How to Scale a Service-Based Business Beyond You
Many service-based business owners start their companies for freedom—only to find themselves trapped in the day-to-day. If your revenue stops when you stop working, you don’t own a scalable business. You own a very demanding job.
In a recent episode of Pivot to Profit, Pam Jordan breaks down exactly how founders can scale beyond themselves—and why it must be intentional. Pam shares her own journey from solo fractional CFO, trading time for money, to leading a nearly 30-person team serving over 100 clients without being involved in daily fulfillment.
The key? A repeatable framework.
Pam explains that scaling requires four core pillars: a clear framework, the right team, accountability, and founder removal from fulfillment. Without documented processes—your sales flow, client journey, deliverables, and decision rules—your business lives in your head. And if it lives in your head, it can’t scale.
Once the framework is defined, the focus shifts to hiring A-players who can execute it. Not unicorns who think like you, but capable professionals who can follow the playbook. From there, accountability ensures consistency. Clear metrics, ownership, and expectations allow you to trust—but verify—without micromanaging.
Finally, true scale requires stepping out of fulfillment. As Pam puts it, your highest value as a founder is no longer delivery—it’s direction. Vision, strategy, and relationships are where CEOs create growth, freedom, and enterprise value.
Scaling beyond yourself isn’t easy, but it is possible. With the right structure, your business can grow without burning you out—and ultimately, give you the time and flexibility you set out to build in the first place.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
0:00
Welcome to the Pivot to Profit podcast, where we believe that understanding your numbers is the key to freedom of time and money.
Because at the end of the day, it's really not about what you make, it's about what you keep.
So each week, we're going to bring you real stories from real entrepreneurs who have faced the challenges of growing a business.
0:22
We'll also dive into how numbers have helped and sometimes hurt them, and gaining clarity over their finances has unlocked new levels of profit and freedom.
Hello and welcome to today's episode of Pivot to Profit.
0:38
And today we're going to be talking about how to scale a service based business beyond you.
So often I talk to founders, business owners who started their business and are just stuck the day-to-day is grinding on them and they can't actually sit in the CEO seat, the founder seat because they're trapped in the day-to-day of running the operations of their business.
1:01
So I want to share with you how we have done that in my own business as well as how we help our clients do the same thing.
And look, this is not easy, but I'm going to show you how I did it and explain the process so you can feel empowered to build a agency or service based business firm that can work without you on the day-to-day.
1:22
But before I dive in, if you're a business owner who needs help understanding your numbers, increase your profit, reducing your taxes, and understanding what do I do with all this money?
How do I not give it to the IRS?
Just go to pamjordan.com.
We would love to help you.
Just schedule a call with my team right there.
All right, so let's start with how I got into this.
1:41
So the first time I heard the term fractional CFO, I was actually on a job interview.
Y'all, I was sitting across the table interviewing for a financial position in a plumbing company and there was the business owner and another guy sitting at the table.
And as the questions were were moving forward, I stopped the interview and I said who are you?
1:59
And I asked for the other guy to explain who he was.
At which point I stopped answering questions about the job and started interviewing him as to what a fractional CFO was a fractional chief financial officer.
Within a week or two, we were actually sitting down for coffee and I learned more what it was, and this was probably 9-10 years ago.
2:19
And that's when I realized, oh, this fractional CFO thing makes sense.
It's in alignment with my skill set and what my goals are.
And so that's when I started out as a fractional CFO.
And like most service providers, when you're a solo provider out there, you're just trading time for money.
2:35
I was charging an hourly rate for my time to meet with clients in person or virtually and create budgets and cash flows and do a lot of the things that we do now.
But it was my time.
So I was the sales, the business development, presenting proposals.
I was the one going to the B and I or the Chamber events or those sorts of things.
2:55
And then I was the one following up on proposals and I was the one fulfilling on it.
And it was just an endless cycle of me just doing it.
And within six months I was making more money than I ever made as AW2.
But I was burnt out already because it all of my time was required to do everything.
3:11
And so that's what I made my first hire.
And that's when I decided to make an operational hire rather than a provider hire.
And that first employee I've hired in and she was helping me create my systems and my processes so that I had more bandwidth, said everything wasn't reliant on me when it came to fulfillment.
3:30
And now I have a team of almost 30 where we provide services to 100 business clients providing bookkeeping services, fractional CFO services, tax strategy and tax filing.
And I'm not relied on for any piece of the puzzle.
3:45
Now again, it's taken 9 years to get here, but so often I meet with business owners who want the freedom and the flexibility of what I and they don't understand how.
So this podcast is for you if that's something that you're wanting.
This is for me to show you how I've created systems and processes and most importantly, accountability for my team to be able to run.
4:06
So if your revenue stops when you stop working, you don't have a scalable business.
You have a very demanding job.
And what this means is if your team and your business can't operate when you're on vacation, you don't have a profitable, scalable business.
4:22
So if you're the rainmaker and the doer, if the clients expect you personally, if growth seems exciting but terrifying at the same time, it might be time to look at your model and roll up your sleeves and build processes and frameworks of how to do this.
4:39
Because scaling beyond yourself needs to be intentional.
It's not an accident.
You have to have a framework for your team to follow so that they can scale.
So let's dive right in.
The first thing to do is really to understand that if you are the bottleneck, you need to insert someone, delegate it, or automate a system.
5:01
There's AI out there where you can create software in 30 seconds that can replace a task that you do.
So you need to understand that if you're the bottleneck in a process, you are the problem.
So can you delegate that?
Can you outsource it?
Can someone else on your team take on that responsibility?
5:18
Or can you create a bot or a GPT that can handle that?
Because if everyone's dependent on you, you're limiting your income potential and the potential growth of the business.
So it comes down to 4 pillars, creating a framework, building your team, having accountability, and then removing yourself from fulfillment.
5:36
Those are the four pillars that we're going to be talking about.
So the first one, building your framework.
This is so important and I see so many business owners struggle with this because it's all in their head.
They know how they do things, they know how they do sales calls, they have a really high conversion rate.
They know what deliverables are supposed to look for like for clients, and they do a great job.
5:55
But the problem is, is it's not in black and white.
It's not on a piece of paper, it's not on a post it it's not on a Google Sheet, it's not on a OneDrive somewhere.
You need as the founder to put your framework in black and white in paper so that if it's in click up Asana, any of these softwares out there.
6:14
This is what needs to be done before a call, during a call, after a call.
This is our client journey.
Looks like whiteboard it out.
Work with your team or just sit down and figure out what is your client journey going to look like?
Because if you don't have a repeatable process that someone else on your team can do, you do not have a scalable business and you cannot step away from fulfillment within your business.
6:36
So think about how do you think, how do you talk to clients?
How do you solve their problems?
What are your outcomes?
What are your deliverables look like?
And how can you streamline that?
And a lot of building out a framework is narrowing your focus because you can't solve all things for all people.
6:53
So what are you the best in the world at?
What are you top notch at?
And hone in on that.
So think about what people come to you about.
What do people ask you questions about friends, family, people that you meet for coffee?
What do they seek you out as, as an expert?
That needs to be part of your framework because that's what you're known for.
7:10
That's what your expertise lies in.
Have a clear stage or phase for your framework.
Our particular framework is a three stage process, but you need to make a process that makes sense for you so that it can be scalable and you're not going to be in the trenches day in and day out of your business.
Have clearly defined deliverables at each stage so that you can show progress to the clients.
7:31
Clients want to know the before and the after.
They want to see the impact that you've had in their business.
So having clear deliverables at each stage is super important so that both the client knows what you've done and you can gauge success from your team and also have decision making rules.
7:47
If X happens then Y so that you and the client and your team are able to follow this through.
So if I hand your, your client to someone else tomorrow, they know where to start.
So in the process, if you have a five step process and you're on step #2 and something happens to you or you need to go on a trip, you need to have a process that's well defined out, a framework that someone else in your team can step in and be like check, check they're in step three.
8:12
I know exactly what it needs to do here.
The here's the GPT that I need to use to make that happen.
When that framework is in place, then you can go on that cruise, you can go on that vacation, you can take that trip, or you can just make the kids recital or basketball games, whatever it may be.
Because once the framework exists, you can stop trying to do everything yourself or trying to find the imaginary Unicorn because dude, there's no one else like you, Queen.
8:38
You are the only queen there is, so trying to hire someone exactly like you doesn't work.
How you can replicate yourself is having a framework that a players can follow.
When a framework exists you can get out of the day-to-day and you can build a team to do the process and the follow the framework on your behalf so that rather it's you or someone else on your team.
9:00
The client is going to get similar results.
So the first step is to define your framework.
This is so important.
I personally struggled with this when I first started out and made some hires of some talented people and unfortunately I didn't have a framework for them to follow.
9:15
And so they didn't stay with me very long because they didn't understand what I expected of them and that they didn't understand what I was going to hold them accountable to.
And so they went and had calls with clients and earn the early days.
It is a very different conversation than they would have had if they had it with me because I didn't have a clear framework defined for them.
9:32
So build that framework if you want to scale your service based business.
Once you have a framework, now it's time to build the right team.
So this shifts your mindset to bring in the who's who can follow your process, the A level team that can follow your process.
9:50
And a lot of times these people are good and there might be good at things that you're not good at.
And that's not intimidating, that's empowering.
That means you as the business owner can go further and have a bigger impact with your clients because they're operating at a high level.
Early hire within your business need to be able to execute on the framework.
10:09
They need to have access to you as the founder to mentor under you to understand why do you do this way?
Why is Step 3 be Step 3 instead of step 4:00?
To be able to walk them through your process and mentor them and have them see you conduct services or calls with your clients so they can see how you as the founder handle challenges or oppositions or questions and sales calls.
10:31
A common mistake here is to hire generalist because you're like, Oh well, they'll be all right.
They'll figure it out.
No, you really need to have someone that has a skill set that matches whatever your industry is.
So if you're a marketing agency and you have a framework, you need to hire a creative person.
10:48
You don't need an analytical person for this.
You need a creative person that can follow your process.
So what to hire first is a hard question for me.
Like I said, I hired an operational person because I knew that the process was what was tricking me up and was taking me too long.
11:07
So you need to have clear deliveries of the roles that are closest to revenue.
So what is going to help you either be able to make more money, free up your time so you can service more clients, or free up your time so that they can service more clients and you can do more business development.
11:24
It's not about admin work because you can automate a lot of that.
It's about finding capable A level people who are skilled in whatever your specialty is that can follow your playbook.
You need people that will come in and say playbook check, I understand it, I will follow it.
11:41
Let's go.
Your job is no longer to do the work, it's to build people to do the work.
Well, because if it's all reliant on you, again, your income is capped and your teams income is capped and your business income is capped.
You need to build a team that can follow your process and execute on it.
12:01
And this may be a combination of W twos or contractors or overseas.
It just depends on what your industry is.
When I first started out it was a combination and I still have some contractors on my team and I have W twos as well.
It doesn't have to be all one or all the other, but if you don't have a framework, you don't need to be hiring people.
12:20
So build your framework and then build the team.
And then the next piece of this is accountability because a team without accountability is just going to create more problems for you.
So if you build a beautiful framework and you hire people and you're like, OK, great, there's the framework, go have fun.
12:35
It is a trust, but verified because they're going to fall apart if you don't make sure that they're doing what you ask them to do within your framework.
So that's where you need to create accountability.
You need to introduce some structure that doesn't overwhelm or micromanage.
This could be a checklist that you provide.
12:52
This could be KPI's that they have to send put in the Slack channel on a weekly basis.
But you need to create accountability and not micromanage.
Accountability comes through clarity and measurement because if you measure it and they are up staying in framework and following the framework and saying yes, I'm doing XYZ, your clients are going to get the impact that they deserve from your framework.
13:18
You need to have documentation for this.
It needs to be clear who's owning each task, what does success look like?
What are you expecting them to do, how often, What are the deliverables?
Are they allowed to create their own frameworks or they have to just use your templates?
13:34
All of that needs to be discussed in the accountability portion because simple accountable tools can be weekly score sheets, client KPI's, clear things that your team can do on a daily or weekly basis to let you know that they're doing what they're supposed to within your framework.
13:52
And this is something that we did early on and still to this day is super, super important.
We have every team member expected to report a specific number to their department head on a weekly basis.
How many calls did you have?
14:08
How many action items did you complete?
How many calls did you review?
How many tax returns did we file?
How many analysis did we perform?
All.
Everyone on my team has a clear metric that they're held accountable to because that allows me as the business owner to know, are we out of alignment?
14:25
Are we going to have a shortfall in our funnel because we don't have as many sales calls?
Are we going to drop a ball somewhere with a client because we missed a call?
We need to know those as founders and have clear accountability because then I can go to whoever dropped the ball and be like, hey, what happened and be able to handle directly with that person.
14:43
It's trust but verify.
I'm trusting you that you have the skill set and the knowledge to follow my framework.
I'm done my due diligence with my onboarding process that I know that you're core alignment, you're in alignment with our core values and that your skill set is going to bring value to our clients.
14:59
Now I'm going to hold you accountable to all the things that you said you were going to do.
That's where integrity comes in.
Do what you say you're going to do and I'm going to hold you accountable to it.
And if you don't, then there's consequences.
And that's where you can then have one-on-one conversation with someone and say, hey, what's going on?
15:14
Is this outside of your skill set?
Do you need more training?
Is this not funding for you?
Is something going on in your personal life that need to be we need to be aware of because unfortunately if if someone drops the ball, as the business owner, it's your fault to pick that ball up and to fill the gap.
So it's so important to make sure you have the right team members to get the job done so that you don't have to default as to go back rolling up your sleeves and creating that branding project or starting providing services to clients again.
15:42
If you want to stay in the CEO founder's seat, you need to have this accountability.
Accountability makes it possible for you to step out of fulfilment.
Otherwise you will be the bottleneck and you will default to doing it because no one else can do it.
15:59
And a side conversation real quick on delegation here.
And I see entrepreneurs and founders struggle with this so much.
They have such a hard time delegating because no one on their team is as good as they are.
And you know what?
They're right.
No one on your team is as good as you are in everything that you're good at.
16:16
But I hope that there's people on your team that are better at you than things that you then areas then you're weaker because you need to have a well balanced team.
And also if someone can do it 70 to 80% as well as you can, let them do it.
Don't be the bottleneck.
16:32
Otherwise, again, you're capping it.
How far your income, your team's income and how much you can scale your business.
You need to be able to have a framework, have a players and let them do their job, Hold them accountable to do it so that you can do what only you can do and you can stay in your zone of genius.
16:48
You can be the CEO of the firm and not defaulting to answering those emails or filtering through that or making that client deliverable show up on time.
You need to be the CEO, the founder and hold your team accountable to doing their job.
17:03
And then if you truly want to scale and exit your business, one day, every conversation with private equity and investor potential buyer is going to ask, well, how much are you doing in client fulfillment?
And if it's more than 10%, there's going to be flags everywhere.
17:21
And that potential buyer is going to tie you down with a very strong and very long workout where you're going to have to be tied to that business that you're not running, you're not owning because they're worried about losing those clients.
So it is imperative that once you have your framework, once you hire your A-Team and once you have clear accountability for you to step away from fulfillment because this is hard but necessary step.
17:46
Most likely, you love fulfilling.
Most likely you are really good at creating that branding product or building that funnel or doing that client deliverable.
But unfortunately, if you're going to be the CEO founder, you can't be stuck in fulfillment and you cannot exit the business and you cannot have the freedom of time and money that you want as the owner if you're trapped doing fulfillment hours a day.
18:10
This is typically where I see our clients getting stuck because they still can't get out of the fulfillment, the clients still rely on them, the clients only want to deal with them and the owners feel well.
No one on my team knows them as well as I do or no one can handle the the challenges they're going through.
18:28
If that's the case, then your framework is needs some work because your framework should be able to be transferred from one provider on your team to another.
If your argument is clients only want me, quality will drop, I'll lose control.
You're trapping yourself and you aren't going to be able to scale or exit your business.
18:45
This is where you need to make a decision.
And if your goals are to exit are to step back from the day-to-day of the business and truly be the CEO, then you need to make a conscious effort to transition yourself out.
And this isn't a pull the Band-Aid and tell all your clients good luck haha.
19:02
It needs to be a transition.
So that's where you need to figure out who's going to be handling client fulfillment on your team and start Co delivering with them.
Have them on the calls, have them show up for the clients, start having them create the deliverables and you mentor them through how to do it.
19:18
Review the work, give the final approval and then transition yourself out so the clients are comfortable knowing that the other person on your team is following the framework and has your oversight.
To know that things are going to be delivered the way that they want and that the final deliverable of the package of the branding or or whatever is going to be what it would have been had it come from you.
19:40
As a founder.
You need to move away from fulfilment and towards vision casting for your team, towards business development, towards creating strategy and creating relationships and partnerships for referral partners and for vendors and stages to go on so that you can scale your business.
19:57
Your highest value is no longer delivery, it's direction.
You need to be the captain of the ship.
You need to be saying this is the direction we're going, this is how we're going to get there.
Everybody, let's go.
But if you're stuck in fulfillment, head down.
You don't have time to breathe.
20:14
You don't have time to come up for air and say, yeah, we should make that decision or that's a bad investment because you're so in the weeds of the business.
So as the CEO founder who wants to scale a service based business, you need to have a framework.
You need to hire a players, you need to have accountability for them.
20:31
And then you need to remove yourself from fulfillment so you can be the visionary and give direction and not be head down fulfillment day in, day out and not wearing the CEO hat.
And these are conversations that my team of CFO's has to have with our clients pretty frequently because they keep getting stuck at one of those stages.
20:53
They keep changing their framework.
They keep hiring B players and not letting them go.
They don't have clear accountability and expectation for their team.
And then they keep saying, oh, but no one can do it as good as I can.
So I'm going to have to fulfill on this one.
You're going to be on the treadmill for forever of your business if you truly want to scale and exit.
21:10
This is the framework that we help our clients go through to exit their business and I've also star helped mentor other fractional CFO's to follow this framework and scale their businesses as well.
If that's something that you'd like more information about, just go to pamjordan.com under services and learn about Pivot CFO Toolbox because I am training other CFO's this framework so they can replicate what we've replicated.
21:34
As a business owner, if this hits home for you, we would love to help our fractional CF OS walk our clients through this process so that they can have freedom of time, freedom of money, and be present in whatever is important to them.
Because team without framework creates inconsistency.
21:54
Framework without accountability creates chaos and accountability without founder removal creates burnout.
This is a progress, not something that you can solve overnight.
But there is a process that you can go through as a founder business owner to remove yourself from the day-to-day of the business fulfillment so that you can truly sit and do what you are meant to do, which is be the visionary this and the strategist for your own business.
22:21
If any of this is hitting a cord for you and you would love help with this, just go to pamjordan.com.
Our team would love to talk to you and have help you understand where you are in scaling of your business and where your roadblocks are and where you're being the bottleneck so we can help you scale.
22:38
Because at the end of the day, remember, it's not what you make that matters, it's what you keep.