Skip to main content

Stop Winging It! How to Build a Business That Scales (and Why Your Gut is Still a Terrible Business Plan)

Sheila Bell. Damn Yankee, serial entrepreneur, and owner of a gym that went from 81 members to 455. In six years. Part-time. Oh, and she's a top-producing real estate agent too.

We love stories like this, don't we? We see the results, the growth, the sheer force of will, and we think, "Wow, she's got it all figured out."

But here’s the thing: Sheila didn't have it all figured out. She was winging it. Riding on gut feeling, sheer determination, and a healthy dose of "I'll figure it out."

Sound familiar?

We all do it. We think our passion, our work ethic, our "intuition" will be enough. We ignore the fundamentals, the boring stuff, the systems that actually scale.

Sheila, despite her incredible success, was running her businesses like a collection of hobbies. Reacting instead of planning. Juggling instead of delegating. She was trapped in the "lone wolf" myth, the idea that she had to do it all herself.

Why do we cling to this myth? Why do we resist building systems, asking for help, admitting we don't know everything?

Because it's easier. Because it feels more "authentic." Because we're afraid of losing control.

But here's the truth: control is an illusion.

You can't control everything. You can't be everywhere at once. And you certainly can't scale a business on sheer willpower alone.

Sheila's story is a reminder that even the most driven entrepreneurs can get lost. But it's also a reminder that we can always find our way back.

She started by asking the right questions. What are my sales numbers? What does each membership mean? How can I create systems that allow me to step back?

She stopped relying on her gut and started relying on data. She stopped being a lone wolf and started building a team.

And here's the kicker: she realized her "anchor goal" wasn't just about owning a gym. It was about owning it outright, building something that could run itself, something that could give her the freedom to live the life she wanted.

But here's the kicker, part two: it's not just about the systems. It's about the community.

We talked about the illusion of the big, empty gym. How a smaller space, packed with people, creates a sense of belonging, a feeling of "I want to be a part of that."

It's the Chick-fil-A effect. The line around the building, the sense of "I'm missing out."

It's not just about the product. It's about the experience. It's about the community.

And that's what Sheila is building. A community of people who are invested in their health, who support each other, who feel like they belong. Not just a place to burn calories, but a space where they contribute and are valued.

We started digging into the numbers. We set goals. We created competitions for the staff. We focused on clarity and consistency.

And we started to document everything. Even the seemingly simple things, like how to give a tour of the gym.

Why? Because systems are the scaffolding of scale. They're the foundation upon which you build something that can outlast you.

Sheila realized that her "anchor goal" wasn't just about owning a gym. It was about building a business that could run itself, a business that could give her the freedom to live the life she wanted.

So, what about you? Are you building systems that scale? Are you creating a community that people want to be a part of?

Or are you still relying on gut feeling, hoping that sheer willpower will be enough?

It's time to stop chasing the illusion of effortless success. It's time to build something real. It's time to create a community that thrives.

Because the work, in the end, is about more than just profit. It's about purpose. It's about making a difference.

And who knows? Maybe, just maybe, you'll find that the "effortless success" you were chasing was always there, hidden in the systems, the community, the relentless pursuit of purpose.

Keep well and keep moving forward. And build a community worth belonging to.

Spencer Combs




About Spencer Combs:

Spencer Combs is a business leader and author of Momentum and Mastery: The Business Leader's Guide to Fastrack Unshakeable Profit, Productivity, and Purpose. With a passion for helping others transform their challenges into opportunities, Spencer offers unique insights through his events, coaching programs, and daily text messages.


Take the Next Step:


Connect with Spencer: www.spencercombs.com/social 





Labels:
Elgin, SC 29045, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Here's what others like you are reading:

The Hidden Quarter

The calendar says "Holidays." The world outside begins to slow, to pause, to look inward. Presents, parties, reflection. For many, this period is a collective exhale. A shared agreement to take the foot off the gas. To coast. Your competition is doing it. They're already mentally checked out, planning their breaks, anticipating the collective slowdown. And that, precisely, is the point. Because while they are distracted by eggnog and holiday stress, an invisible, unfair quarter opens up. This isn't Q4. This is the Hidden Quarter . This isn't the time to rest on your laurels. It's the time to build your launchpad. This is the moment to install the system, master the process, or build the lever that your distracted competitors won't even think about until mid-January. What is the one high-leverage system or process you can dedicate yourself to installing and mastering in the next 30 days that will guarantee you start January at an undeniable 5x speed? It...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Power of the Final 30 Days

The temptation is real. You’ve run hard for 47 weeks. The holidays are here. The finish line of the calendar year is in sight. The couch is calling. Most people treat the last 30 days like a wind-down. They shift into planning mode, waiting for the mythical start date of January 1st to begin the hard work again. But if you’re serious about autonomy , about defying the odds, and about creating momentum, you know that the calendar is just a suggestion. The final 30 days of the year are not a wind-down. They are the launch sequence . The mistake is inventing new, complex goals now. The success is rooted in leverage . Look back at your year. Look at your WRAP sheets . Somewhere in that data—in the quiet successes, the routines that stuck, the clients that closed easiest—is your highest-performing asset. It’s not a secret. It’s the single best habit or project that made the biggest difference in your results this year. It was the system you installed. The five calls you made every day. Th...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Firewall

  The world is a machine. A vast, efficient, relentless machine focused on two things: speed and automation. If your job, your skill, or your output can be described by a predictable set of instructions, the machine will eventually learn to do it faster, cheaper, and without complaint. This is not a threat. It is a reality. It is the new baseline. So, where do you stand? Are you building your house on sand, relying on tasks that are easily copied? Or are you building a firewall? The firewall is the part of you the machine cannot touch. It's the unique combination of judgment, empathy, creativity, and the courage to make a non-obvious choice. This week is a choice. You can perform the necessary, replaceable tasks. Or you can invest in your firewall. The question isn’t about job security. It’s about value creation. What is the one thing you can learn, practice, or build this week that will make you so valuable, no one else can do your job five years from now? It's the dif...
Post a Comment
Read more