What does it actually take to go from being an owner doing everything yourself to building a scalable business with multiple locations, employees, systems, and a leadership team?

Jeff Gabelsberg, founder of Jolly Goat Garage Doors, knows because he's lived it.

Jeff returns to Small Business Pivots to share what has happened since his previous appearances—including growing Jolly Goat Garage Doors to six locations across Oklahoma, building a team of more than 20 people, adding a commercial division, and entering a strategic partnership designed to fuel continued expansion.

But Jeff didn't start there.

For years, he was essentially a one-man operation—answering calls, selling jobs, installing garage doors, handling warranties, and struggling to create consistent income. At one point, he drove to a big-box store prepared to give up entrepreneurship and take a job.

He never walked through the door.

Instead, Jeff began asking successful business owners for help and implementing what he learned one system at a time.

In this episode, Michael D. Morrison and Jeff break down the practical changes that helped transform the business: documenting processes, creating a hiring roadmap, delegating work, investing in professional branding, building a training program, implementing performance-based pay, tracking KPIs, and developing people who could help the company grow beyond its founder.

If you're a contractor, home-service business owner, or entrepreneur who feels trapped working in the business, this episode offers a practical look at what it takes to build a company that can grow beyond you.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

• How to start building systems when you're doing everything yourself
• Why documenting one process can change your business
• How Jeff created a roadmap for hiring and delegation
• When hiring your first employee can actually create more capacity
• Why professional branding became a major growth investment
• Performance-based pay and KPIs for service businesses
• How training systems improve consistency and scalability
• Why strategic partnerships aren't the same as private equity
• How to stop overwhelming yourself with everything that needs fixing
• Why implementing one thing can start a snowball of business growth

Support the show

1. Want professional business coaching with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com

2. Want to set up a FREE business consultation with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com/consultation

Connect and follow the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison to learn how to grow a successful business :

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelDMorrisonOKC

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

Email the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison: Michael@MichaelDMorrison.com

Why do so many businesses reach a point where growth slows down—even when the owner is working harder than ever?

According to business consultant and entrepreneur Josh Post, the problem usually isn't effort. It's clarity.

In this episode of Small Business Pivots, Michael D. Morrison sits down with Josh to discuss why businesses become stuck, how leaders create meaningful change, and the four-step framework he uses to help organizations break through barriers and reach their full potential.

Drawing from decades of experience leading a family construction business and helping companies transform their culture, Josh shares practical strategies for improving financial clarity, strengthening leadership, building healthy company culture, hiring passionate employees, developing management teams, and creating businesses that continue growing instead of plateauing.

If your business feels stuck, your leadership team isn't aligned, or growth has become harder than it should be, this episode provides practical insights you can apply immediately.

In this episode:

• Why businesses get stuck after reaching early success

• The four-step framework for organizational change

• Financial clarity every business owner needs

• Building a healthy company culture

• Leadership habits that create lasting growth

• Hiring people for passion instead of skills

• Better onboarding and employee retention

• Delegation and getting your time back

• Family business lessons

• The difference between coaching, consulting, and fractional COO support

Support the show

1. Want professional business coaching with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com

2. Want to set up a FREE business consultation with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com/consultation

Connect and follow the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison to learn how to grow a successful business :

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelDMorrisonOKC

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

Email the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison: Michael@MichaelDMorrison.com

What separates businesses that stay small from businesses that continue to grow?

For Brittany Bradley, owner of The Brow Slayer Studio in Oklahoma City, it wasn't working harder—it was building better systems.

In this episode of Small Business Pivots, Michael D. Morrison sits down with Brittany to discuss how she transformed a growing service business by creating documented systems, improving leadership, understanding her numbers, developing a consistent client experience, and building a company that doesn't rely on her for everything.

Brittany shares how she opened her business with only $6,000, learned from costly mistakes, used social media to build a loyal client base, created custom playbooks instead of relying on generic templates, and nearly doubled her monthly revenue through intentional leadership and continuous improvement.

Whether you own a salon, a service business, or any small business, this conversation offers practical strategies for creating scalable systems, hiring better employees, improving profitability, and building a business that can continue growing without burning you out.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why systems are the foundation of business growth

• The biggest mistakes new business owners make

• How to create a consistent customer experience

• Why custom playbooks outperform generic templates

• How to improve hiring and leadership

• Understanding pricing and profitability

• Working ON your business instead of IN it

• Using social media to attract loyal customers

• Why coaching and accountability accelerate growth

Support the show

1. Want professional business coaching with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com

2. Want to set up a FREE business consultation with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com/consultation

Connect and follow the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison to learn how to grow a successful business :

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelDMorrisonOKC

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

Email the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison: Michael@MichaelDMorrison.com

Growing your business sounds exciting—until it's time to hire.

For many small business owners, payroll becomes the biggest obstacle to growth. Do you hire now and risk cash flow, or wait too long and become the bottleneck in your own business?

In this episode of Small Business Pivots, host Michael D. Morrison sits down with entrepreneur Eric Tabone to discuss how growing businesses can build stronger teams, make smarter hiring decisions, and scale without letting payroll become the reason growth stalls.

Drawing from his experience building multiple companies across the United States and Latin America, Eric shares practical lessons about hiring, leadership, AI, role design, compensation, company culture, and why successful business owners hire to solve problems—not simply to fill positions.

You'll discover why defining the purpose of every role matters, how to avoid costly hiring mistakes, when it's time to add employees, how AI should support—not replace—your team, and why leaders should build around their weaknesses instead of trying to do everything themselves.

Whether you're preparing to hire your first employee or trying to build a team that can help your business scale, this episode offers practical advice every business owner can apply immediately.

In This Episode

✔ Why payroll is often the biggest obstacle to business growth

✔ How to know when it's time to hire

✔ The biggest hiring mistakes business owners make

✔ Why every position should be built around solving a specific problem

✔ How AI improves teams without replacing people

✔ Why leadership is earned—not assigned

✔ Lessons learned from building three companies

✔ How remote and nearshore employees can reduce payroll costs while expanding your team

Support the show

1. Want professional business coaching with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com

2. Want to set up a FREE business consultation with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com/consultation

Connect and follow the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison to learn how to grow a successful business :

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelDMorrisonOKC

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

Email the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison: Michael@MichaelDMorrison.com

In this episode of Small Business Pivots, Michael D. Morrison sits down with leadership coach and manufacturing executive Greg Harrod to discuss one of the biggest challenges facing business owners today: building leaders instead of creating dependence.

After more than 30 years in manufacturing leadership, Greg now helps business owners and executives develop stronger teams, improve communication, increase accountability, and create businesses where success no longer depends entirely on the owner.

Greg explains why leadership always begins with self-awareness before it extends to the team. He shares practical insights on recognizing early signs of employee disengagement, improving communication, delegating effectively, and creating clarity around expectations so employees can thrive.

The conversation also explores Working Genius, humility in leadership, trust, accountability, employee retention, role clarity, and why leaders should spend more time developing people instead of constantly solving problems themselves.

Whether you lead a manufacturing company, construction business, service company, family business, or growing small business, this episode offers practical leadership principles that apply across every industry.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why leadership starts with self-awareness

• The six areas Greg evaluates when diagnosing leadership problems

• Early warning signs before employees quit

• Why communication is one of the biggest leadership challenges

• How to stop becoming the bottleneck

• Building trust through humility and vulnerability

• Why role clarity improves accountability

• The Six Types of Working Genius framework

• How to delegate without creating fear

• Practical ways to improve employee engagement and retention

About Greg Harrod

Greg Harrod is a leadership coach with more than three decades of manufacturing leadership experience. He helps business owners build healthier teams through leadership development, communication, accountability, and his Leadership Clarity Scorecard.

About Small Business Pivots

Hosted by Michael D. Morrison, Small Business Pivots features entrepreneurs, business owners, authors, and industry experts sharing practical strategies that help business owners get unstuck and grow.

🏆 Ranked among the Top 10% of podcasts globally by Listen Notes.

Support the show

1. Want professional business coaching with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com

2. Want to set up a FREE business consultation with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com/consultation

Connect and follow the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison to learn how to grow a successful business :

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelDMorrisonOKC

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

Email the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison: Michael@MichaelDMorrison.com

Kevin Dias, founder of Ambiki and author of The Problem First Method, joins Small Business Pivots to explain why many businesses waste time, money, and energy solving the wrong problem.

Kevin built Ambiki as a software platform for speech-language pathology private practices, helping teams with scheduling, billing, clinical documentation, and practice management. Through that journey, he discovered one of the biggest mistakes companies make: jumping straight to solutions before deeply understanding the actual customer problem.

In this episode, Michael D. Morrison and Kevin discuss how business owners can slow down, ask better questions, define their ideal customer profile, and build solutions that actually solve meaningful problems. Kevin shares how Ambiki narrowed its focus from trying to serve every type of customer to focusing on pediatric speech therapy private practices with stronger growth potential.

They also explore Kevin’s Problem First Method, including feature alignment documents, the “problem atlas,” customer feedback, niche focus, business pivots, and why competitor pressure can lead companies in the wrong direction.

If you are a business owner, startup founder, SaaS founder, consultant, or entrepreneur trying to grow your business, improve your offer, better understand your customer, or stop wasting time on the wrong priorities, this episode will help you think more clearly.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why businesses jump to solutions too quickly
• How to identify the real customer problem
• Why customer requests are not always the real problem
• How to define your ideal customer profile
• Why niching down can accelerate growth
• How Ambiki grew by focusing on speech-language pathology practices
• What a feature alignment document is
• How to use a problem atlas for strategic planning
• Why AI should solve a real problem, not just be added as a trend
• How better questions lead to better business decisions

About Kevin Dias:

Kevin Dias is the founder of Ambiki, a software company serving speech-language pathology private practices across the United States. He is also the author of The Problem First Method, a book about helping businesses understand customer problems before jumping to solutions.

About Small Business Pivots:

Hosted by Michael D. Morrison, Small Business Pivots features entrepreneurs, authors, business owners, and thought leaders sharing real-world strategies to help business owners get unstuck and grow.

Ranked among the Top 10% of podcasts globally by Listen Notes.

Support the show

1. Want professional business coaching with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com

2. Want to set up a FREE business consultation with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com/consultation

Connect and follow the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison to learn how to grow a successful business :

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelDMorrisonOKC

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

Email the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison: Michael@MichaelDMorrison.com

Most entrepreneurs start their business doing everything themselves.

Sales.

Customer service.

Accounting.

Marketing.

Operations.

But eventually that becomes the very thing holding the business back.

In this episode of Small Business Pivots, Michael D. Morrison sits down with entrepreneur, software founder, and CEO Dean Mathews, creator of OnTheClock, to discuss the leadership shifts required to grow beyond yourself and build a business that can thrive without depending on the owner every day.

Dean shares lessons learned from building a software company serving over 16,000 businesses while growing a team of nearly 30 employees. He explains why hiring too late is one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make, how to build a positive company culture, why leaders must stop micromanaging, and how empowering employees creates stronger businesses.

They also discuss leadership development, delegation, company culture, payroll, employee management, hiring strategies, autonomy, business systems, and why humility may be one of the greatest leadership traits an entrepreneur can develop.

In this episode you'll discover:

• Why doing everything yourself limits business growth

• When it's time to hire your first employee

• How to stop becoming the bottleneck

• The importance of clear roles and job descriptions

• Why autonomy creates stronger employees

• The "Hire Slow, Fire Fast" philosophy

• Building company culture intentionally

• Leadership lessons from growing a software company

• How payroll, scheduling, and HR systems improve operations

• Why humility makes stronger leaders

If you're a business owner trying to scale your company, develop better leaders, build stronger systems, or simply get your life back, this episode is packed with practical advice you can implement immediately.

About Dean Mathews

Dean Mathews is the founder and CEO of OnTheClock, a workforce management platform helping thousands of businesses simplify employee time tracking, scheduling, payroll, and HR management. A lifelong entrepreneur and software developer, Dean is passionate about leadership, business systems, and helping small businesses build companies that scale.

About Small Business Pivots

Hosted by Michael D. Morrison, Small Business Pivots features entrepreneurs, business leaders, authors, and experts sharing the pivots, systems, and strategies that help business owners get unstuck and grow.

🏆 Ranked among the Top 10% of podcasts globally by Listen Notes.

Support the show

1. Want professional business coaching with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com

2. Want to set up a FREE business consultation with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com/consultation

Connect and follow the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison to learn how to grow a successful business :

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelDMorrisonOKC

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

Email the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison: Michael@MichaelDMorrison.com

In this episode of Small Business Pivots, Michael D. Morrison sits down with entrepreneur, investor, and wealth strategist Steve Lawson to discuss one of the biggest misconceptions about building wealth—and why owning a business and investing in real estate continue to outperform traditional investing for long-term financial independence.

Steve shares his journey from financial advisor to real estate investor, business owner, and founder of Unbroken Investing. Along the way, he explains why passive cash flow matters, how entrepreneurs can create true wealth instead of simply growing savings, and why leveraging other people's money, knowledge, and time accelerates financial freedom.

Whether you're just starting a business, looking to diversify your investments, or wondering how to escape trading time for money, this conversation provides practical strategies that every entrepreneur should understand.

In this episode you'll discover:

✔ Why businesses and real estate create wealth while traditional investing primarily grows existing wealth

✔ How passive cash flow leads to financial independence

✔ The Wealth Formula and how capital, knowledge, and time work together

✔ Why entrepreneurs should leverage other people's money (OPM), knowledge, and time

✔ How Amazon product businesses can create scalable income

✔ Why business ownership often produces faster cash flow than real estate

✔ The importance of defining your own version of financial freedom

✔ Budgeting strategies that actually work

✔ Why systems, delegation, and outsourcing accelerate growth

✔ How entrepreneurs can stop reinventing the wheel and build faster using proven models

If you're serious about building wealth, increasing cash flow, creating financial freedom, and growing a scalable business, this episode is packed with practical insights you can begin implementing immediately.

About Steve Lawson

Steve Lawson is an entrepreneur, investor, author, and founder of Unbroken Investing. After spending years as a financial advisor and real estate investor, Steve now helps entrepreneurs build wealth through business ownership, alternative investments, passive cash flow strategies, and diversified income streams.

About Small Business Pivots

Hosted by Michael D. Morrison, Small Business Pivots features entrepreneurs, authors, investors, and business leaders from around the world sharing the pivots, systems, and lessons that help business owners grow.

🏆 Ranked among the Top 10% of podcasts globally by Listen Notes.

Support the show

1. Want professional business coaching with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com

2. Want to set up a FREE business consultation with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com/consultation

Connect and follow the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison to learn how to grow a successful business :

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelDMorrisonOKC

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

Email the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison: Michael@MichaelDMorrison.com