The $4 Million Bottleneck: Working ON Your Business, Not IN It with Glen Harris III

Glen Harris III was living the contractor's dream in 2016. His custom home building company was doing $4 million in revenue, clients were happy, and he was making good money. There was just one problem: he WAS the business.

Every estimate, every decision, every five-minute phone call ran through him. He'd hit a ceiling and couldn't see how to break through it.

This episode is about what happened next and why it matters if you're stuck in the same trap.

What You'll Learn

Why systems beat hustle when you want to scale. Glen breaks down the moment he realized working harder wasn't going to get him to $5 million, let alone $10 or $15 million. He needed systems that could run without him, but building them from scratch while running a business felt impossible. His solution might surprise you.

"I was the point person for everything in my business. I was the bottleneck for the business. And I realized that I was plateauing and I didn't know how to continue to grow the business from there."

The real cost of being a solo operator. When everything depends on you, growth means more hours, more stress, and more chaos. Glen walks through the specific breaking point that forced him to rethink his entire business model, including what he gave up and what he gained.

"I started thinking about things like system and process and accountability and having the right people on the team that can maybe take those phone calls that I take every five minutes as a solo operator. Putting accountability in place. Personally, I needed accountability because there would be plenty of things that I just wouldn't push because I'm the one that has to push myself to do those things."

How to hire people who actually want to grow your business. Most builders hire project managers who want to stay project managers. Glen explains why he stopped looking for construction experience and started hunting for something else entirely. His approach to finding growth-minded people has turned several employees into business partners.

"I'm not just looking for a PM that's going to be a project manager for the next 20 years. I'm looking for someone that's growth minded, that is eager to learn and can grow into that position, but then continue to grow in their career and move up into production management, general management, potential ownership."

The ownership model most small builders can't offer. Glen's project managers aren't just earning bonuses. They're buying into offices and running their own operations across Southwest Florida. He explains how this changes retention, motivation, and the type of people who want to work with you.

"I can now look across the table at a prospective project manager and I can give them hope for the future, for growth. And those are the type of people I want. Maybe they eventually own their own business within our structure and our organization. So there's just a lot of opportunity and that is a different candidate than the small boutique builder that may be looking for more of a site super, field technician."

What happens when disaster hits and you're the only one who can fix it. Hurricane Ian cut off access to every job site overnight. A house fire threatened to destroy everything. Glen shares how having the right people and systems in place was the difference between losing the business and coming out stronger.

"I was buying boats to get to the islands. I put my personal boat in the water to take men, carpenters, to the islands to do work. I was signing contracts on the boat. I was a boat captain basically for 30 days after Hurricane Ian, taking guys back and forth, signing contracts on my phone to land new projects."

The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and why it works for construction. Glen credits this framework with bringing real accountability to his team. He walks through how it changed daily operations and why builders on a plateau should look into it.

How to transition from working in your business to working on it. This isn't motivational talk. Glen gets specific about the steps, the timeline, and the hard decisions involved in moving from being the guy who does everything to being the guy who builds the machine that does everything.

"I view the business as this machine. And there's a lot of parts that make it all work and you've got to fine tune it. Once you can get it to a point where it's humming without you, then you've done something that's scalable. That's the ability to really scale and grow a business is when you can really get that thing fine tuned and working on it, not in it."

"I can now focus on the little things that we need to do to increase net profit or focus on the little things we need to do to increase our business development and growth across the region. I could focus on those things instead of the cabinet that wasn't quite colored properly and the client's mad because the color is off or the flooring isn't right. We're at a point now where we have the systems and the people in place that can handle those things."

Why This Episode Matters

If you're doing $3 million to $5 million and can't figure out how to get past it, this conversation will show you where the real problems are. Glen's not selling a course or pushing a system. He's just explaining what worked after years of trial and error, including the mistakes that cost him time and money.

"As a business owner, it's so rewarding to be able to invest in someone and see them grow and succeed. To be able to invest in their future and their success to me has just been phenomenal. It's very rewarding and fulfilling for me to be able to help others grow in their own success."

You'll also hear about his path from starting a business during the 2008 recession with $5,000 in savings to becoming Regional Partner overseeing eight offices across Florida. The journey involves changing car batteries, cleaning bird droppings, and eventually realizing that growth requires letting go of control.

Whether you're thinking about franchising, wondering how to hire better people, or just trying to figure out why you're stuck at the same revenue year after year, Glen's been there. And he'll tell you exactly what it took to get unstuck.

Glen Harris III 

EI, CGC - Regional Partner SWFL

Glen Harris III is a 3rd generation Floridian and grew up in central Florida, where he developed a deep appreciation for craftsmanship early on. After earning a Master of Engineering in Construction Management from the University of Florida in 2003, Glen began his career in the southwest Florida custom residential market. Six years later, he founded GH3 Enterprises, LLC, launching his own path of entrepreneurship in the construction industry.

In 2016, Glen partnered with Alair Homes to bring the luxury brand to Florida, transforming GH3 Enterprises into Alair Sanibel. His commitment to quality, transparency, and customer satisfaction fueled rapid growth, and within a year, he became Regional Partner for Southwest Florida. Under his leadership, the SWFL region has expanded to include offices in Old Naples, North Naples, Bonita Springs, Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel, South Tampa, Casey Key, and most recently Sebring, FL.

Alair Florida:
* https://regions.alairhomes.com/florida/
* https://www.facebook.com/alairhomesflorida
* https://www.instagram.com/alairhomesflorida/

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction
01:47 Sound Capital
02:04 Background
02:51 Early Life and Education
06:52 Internships and Early Career
16:07 Starting a Business During a Recession
23:21 Transition to Alair Homes
33:35 Hiring the Right People
35:20 Transitioning to a Project Management Company
37:07 Opportunities for Growth and Ownership
38:03 Trial and Error in Hiring
39:58 Motivating and Retaining Top Talent
48:36 Handling Unexpected Challenges
56:11 Lessons Learned and Key Takeaways