Getting out of the messy middle

If you’re here, it probably means you're in business or are helping to grow one.

And some of you might be right in the messy middle bit of growth.

No longer a crazy startup. Not yet a polished corporate giant.

Just a founder-led business that’s done the hard yards and is now dealing with what comes next.

Margins are tight.
Team’s growing but not always aligned.
You’re caught between being a product person, a leader, a CFO, and the therapist of your company.

I know this stage.

You don’t need a shiny new growth hack.

You need a clear head and a stronger foundation to keep building on.

To start solving it, you need to stop chasing opportunity (as much) and start prioritising fixing the business you have today.

Rather than tell you my story of the messy middle and what led me to these insights, let’s cut straight to the bit where I share some ways we started get ourselves out of the mess.

Here are 3 places we had the biggest wins cleaning up the mess and building better foundations stable growth (not that volitle, winging it, can't-sleep-at-night type of stuff you're used to):

Know your true margins

Yes... It's obvious.

But if you don’t know how much profit each product, or site, ot full-time team member generates (after all costs), you’re flying blind. I was.

If your business is as messy as mine was, you probably haven’t stopped to properly cost things out for a while.

In your head it's one of those things you or someone else will get to eventually, but you've got bigger problems today.

The main thing to remember is - the world has changed.

Most suppliers have increased their pricing, and if you haven't looked at it for a while, it probably means you have less cash left over at the end of the day.

We saw this across technology costs, subscriptions, bank fees, insurance, contractors, delivery costs, maintenance, utilities, supplies… The list goes on.

Look at your P&L and start to work through each line item that you spend money on. Find alternatives to current options and cross-check pricing vs value to you .

(Note: It’s not always about price. Value is key).

Cut what no longer pays its way.

That product that’s “good for brand”?

That team role that’s grown vague?

That tech stack you forgot you were paying for?

If it’s not directly contributing to margin, morale, or momentum - it’s dragging you down.

Lean up! Go without something for a few months. You’ll be surprised how many things you hold onto that you don’t really need as you grow.

Getting rid of them not only saves you cash, it also removes complexity which helps you grow faster in the future.

Rewrite the internal story.

If you've drifted from your original vision or purpose, guaranteed your team can feel it.

And if they can’t clearly answer “What are we building, and why now?” then neither can your customers.

Fix the internal narrative first. Then revenue often follows.

That means getting back to your roots and remembering why you got into this game, what used to light your fire, what pisses you off about the world that you want to fix.

Capturing that story (on video) and sharing it with the team and every new hire is critical for realigning and building a foundation to start growing together.

The last thing I''ll leave you with is this:

You're not doing anything wrong!

The messy middle is normal.

I wish someone had told me this earlier so I wasn't so hard on myself.

Every single business goes through the same messy phase at the start and again as they grow, so don’t be so hard on yourself if you’re confused about which direction to grow or what’s causing the issues you’re facing.

Just make sure you look back and shine the spotlight under the hood before you keep growing.

I hope this helps.