Not Understanding This Is Why Entrepreneurs Fail

Words I like: There’s really only one belief you need to succeed: belief in your ability to figure it out. That’s it. Start - you’ll figure out the rest.

Business Minute: Your Business Has A Shape

I had the awesome opportunity to have this conversation with Rampage Jackson about why most entrepreneurs fail so I'd figure I'd share it. (Hormozi also touched on this so it's been on my mind)

Most entrepreneurs stress about growth in income/revenue without understanding their business has a natural shape.

Each business model grows differently. Fighting that shape causes unnecessary pain. I've attached a doodle at the bottom for better visualization.

Here's what I mean:

E-COMMERCE: The Staircase

Fast growth as you add distribution, then plateau when you hit supply chain and logistics (shipping+handling) issues.

You need some cash upfront, but you can sell immediately once you have distribution: ads, affiliates, content, retail.

The shape:

Step up, step up, step up, flat. Then you solve logistics and step up again.

SERVICE: The Steady Line

Fast to start, slow to grow. You have to keep hiring people. This is the "slow and steady wins the race" business.

You just keep expanding and typically go up market to bigger accounts as you get better and your reputation improves.

The shape:

Straight diagonal line. Boring. Predictable. Profitable.

INFO: The Fast Curve

Fastest to start and scale, but fastest to plateau.

Hard to scale info because you're selling something that’s hard to defend (info) and hard to scale (access).

At some point, access becomes less valuable.

You either need to be insanely good where small access is still worth it (Tony Robbins)

You start selling coaches' time who aren't nearly as good.

Most grow fast, super profitably, then cap hard.

The shape:

Hockey stick up, then flat ceiling you can't break through.

Tip: you break through with mega brand + mega proof + getting true talent on your team.

Think of it like a rocketship that turns into a service business later but more profitably, faster.

SOFTWARE: Dud, Then Explode

Most expensive to start. Takes forever. Even with AI tools, it's still slow compared to the other three.

But once you get product-market fit + revenue retention, you scale to the moon.

The problem?

That first step of revenue retention is EXTREMELY hard.

The shape:

Flat forever, then sudden vertical explosion if you survive long enough.

Why This Matters:

Your business has a shape.

Fighting it may be causing you to lose sleep when it shouldn't.

These are features, not bugs.

Every model has upsides and downsides.

Example mistakes:

Ecommerce founder expecting linear growth (you won't get it)
Service founder expecting hockey stick growth (you won't get it)
Info founder confused why they plateau at $3M - $10M (that's the model unless you massively shift how you see the business)
Software founder panicking because year one was slow (that's normal). Or alternatively, knowing how to advertise but people are churning out. Theres no point in scaling it until you can get them to stick - which takes time! (Ex: Skool was four years old before it scaled and exploded).

The Real Question:

Does your business model match your goals?

• If you want fast cash now, don't start a software company.

• If you want to build a 8+ figure asset, don't do info.

• If you hate managing people, don't do services.

• If you want cash flow, don't do ecommerce.

Pick the shape that fits where you want to go. Then stop fighting it. Work with it.

Should I do an entire module on this and breaking every model down? Lmk if it'll you business peeps in here.

Make a module on this

No module needed

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