What Got You Here Won’t Get You There—So Build the System
- Feb 20
- 3 min read
By Betsy Hamm
Growth always looks fun. Especially on social media.
It’s the ribbon cuttings. The “we’re opening in ____!” posts. The “we just added customer accounts!” and “revenue is up!” wins. But the part most people don’t see? The behind-the-scenes decisions that feel less like sparkle and more like… indigestion.
When I joined Duck Donuts in 2016, there were 20 franchise locations. The brand was gaining momentum fast, but the structure was pretty unsophisticated—small team, big dreams, a lot of “we’ll figure it out.” I came from a large corporate world with budgets, guardrails, and processes for everything (sometimes too many processes, if we’re being honest). Stepping into a founder-led, high-growth business was a bit of culture shock.
Early on, I realized my value wasn’t just marketing. The founder was a true visionary—ideas for days, instinct for the market, and the ability to see years ahead. What the business needed to keep up with that vision and the demand was strategy paired with structure: the right people, the right process, and the right operating rhythm to scale without snapping. We partnered well, and we made progress quickly.
Over the next several years, the “leveling up” never stopped. New partners. New vendors. New support needs for the franchise system. Internal team growth. More complexity. More pressure. Four years in, I was named CEO during a private equity transaction when the founder chose to step down. And that’s when the growing pains and pressure really accelerated.
One lesson kept smacking me in the face (and credit to Marshall Goldsmith): what got us here won’t get us there. The structure, systems, even the way we made decisions- what worked at 50 locations was no longer sustainable at 100. Every little crack gets exposed, and things start to break.
The hardest part about scaling is going back to the foundation. Getting clear on where you’re going, how you’re getting there, and who is responsible for what.
You need a strong operating system.
Not a fancy corporate machine, just a simple cadence: annual goals, quarterly priorities, scorecards, clear accountability, and a regular rhythm to solve problems instead of spinning in them. Because growth is overwhelming. There are a million “things to do.” But the goal isn’t perfection, it’s progress, on purpose.
And once that is clear, you must get serious about the people who will carry it out. One person in the wrong seat can be detrimental. Especially when resources are tight and teams are small. On the flip side, one high-performing leader can unlock growth you didn’t think was possible.
If someone wasn’t firing on all cylinders, I worked hard to coach first. But I also learned not to delay tough decisions out of optimism, loyalty, or fear of disruption. Keeping the wrong person too long is its own disruption… it just drags on and quietly taxes everyone else.
So my “boss move” is this: get crystal clear on the goals, define who owns what, and don’t carry misalignment longer than you have to. Pick a few priorities, execute them well, and move to the next ones. The smartest decision I made wasn’t one dramatic moment. It was choosing to get ruthless (in a good way) about clarity, accountability, and people.
A year ago, I left that CEO role and started my own company because I love helping brands grow and strengthening leaders who are in the thick of it. Growth is challenging. Growth is hard. But it’s also wildly rewarding when you can see progress and know you built something that can actually hold!
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