Businesses always scale fast in its early stages, but as they mature, most founders hit a growth plateau. The uncomfortable reality these business owners face? When a business is hovering around 20 employees, they are the reason it's stuck.

You think you're driving growth, but in reality, you’re the bottleneck. This is the Rule of 20—the invisible ceiling that keeps small agencies and service businesses from reaching their potential.

In this episode of the Strategy Ladders podcast, our full team of advisors meet up to tear apart the common hiring mistakes that keep founders stuck. You’ll learn the difference between growth hires vs. clone hires and how the habit of hiring people who "do what you do," sets your business up for guaranteed stagnation. Real scale comes from hiring beyond yourself - with teams that outperform and kick you out of operations — not replicating yourself.

The boys also tackle the biggest mindset shift you must make without excuse: transitioning from a hands-on operator to a real CEO. You can’t keep plugging gaps with quick fixes. Your team, your offer, and your leadership style all need to evolve.

Inside This Episode:

✅ What the Rule of 20 is and why it happens to so many businesses

✅ Growth Hires vs. Clone Hires—which one actually scales your company?

✅ The Founder Bottleneck—how YOU are holding your business back

If your agency or service business is stalling, this episode might be the wake-up call you finally needed.

👉 Subscribe & drop a comment below: Are you stuck at 20? What’s holding you back? Let’s talk.