MO | Edition 11 – The Real Cost of Not Taking Action

Leadership
July 10, 2025•6 min read

Business owners running $1M–$10M companies are facing one of the toughest market stretches in years.

Revenue feels soft. Marketing is more expensive. Consumer confidence is shaky.

And the pressure to do more with less is reaching a boiling point.

But here’s what we’re seeing again and again:

The ones that TAKE ACTION?

They’re winning…not because it’s easy, but because they know the real cost of doing nothing is higher than the cost of making the wrong move.

The businesses that wait are losing ground.

Let’s unpack the real cost of taking action…and doing nothing.

But First... if you're ready to start taking action, schedule a Free Operations Audit Call with us to speed up your success for the rest of this year. We'll help you audit your operations, workflows, and team friction points and prescribe automations that can buy you back 10+ hours per week and win you more freedom in your company.

Why We’re Talking About This

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, over 45% of small and mid-sized businesses reported lower revenues in Q2 2025.

Inflation, higher interest rates, and a pullback in consumer spending are squeezing margins and eroding growth opportunities.

And yet...

Most of these businesses are cutting back on the exact things that could fix it... strategic marketing, automation, new offers, better systems.

That hesitation feels safe in the moment.

But it’s a TRAP.

We know, because history repeats itself:

History Says: Cutting Back Hurts

1. Harvard’s Roland Vaile study (1920s):

Tracked 250 U.S. firms through the recession post–World War I. Companies that increased or maintained marketing budgets during the downturn saw sales rise ~20% above pre-recession levels. Those that cut marketing saw sales drop ~7%. (source)

2. Kellogg vs. Post during the Great Depression (1930s):

Post cut marketing, Kellogg doubled ad spend—led to a 30% profit increase by 1933 and cemented Kellogg's market dominance (newyorker.com).

3. McGraw-Hill study (1980s recession):

Analyzed 600+ firms: those that kept or increased ad spend during the recession saw 275% sales growth over five years, versus 19% growth for those that cut back

Inaction Is a Silent Killer

When the market gets tough, your instinct might be to pull back.

Delay that system overhaul.

Push off the marketing spend.

Hold off on that new hire.

But here’s the reality:

  • Revenue suffers

  • Team energy declines

  • Customer churn increases

  • You work more... and get less back

Inaction is not neutral. It’s negative.

Every quarter you wait, the compounding cost of missed opportunities grows.

Growth doesn't come from caution.

It comes from clarity and decisive action —> especially when things feel uncertain.

Let’s Walk Through a Story of 2 Companies: Pixel Design (Modern vs Passive)

Industry: UX/UI Design & Web Development Studio

Company Size: 12 employees

Annual Revenue (Start of Year): $2.4M

Founder Role: Still leading strategy, sales, and major accounts

Tools: Notion (limited), Slack, Zapier (fragmented), experimenting with ChatGPT

Pixel Design (Modern) – Took Action

The Emotional Reality:

  • “I can’t scale unless I get out of the weeds.”

  • “We have great people, but I’m not getting leverage.”

  • “I know we need systems… but I don’t want to kill our creative culture.”

  • “We’re falling behind competitors who are packaging AI into their offers.”

In the face of this stress, the founder of Pixel Design (Modern) committed to systematizing operations, leveraging automation, and repositioning their offer —> even while it felt risky.

Strategic Changes Made

Total Investment: ~$28,000

Total Time: ~55 hours founder time, ~30 team hours

6-Month Results

✅ Two large new clients cited AI-GTM packaging as key reason for signing

✅ Founder regained 10–12 hours per week

✅ Internal morale lifted with fewer late nights and cleaner briefs

Pixel Design (Passive) – Waited and Hoped

The Emotional Reality:

  • “We’re doing okay… but we’re falling behind.”

  • “I’m stuck doing $30/hour work while leading a $2M company.”

  • “Everyone’s talking about AI… but I don’t even know where to start.”

This founder kept running on duct tape: chasing deadlines, missing communication, and holding out hope for a simpler quarter that never came.

NO ACTION TAKEN

  • Skipped AI exploration

  • Kept fragmented tools with no ops layer

  • Didn’t reposition offer despite competitive threats

  • Declined to bring in outside ops help

  • Let chaos “normalize”

6 month results:

How to Apply It in Your Business

If things feel uncertain or stuck, here’s your 3-part checklist:

1. Identify the Bottleneck

Zoom out and ask: What’s the single biggest drag on our performance right now?

  • A broken or manual fulfillment process?

  • An overwhelmed founder, fulfillment coordinator, etc?

  • A team running without clear roles or data?

Be honest. Bottlenecks don’t fix themselves.

2. Calculate the Cost of Inaction

Pull out a notepad. Write this down:

  • If we don’t fix this in the next 90 days, what will it cost us?

    • Missed sales?

    • Employee churn?

    • Wasted hours?

    • Declining client retention?

Now compare that to the cost of solving it... whether that’s hiring help, building a system, or making a strategic shift.

Nine times out of ten? Doing nothing is way more expensive.

3. Commit to One Bold Move

You don’t need a 52-point turnaround plan.

You need one courageous step forward.

That might be:

  • Booking time to map your delivery systems

  • Hiring the ops lead you’ve delayed for 6 months

  • Repackaging your offer for clarity and margin

  • Launching the automation that’s been sitting in drafts

  • Bringing in outside help to install the structure you can’t build alone

Whatever the move is, commit to it. Set a deadline. Name the owner. Act on it.

Boldness is a decision. Make it now —> NOT next quarter.

Final Thoughts

Waiting feels safe. But safety doesn’t scale.

Modern Operators don’t freeze when things get hard. They:

  • Face the facts

  • Embrace uncertainty

  • Take bold, decisive action

  • And build while others hesitate

This is not the time to shrink. It’s the time to lead.

Play the long game... but move now.

You Won’t Scale Your Company Just By Reading, You Have to Put it Into Practice

You can read all the growth playbooks in the world, but if you’re not turning these steps into real growth, real revenue per staff member, real operational efficiency….you’re just spinning your wheels.

That’s why we created Modern Operators, a hands-on, tactical program built for founders who want to stop being the bottleneck and start growing.

  • We’ll take a look at your systems and help you map a plan to real modern growth

  • Implement an operational foundation that creates speed and predictable scale

  • Help you get understand where issues are happening and how to fix them before they become a problem

Schedule a time to meet with us if you want to audit your operational system to help you scale in a big way this year. Spots are limited.

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