Most small businesses aren’t maximizing their existing resources, leaving thousands—and perhaps, millions—of dollars in untapped potential on the table. In today’s episode of The Ultimate Entrepreneur, host Jim Fitzpatrick is joined by Jay Abraham, legendary executive coach and founder and CEO of the Abraham Group, to discuss overlooked opportunities and growth potential in small businesses.
Well-renowned for his business acumen, Abraham is the epitome of the ultimate entrepreneur, with experience spanning over 1,000 industries. He has had the privilege of observing tens of thousands of different ways that business owners operate—from their strategies and marketing tactics to their business models and distribution channels. His philosophy is to examine businesses through a three-dimensional lens. He’s a staunch advocate for doing more with no additional investment or risk, focusing instead on identifying areas of underperformance, hidden assets, overlooked resources and untapped profit potential.
"You can get a 10x bottom-line moonshot for no investment and no risk, just by understanding how to command and demand much greater current and future performance out of everything you do, every way you do it, with every dollar you spend, and every person you deploy."
Abraham’s journey into entrepreneurship started early. As a young adult, he worked on a commission-based income, earning only what he delivered through his results. After juggling multiple roles across unrelated industries, he came to a key realization: most businesses mimic peers within their field, limiting themselves to incremental growth. But by cross-applying strategies from unrelated industries, he helped businesses achieve exponential results. One company scaled from $300,000 to $500 million, while another grew ninefold in just six months. He also played a vital role in the expansion of Entrepreneur Magazine and several investment firms.
To help business owners unlock similar results, Abraham applies several core methodologies:
Funnel vision vs. tunnel vision
Most entrepreneurs focus narrowly within their industry. Abraham encourages looking outward and borrowing proven strategies from other sectors to spark new growth.
Exponential vs. incremental growth
Small improvements across multiple factors such as marketing, lead generation and sales conversion can create compounding, geometric growth when done simultaneously.
Revenue system optimization
Every business has a revenue system, whether they know it or not. Abraham breaks this down into how a business targets, attracts, converts, and resells to customers, and each step offers room for measurable improvement.
Assets under management
Just like investors manage portfolios, Abraham views a company’s audience, credibility, and market access as business assets. Strategic alliances enable entrepreneurs to leverage these assets—such as existing audiences others have developed—without incurring upfront investment.
Innovation is often born from crisis. During COVID-19, many businesses were forced to pivot. In doing so, many uncovered new, scalable revenue streams. Abraham warns against waiting for disruption to take action. Complacency, reliance on industry norms and a limited perspective are some of the biggest barriers to growth. Entrepreneurs must continually reassess their operations to look for ways to optimize.
“You can’t win if you do the same thing the same way,” Abraham explains. “Even if you’re a little bit better—you’ll never win. You just get a little growth.“
His advice to entrepreneurs: stop searching for a level playing field. Instead, seek out ethical advantages that give the business a competitive edge. Avoid entering markets conventionally and differentiate with a strategy. Lastly, seek strategic alliances as they offer the lowest-risk, highest-yield entry path into the market.
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