How Madden Elevator Came Back From Losing $1 Million in Profits

Let’s talk about a lesson that is much easier to learn and evaluate sooner rather than later.

Growth without a plan can break your business faster than sales ever could.

There. I said it. I was the booming business owner with more jobs, bigger contracts, taking on more mechanics, saying yes to everything, and hitting financial goals faster than I initially planned for. Our pipeline was full and from the outside it looked like we were thriving.

But on the inside, we were bleeding money. And by the time I was beginning to realize what was happening, we had lost nearly $1 million in profits.

I was beside myself. Growth was my original goal but not in the way it was happening. Madden Elevator was taking off from all sides without a structured framework in place to support that launch and I was now paying for it.

When Growth Becomes a Liability Instead of an Asset

The biggest mistake we made was by thinking more business for Madden Elevator meant more profit. But here’s what happened:

• We didn’t have the cash flow to support our rapid expansion. Our expenses were piling up and actually growing faster than our revenue. At the time, we didn’t have a solid cash flow forecast so we were constantly playing catch-up.
  
  
• We hired reactively instead of strategically. I didn’t build a structured hiring plan. We just brought people in when we needed them, which led to putting employees in the wrong seat and higher labor costs that severely lacked profit.
  
  
• We weren’t tracking profitability at the job level. We assumed that because work was coming in, we were making money. In reality, we were pricing projects incorrectly and losing thousands on jobs we thought were profitable enough.
  
  
• We were overextended and overwhelmed. The business was running me instead of the other way around. I was constantly putting out fires, trying to keep up, and hoping things would stabilize on their own.
  

This was when I learned, hope is not a business strategy.

The Turning Point: How We Rebuilt the Business

I knew we had to stop reacting to our cash flow and start systemizing our processes. If we kept going the way we were, we would eventually hit a breaking point (maybe even bankruptcy).

So we went all in on structure.

Here’s what changed:

• We implemented cash flow forecasting. Instead of waiting until we ran into financial trouble, we built a 13-week cash projection system so we could see problems before they happened.
  
  
• We tracked profit at the job level. We stopped assuming. Every project had clear financial benchmarks so we knew exactly where our margins stood.
  
  
• We built a hiring system based on KPIs. We stopped hiring just to fill the gaps and instead made data-driven decisions about when and where to expand the team (and if we could afford each investment long-term).
  
  
• We created operational processes that didn’t rely on me. Instead of running everything on gut instinct, we built repeatable systems so the business could function without me being in the weeds 24/7.
  
  

The result? Madden Elevator scaled sustainably and profitably. Of course this took a lot of time, research, and quite possibly blood, sweat and tears. But we did it and I became a better leader and visionary because of it.

The financial aspect of my business no longer gave me a headache once I knew what I was looking at. Who knew that going through the river of misery would be worth the person you can become on the other side?

Why This Matters for Your Business

The mistake we made at Madden Elevator isn’t unique. Many business owners think growth is the goal, but growth without a plan can be the one thing that breaks your business.

I’ve seen it happen with many clients I’ve worked with.

More revenue won’t fix a broken structure. More employees won’t make up for a lack of systems. If you don’t have a plan for how to scale efficiently, you’re setting yourself up for overwhelming chaos and financial disaster.

That’s why I built eGROW, because no elevator business owner should have to go through what I did.

If You’re Thinking About Growth, Do It the Right Way

eGROW gives you the exact business framework I wish I had when I scaled Madden Elevator.

• Cash Flow Forecasting – So you never take on more work than your business can afford and you always know where your financials stand.
• Job-Level Profitability Tracking – So you stop assuming every project is profitable and ensure your pricing and margins actually work.

• Scalable Business Systems – So you grow with structure, not stress, ensuring your operations, cash flow, and team expansion happen intentionally.

If you’re serious about scaling without the stress, now is the time to start planning.

Join the eGROW Waitlist Here

Growth doesn’t have to come at the cost of profit, time, and peace of mind (like it did for me).

Let’s make sure your next phase of business is built to last. Doors open Monday, March 31st.