see the forest for the trees. I was physically in my business, but I was completely lost.
That’s why the book I’m diving into this week, The Science of Scaling by Dr. Benjamin Hardy and Blake Erickson, is such a game-changer. And man, was it a good one. It’s not some “woo-woo” motivation book. It’s a tactical manual for getting your life back. And it all starts with one core, terrifying truth that will slap you right in the face: 10X is easier than 2X.
The 2X Trap That Almost Broke Me
Why is “realistic” growth the most dangerous trap an entrepreneur can fall into?
Read that again. The “realistic” 2X goal is more dangerous than the “insane” 10X goal. Why? Because it’s a lie. Trying to grow 2X just means doing more of what you’re already doing, only harder. It’s working 60 hours a week instead of 50. It’s pushing your team harder, not smarter. It’s grinding your gears down to dust. It’s the fast-track to burnout, and I know because I lived it.
For years, we were chasing low-lying fruit. We’d set these “achievable” goals, like adding 10% more revenue or one new truck, and we would fight and scratch and claw all year… and barely hit those numbers. It was exhausting. It felt like we were running in mud.
Then, with the right help from mentors and coaches who were playing a bigger game, we made a decision. We decided to stop thinking in terms of 2X and start thinking in terms of 10X. We decided to 10X our goals and push towards them faster and in a shorter time.
Let me tell you, when we set a goal like scaling to 14 locations in less than 7 years, it seemed impossible at that time. People look at you like you have three heads. But something magic happens when you set a goal that big. It forces you to stop thinking like a small-time operation. It makes all your current excuses and methods totally useless. You can’t just “work harder” to get to 10X. You have to invent a new way. You have to abandon the old playbook and build a new one.
It’s a mindset. You have to be willing to push hard and ignore the groans from those who say, “slow down, don’t rush… you got time.” The 10X goal makes you realize you don’t have time to waste on the small stuff.
The 4 Levers: How to Actually Do It
So, how do you actually achieve 10X without imploding? This isn’t about just “wishing” for it. This is where the “science” part comes in. The book lays out 4 Levers of Scaling: Time, Money, Technology, and Team.
You can pull on all of them, but for me, it all comes back to one. It always comes back to Time.
We all have limited time, whether we want to admit it or not. You, me, the richest person in the world… we all get the same 24 hours. This book teaches you that the key to 10X is not managing your time, but multiplying it. You multiply your time by using the other levers. You use Money to buy systems. You use Technology to automate. You use your Team to delegate.
Maximizing your time and condensing your goals into shorter periods, like trying to hit a 3-year goal in 12 months, creates an intense, beautiful focus. It’s like a kid cramming for tomorrow’s exam. All the fluff, all the “someday” projects, all the distractions… they just disappear. You get clarity. As for me, my goals are crystal clear: revenue, number of locations, and time freedom. And you can’t get that time freedom without the next lever.
How I Fixed the “Holes in My Bucket”
You can’t make more time, right? Wrong. You “buy” it. You buy it with the other levers, especially the Team lever.
I learned this the hard way, and it was an expensive lesson. Building a solid leadership team is the single most important thing that saved me the most time and helped us focus on our top 3 goals. Putting the right people in the right seat is key, and giving them clear direction is a must.
For a while, I had it all wrong. I was hiring bodies, not building a team. And not having the right leaders to lead the troops cost me big. I’m talking about the loss of key players, which doesn’t just hurt the bottom line; it hurts the culture. I’m talking loss of revenue because we were dropping the ball. And I’m talking about the one that hurts the most: loss of personal time freedom.
My “bucket” was full of holes, and I was trying to run around patching all of them myself. I was the hero, but I was also the bottleneck.
By finally using the Team and Time levers together, by investing in and trusting high-level leaders, it finally allowed me the ability to stop bailing water. I could stop being the firefighter and start being the architect. I could finally focus on fixing the holes. Once that was done, I was back on track. Our team has grown, we have better and more skilled employees, we have quality leadership, and the most important one… I got my time freedom back. And that doesn’t just mean I can take a vacation. It means I have the headspace to think 5 years out, to dream up the next 10X goal.
The One Thing You Must Do Today
How do you know if your team is winning if they can’t see the score?
My biggest takeaway from this book is the validation of something we live by at Window Ninjas: build your scorecard. If you are flying a plane, you want to see the instruments, right? So why are you trying to fly your business blind?
A scorecard will tell you all that you need to know about today, yesterday, and where you or your company is heading. It alleviates the guesswork. It’s not about micromanaging; it’s about clarity. We use scorecards for employees, for franchisees, and even for customers! We know our numbers, and we look at them. Every single week.
The answers to your past decisions are staring at you in the face. It’s like any jumbo tron at a sports arena when you’re watching your favorite team dominate the opponent. You know the score, you know how much time is left, and you know what you need to do to win. Stop guessing and start tracking.
My Verdict: 4.5 Golden Squeegees
This book was great. It’s a solid read. In all honesty, it’s an easy read, and it provides actionable items that any business leader could implement and utilize immediately. I re-read multiple chapters and have found myself over the past week picking the book up and finding answers to problems that popped up. It’s not a “read it once” book; it’s a “keep it on your desk” book.
I give the book 4.5 squeegees. I would suggest any business owner or member of a leadership team to pick it up and dive into the world of scaling head first! Stop grinding and start building.
Keep Shining.
– Gabe Salinas
