In the 1970s, Nike had a problem.

At the time, Nike was growing like crazy but was constantly on the verge of bankruptcy. 

They were selling millions in shoes, but the margins were razor thin, and cash flow was always tight.

Every “successful” month brought them closer to collapse.

The Shoe Dog himself, Phil Knight, admitted that they weren’t growing profitably, and they almost lost the whole company because of it.

Knight eventually realized they had two choices: 

Keep chasing revenue and implode…or scale both revenue and margins.

They chose the harder path.

They focused on higher-margin products, streamlined operations, and stopped saying yes to every shiny opportunity that looked like growth.

That decision saved Nike.

I see entrepreneurs every day fall into the same situation.

• They hit $100K/month and start optimizing for bigger numbers instead of better ones.
• They take on low-margin clients to pad revenue.
• They hire expensive staff without systems.
• They grow headcount faster than efficiency.

Meanwhile, their competition watches them scoop up all the “big accounts”…while quietly serving high-margin clients and banking real profit.

I share this with you because your competition LOVES when you kill your margins.

Because revenue feeds ego. Profit feeds freedom.

HERE’S HOW TO SCALE BOTH REVENUE AND PROFIT:

Audit Your Client Profitability – Track profit per client, not just revenue. Fire the bottom 20% that eat 80% of your time.

Standardize Your Offering – Every custom request kills margins. Build packages, not exceptions.

Scale Systems Before Staff – Automate first, hire second. Most founders hire to fix problems systems could solve.

Raise Prices as You Scale – Your value increases. Your price should too.

Track Unit Economics Religiously – CAC, LTV, contribution margin. Know the numbers, or risk bleeding out.

The goal isn’t just to grow big. It’s to grow profitably. Revenue without margin is just expensive busy work.

Nike went from nearly bankrupting themselves with growth to building one of the most profitable companies in history. 

That same principle saved my companies from burnout.

It’s what I teach my coaching clients. 

And it’s what we’re engineering now inside The Scale Syndicate.

If you’re ready to scale both your revenue AND your margins without sacrificing one for the other, that’s exactly what we engineer inside The Scale Syndicate.

We help entrepreneurs build businesses that grow smart, not just fast.

If that’s something that interests you…

Apply for The Scale Syndicate Here >>>

Talk soon,

Bedros Keuilian