Bill CanadyCEO & Founder, The 80/20 Institute · Be a Great CEO: Learn how to Fix it, Grow it, & Sell it.

New CEO Growth Trap: Is Your Business Ready?

1 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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In this video, Bill Canady warns new CEOs about the hidden dangers of pursuing growth when a company's underlying customer and product mix is broken. He explains that scaling a flawed mix simply amplifies the problems: a modest 20% volume increase can add 20% more broken mix, overtax the team, flatten EBITDA, and cause good customers—who have alternatives—to leave as service quality slips. Canady emphasizes that many boards and compensation plans push growth indiscriminately, but for half of new CEOs that approach is a trap. He directs viewers to a free, nine‑minute LBO model on billcanady.com/LBOmodel that uses five inputs to help diagnose whether a business is ready for growth.

Chapters

Now, quick reminder, everything I'm walking through starts with that one number. Go to billcanady.com/LBOmodel. There's 5 inputs, it's 9 minutes, and it'll be free. Now you know the number. Days 15 to 45 is where you find out whether you're allowed to chase it the way you think. Because here's something nobody says to a new CEO: half of you shouldn't be growing it. Every board wants growth. Your comp plan probably pays on growth. And growth is not selective. It scales wherever you mix. You already have. And 20% volume to a broken mix, and you get 20% more broken mix, an exhausted team, and a flat EBITDA. Then your good customers leave because they're the ones with options, and they're the first one to notice when service slips. Growing a business that's in chaos only invites more chaos.