How to Scale a Business: Key Lessons from Acquisition.com

Growing a business isn’t about doing everything—it’s about doing the right things. In this deep-dive session with Acquisition.com, Alex Hormozi and team shared a practical framework for founders and CEOs to scale their companies effectively. Here's what we learned:
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1. Great CEOs Solve One Constraint at a Time

The best CEOs don’t try to solve every problem at once. They focus all their energy on the single biggest constraint holding the business back. Once that’s resolved, they move on to the next. It’s simple, but hard in practice—especially when distractions pile up. The message is clear: strategy = focus.
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2. LTV:CAC is the Most Important Metric

Most founders don’t know their LTV:CAC ratio—but it’s the foundation of a scalable business. For e-commerce, a 3:1 ratio is ideal (for every $1 in CAC, $3 in profit LTV). For service businesses, the target is 10:1. And remember: LTV means lifetime profit, not just revenue.
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3. Use the Business Scorecard to Know What to Prioritize

Where you are in your journey dictates what you should focus on:

• If you're under $1M in EBITDA, the only thing that matters is revenue growth.
• Later, focus on retention, margins, and reducing risk to add enterprise value.
• Eventually, reduce value subtractors (like key person dependency or channel risk) to make your business sellable.
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4. Make It Sellable—Even If You Don’t Plan to Sell

A sellable business is a healthy, low-risk business. Even if selling isn’t the goal, building with this mindset leads to better systems, stronger teams, and more freedom for the founder.
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5. Know Your Risks (And When They Matter)

Risks like single-channel dependency, key-man risk, and key-client risk don’t matter when you're small. But as you grow, they become value killers. Identify and reduce these risks as you scale.
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6. It's Not the Strategy—It's the "Who"

Most failed strategies fail not because they’re bad, but because the wrong person is trying to execute them. Every scaling problem eventually becomes a people problem. Use structured hiring frameworks like the “5 I’s” and “4-Way Fit” to find the right team members.
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7. Use the ICE Framework to Prioritize Ideas

Want to know which ideas to act on? Use the ICE model:

• Impact: Will it move the needle?
• Confidence: How sure are you it’ll work?
• Ease: How simple is it to execute?

Score all ideas—and work on the ones with the highest total.
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8. Do, Document, Delete, Delegate (The 4Ds)

To scale yourself out of a process:

1. Do it yourself
2. Document it
3. Delete unnecessary steps
4. Delegate it

It’s how you maintain quality while freeing up your time.
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9. Track Your Time to Cut Low-Leverage Tasks

Use a Time Study Template: every 30 minutes for a week, log what you worked on. Then review it. You’ll be surprised how much time you spend on tasks that don’t move the needle. Cut those, and focus on what matters.
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10. Final Framework: What, How, Who

When evaluating any decision:

• What: Does it get new customers, increase LTV, or reduce risk?
• How: Should you do more, do it better, or try something new?
• Who: Who is the right person to own it?

Answer those—and your strategy is clear.
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Conclusion

The path to scaling isn’t complicated—it’s focused. Prioritize your biggest constraint, master your metrics, hire the right people, and remove yourself from low-leverage tasks. Whether you’re running an agency or an e-commerce brand, these principles apply.