Breaking Through the Messy Middle: Scaling Smart and Sustaining Growth

📌 Episode Summary:
In this episode of Mastering Business Skills, Erin Alli talks to Brad Eisenberg, founder of Be Lean, to talk about the real work of scaling a service-based business—and how to navigate the “messy middle” where growth becomes complex, chaotic, and sometimes overwhelming.

Brad shares his entrepreneurial journey from launching a bike-sharing startup in college to becoming COO of a fast-growing company, and ultimately creating a consulting firm that helps businesses scale with clarity, intention, and the right systems. He breaks down the four essential components of scalability, explains how to avoid shiny-object syndrome, and offers a refreshing take on defining success on your own terms.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to scale without sacrificing quality or sanity

• Brad’s 4 key pillars of scalability: traction, profit, capacity, and innovation

• Why your lived experience always brings value—even if you feel like you're starting from scratch

• How to approach business growth as a series of small, smart experiments

• What success really looks like when you’re building a business that works for you (not the other way around)

🎧 Listen to the full episode here:
🔗 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mastering-business-skills/id1817446208
🔗 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3pA7iQAoo2gvhBGnjPpIr8
🔗 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzFg-Yn62awp-lzhJ_5blXg

Connect with Brad:

• Website: https://www.beleanbusiness.com 

• LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-eisenberg/ 

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