Coaching 360
By Kevin Riley, Business Growth Specialist, Coaching 360
One of the biggest mistakes I see growing businesses make is assuming that scaling is about doing more, more sales, more people, more activity.
In reality, sustainable growth comes from structure.
As businesses scale, complexity increases faster than most owners expect. Without the right structure in place, effort turns into friction, decisions slow down, and pressure concentrates at the top.
Below are some practical tips I encourage business owners to consider as they move into the next stage of growth.
Make the Four Big Decisions Explicit
Scaling businesses need to be deliberate about four core areas:
- People – who is in the right role, and who owns what
- Strategy – what you are focused on (and what you’re not)
- Execution – how work actually gets done, consistently
- Cash – how money is understood, managed, and protected
Growth becomes far harder when these decisions are assumed rather than clearly made.
Get Your Strategy onto One Page
As businesses grow, misalignment becomes expensive.
A One-Page Strategic Plan forces clarity by answering:
- What really matters right now?
- What are our priorities over the next 90 days?
- How do we measure progress?
This isn’t about creating a long document, it’s about ensuring everyone is pulling in the same direction.
Clarify Who Owns What — Not Just Job Titles
As teams expand, job titles alone stop being useful.
Tools like a Functional Accountability Chart help define:
- Which functions exist in the business
- Who is accountable for each one
- Where decisions should sit
This removes bottlenecks, reduces escalation, and helps owners step out of the middle without losing control.
Make Core Processes Visible and Owned
When hustle stops working, it’s often because processes are unclear.
A Process Accountability Chart helps businesses:
- Identify their most critical processes
- Assign clear ownership
- Spot gaps and handoffs that create friction
This doesn’t add bureaucracy — it removes confusion.
Introduce Rhythm into Execution
As complexity grows, urgency becomes exhausting.
Simple execution rhythms — often referred to as the Rockefeller Habits — help businesses:
- Keep priorities visible
- Review progress regularly
- Solve issues before they escalate
Rhythm creates consistency, which reduces firefighting and decision fatigue
Design the Business to Work Without Constant Intervention
One useful question for owners at this stage is:
“How should this work if I’m not involved?”
Structure exists to answer that question so that growth doesn’t rely on heroic effort or constant oversight.
Build Structure Before It Feels Urgent
The right time to introduce structure is before things break.
Businesses that scale well tend to put clarity, accountability, and rhythm in place early. It’s much better than waiting until pressure forces the issue.
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Structure doesn’t slow growth.
It protects it.
For many growing businesses, the shift from effort to structure is the moment scaling starts to feel manageable and sustainable.
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About Kevin Riley
Kevin Riley is a Business Growth Specialist and Founder of Coaching 360. He works with growth-stage business owners and their senior leadership teams internationally to help them scale sustainably, improve leadership clarity, and build businesses that support both performance and quality of life.
