Why Most Businesses Fail to Scale—and How EOS Fixes That with Will Watrous

​Why Most Businesses Fail to Scale—and How EOS Fixes That with Will Watrous

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All right. Welcome back to the Daily Mastermind, George Wright II with your daily dose of inspiration, motivation, and education. I'm super excited today because we have some real strategy and tactics we're gonna get into with our guest. Will Will Res. How are you doing, buddy?

I'm doing great, George. Thanks for having me.

Yeah, it's been, uh, it's sometimes tough to coordinate, but I've been wanting to get you on the, uh, you know, on the show here for a little while. And so I'm gonna give everybody a little bit of background, but we'll, we'll kind of dig into that as we go as well. But for those of you that are listening, I just wanna make sure I remind you to hit that subscribe button.

We don't want you to miss any episodes and I. We're really gonna get into some good strategies and tactics today. So share this show if you get the opportunity and you learn something. So Will's background is, um, great because not only does he have some cool strategies, but he's been a business owner, an investor, and he's now an EOS implementer as well.

And he's spent years in the trenches. He has been a founder, a leader, an investor, and you know, at the end of the day, he's worked with companies anywhere from 2 million to $80 million across all kinds of industries. So today on the show, we're gonna talk a little bit about the systems he puts in place for businesses to be able to scale.

So Will, with that said, why don't you give us a little bit of your background so people get a feel for where you come from and you know, sort of what pivoted you into this space of EOS. And then we can kind of talk a little bit about what that is and how it works. But give us some of your background.

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Will's Journey to EOS

Absolutely. So, uh, you know, I would say at the core, I love to help people. And so the business that I started, man, back in 2010 was a marketing agency. And it was not because I decided to start marketing... yeah, I knew someone who needed help with marketing and I knew enough about it that I could, I knew I could help some, and so I just offered my assistance to this local business owner and wound up—he was very successful because he does great business. I would never take the credit for all of that. But he wound up sending me lots of other clients. Everyone in town knew him. And so I just started getting phone calls from other business owners saying, “Hey, what you did for him, can you do that for us?”

And so, I started taking on more and more clients and we grew and grew. But all of that honestly was out of a desire to help a friend.

I went to a Bible school many, many, many years ago, and the funny thing is that at this Bible school—it was a two-year program right out of high school—in the second year, you kind of choose an area. You can help with youth, or you can help with children, or be a pastor, all these things. And then it had this category called helps, which is so funny. You hear that: helps. And that's what I chose. Like, that’s the area—I just want to help.

And so, it was all because in any sort of ministry, there are a lot of behind-the-scenes people. Not everybody is seen. There's all kinds of stuff that happens behind the scenes. And that's what I just wanted to do. I just wanted to help.

So anyway, I say all that to say I just wanted to help this business owner friend who needed some help with marketing. And so I decided that I would do that. I was not an expert at the time. But through the process, I learned all kinds of stuff. I wound up creating an agency, and it wound up being very successful and growing.

But what brought me to EOS—to answer your question—was that it grew so quickly that I had some very alarming symptoms show up in my body. I wound up getting really stressed out. I took a trip to the hospital because of it. I had a wife and a couple of young kids and said, “Okay, this is not cool. We need to change our approach here.”

I came across EOS and the book Traction. I tried to implement it myself—didn't work out so great. I hired an EOS Implementer and worked with him for a couple of years. It transformed the agency. We continued to grow quickly. Net profit went from 6% to 34%. Morale improved. And in that process, it created a lot of freedom for me as the owner.

And I just fell in love with everything about it. I said, “I want to do this.”

So I was able to hand over that company. It’s a multimillion-dollar company with a wonderful leadership team. I meet with the CEO once a month. We run through financials. I support him however I can. But now, all I do is help companies implement EOS in their businesses.

And it's because of this desire that I have. I’ve always said my life theme is: I connect people with the strategies and tools they need to succeed. And I can't not do that. It's like a duck—can’t not quack, you know?

Yeah. No, that’s awesome. Right. I was gonna say, you know, a lot of people—I'm just thinking of this because it's so commonly used—EOS, you know, obviously it means Entrepreneurial Operating System. But let’s do this—and I should’ve done this at the start—but tell us: for people who don’t know what EOS is, tell them what it is and how it came about. That would be a really good, important point here.

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Understanding EOS: Vision, Traction, Healthy

Yeah. So EOS helps business owners and leaders get what they want from their businesses. It does that by providing a complete system with simple, practical tools that help them do three things: Vision, Traction, and Health.

Vision—from the standpoint of first getting your leaders 100% on the same page with: Where are we going with this company? And how do we plan to get there?

Traction—from the standpoint of helping your leaders become much more disciplined and accountable, so they’re executing really well on every part of your vision.

And Healthy—meaning helping your leaders become a more healthy, functional, cohesive leadership team. Because most of the time, leaders don’t function well as a team.

And what we’ve found is: as goes the leadership team, so goes the rest of the organization.

We get to the point where everybody in the company is crystal clear and aligned with where we’re going. They’re making consistent progress—gaining traction toward that vision—and they’re doing it as a group of people who enjoy the work they do and the people they’re around. They’re actually having fun and making a meaningful contribution in their job.

So that’s EOS. Just a simple set of practical tools that help accomplish those things.

I love that. I think that’s a great explanation and we can kind of dig into some of the core components. But what I’ve found over time—and I know you see this all the time, which is gonna bring up a great question—there’s people listening to this podcast and business owners out there at all levels, right? They might be starting their business, scaling their business, really dealing with a large operation or a small operation. But some of the challenges that businesses face are pretty similar, and they’re also different at different levels.

And so this system applies to all different levels. But before we dig into the pieces of it, what are some of the biggest challenges that you find that businesses face? Because having this blueprint or this system is great, but it’s come about really because people are dealing with problems. What are some of the big challenges that you feel like business owners are facing today—which might even be a little different than, you know, five or ten years ago?

Yeah, you know, it’s a very similar set of problems. Very often, it’s people's problems. Whether that’s turnover, drama, or just tension and stress happening in communication—understanding how a group of people are working together.

Also financial. Sometimes there’s just not enough profit. Business owners are working their tails off, and leaders are working their tails off, and there’s not enough to show for it. There really should be more margin involved as a reward for the work they’re doing.

And then I would say, thirdly, it’s systems—processes not being documented, simplified, and followed by all. That’s what creates scalability. That’s what creates profitability. That’s what makes a business fun to run and manage—when everything is being done the right and best way every single time. And whoever is touching a process has been trained and managed and is being held accountable to follow it the way it should be done.

So I’d say people, profit, and processes are probably the main issues I run into.

Yeah, it’s interesting because most business owners—at least they start a business hoping that it’s gonna give them more lifestyle—it ends up being a lot more work than even a full-time job, with even more stress and pressure. So I’m sure you see that with most businesses at any level they’re at, right? They’re just like, “Ah, the business is running me. I’m not running the business.”

So I can see how that probably ties back to when you said helping people. You’re really helping them with these processes to create a business that works. I thought you were a great example of that, where you said you’ve been able to grow a business and then kind of step away from it and work on these models.

I’m curious—do you feel like there’s a particular... and I don’t know if this is a good opportunity for you to maybe kind of take us through some of the steps or some of the core components that EOS drives into—or if you feel like maybe there’s one or two that really come to the surface that you want to kind of dig in a little deeper to. What are your thoughts there?

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The Six Key Components of EOS

That’s a great question. I think one of the bows on all of this is that those problems we mentioned happen simultaneously. At any given moment, a business leader—an entrepreneurial leader—is struggling with 136 issues at the same time.

But what EOS does so beautifully is it helps you identify the root cause. The EOS Model has six key components, and to the degree that you can strengthen these six components, those 136 issues tend to fall into place—because they’re actually symptoms of a true root cause.

So when you strengthen those six areas, your business will accomplish everything you want it to accomplish.

And I’ll just briefly walk you through those six areas.

Yeah, and I would love for you to do that. I was gonna comment—you’re right—that’s a really good point. You can’t just work on one of these areas, because they affect each other so much as you move and scale. But more than likely, you’re dealing with more than just one of them as an issue. So yeah—let’s go through those. That’d be great.

Yeah, so the first component is the Vision Component—getting everyone on the same page with where we’re going and how we’re going to get there.

And by the way, EOS provides a couple of simple, practical tools or disciplines in each one of these six areas to strengthen them.

Then we have the People Component. You can’t accomplish a great vision without great people. And the truth is, every business defines great people differently. So we work together to understand: What does a great person look like for your unique company?

The third area is the Data Component. That’s running the business on facts and figures—on objective information—versus egos, emotions, or subjective feelings that so often drive decision-making in entrepreneurial companies.

The fourth area is the Issues Component. That’s just getting your team to be really good at solving problems as they arise. Your company can’t ever be great if your people aren’t really good at setting up problems, knocking them down, and making them go away forever.

The fifth component is the Process Component, which we just talked about—getting everything in the business done the right and best way every single time.

And then the last one, the sixth component, is the Traction Component. That’s just bringing the vision down to the ground and executing on it day in and day out—that consistent discipline.

So each of those six key areas has a couple of tools or disciplines that we use to get them to 80% strong or better. We’re not trying to get to perfection. Perfection or utopia never happens in business. You know that. And so 80% strong or better is all that we need.

Yeah. Just evolving growth, right? I thought it was interesting. I’m a big fan. I think there’s... well, I guess let me ask you this question before I make this comment. Is there one of those areas that you find more often than not is the one that people are not even addressing—or is it always different?

Well, every business has weaknesses in different areas. But I would say the most common—and maybe the most impactful one—is the People Component. Getting the right people in the right seats, as Jim Collins popularized in his book Good to Great.

There are a couple of tools or disciplines there. But it seems like the root of all evil in an organization is not having the right people in the right seats. That’s really critical to overall success.

Yeah. It doesn’t matter if you’re measuring the results, if you have the wrong people, right? I do find a lot of people we’ve worked with over the years also struggle with the scorecards and KPIs. But I was gonna comment and say—I thought it was really unique of EOS—so I would love for you to just give me a couple more pieces on this.

One of the six components is “Issues,” right? Most businesses know what they need to do—it doesn’t mean they’re doing it—but very few of them focus on how to handle issues. That’s where kind of the rubber hits the road. So when you say issues and things that come up—what do you mean by that? What is it specifically that you work with businesses on? And is it preemptive or is it just as things come up? Because I thought that was pretty unique to EOS.

Yeah, it’s such an important area. Because you’re always getting bombarded by lots of issues.

As a leader, you have to be really good at understanding what your true priorities are—wading through all of the things you could put your time and attention on and asking: What’s most important?

So a couple of tools we use for that first one is called an Issues List. It’s simply, first of all, creating a culture in your organization where anybody feels comfortable raising their hand and saying, “Hey, we’ve got an issue here.”

That issue goes on a list. So we actually have an Issues List where we’re documenting and paying attention to the things that are coming up.

Once your team is doing that, we have to help them get really good at solving those issues at the root—making them go away forever. And so we do something called the Issues Solving Track.

It helps teams stay on track. It’s a very specific way of having a discussion—or a meeting, or an issue-solving session—that helps you, first of all, identify what is the true root of the issue. Because whatever was written on that list is probably just a symptom. You’ve gotta dig, dig, dig.

Understand: How could this have ever even happened in the first place?

Then briefly discuss it—without anybody repeating themselves. We say it once and only once, because more than once is politicking. Once the discussion gets redundant, we move to the solve phase. That means we make a decision, and someone commits to take an action to make that go away forever.

This whole process—because what we’ve found is even great leadership teams—they’ll get in a room, tackle an issue, and discuss the heck out of it. Rarely do they understand what the true root cause is, and rarely do they walk out with a solution that will make it go away forever.

So EOS has this thing called IDS, which stands for Identify, Discuss, Solve—three distinct phases of a conversation that help you solve issues at the root.

Yeah. It’s interesting because sometimes systems are simple—they’re just not easy. And that’s one of the reasons why I think this term and the process is done by an EOS Implementer. And this podcast episode is by no means meant to just promote EOS—I just think they have a great system and a great organization for doing that.

And I think it’s just like anything else with mentoring and consulting and other things people can access—sometimes the best help can come from outside your organization. Because you can’t see the forest through the trees when you’re on your own.

I would imagine you’ve probably had many situations where business owners or companies have had aha moments because maybe they just were too close to the situation to see what was happening. Do you have any stories of businesses that implemented EOS and had major transformations?

Yeah, definitely. So I’m sitting here at this table—it’s a hexagon, six-sided table. I can fit up to 12 people. The reason I’m talking about this table is that it’s set up so that everybody can see each other.

Why that’s important is because what I’m going toward here is the need for teams to be open and honest.

I forget who it was—maybe a general in the military—who said to his people: “Tell me something I don’t want to hear.”

What happens in these sessions is we go there. We rip off the Band-Aid. I work with teams to help them become open and honest with one another.

Just say it. Don’t hold back. Get it on the table. Because a great team working together can solve it all.

So what I’ve seen again and again at this table is that as we build this openness and honesty—people being willing to share things with one another—the owner or leader is hearing information for the first time.

They saw symptoms here and there, but couldn’t put their finger on it. And here, now, someone at the table—one of their leadership team members—is willing to be vulnerable, go out on a limb, and say, “Okay, here’s what’s really going on.”

And the owner just sits back in awe going, “Wow, I was unaware how deep that went—or how big of an issue that really was.”

Because a little crack at the leadership team level is like the Grand Canyon down farther in the organization.

All of that to say: the surprises I see with owners, visionaries, and leaders come from what other people on the team bring to the table—once an environment of openness and honesty is created.

There’s a great book you may know—Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. That base layer is vulnerability-based trust. That’s what creates the opportunity for healthy conflict, where people are willing to have opposing viewpoints.

And we need that. We need healthy conflict. We need people to fight for the best idea, not fight with each other.

Yeah. And I’ll bet you’ve got—I mean, obviously—having a third party come in helps to create that sort of environment of openness. But I would imagine you struggle with organizations at different levels, where some people are more willing and open than others.

And maybe you’ve gotta crack through that with certain people. It takes finesse, right? I’m sure it takes experience to be able to get in there as an Implementer and get people to open up. Because the last thing someone wants to do is open up in a way they feel might affect their job. Even if they’re told it won’t—they’re thinking, “Man, if I bring this up, this person’s never gonna forget it.” How do you deal with that?

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Importance of Team Health and Vulnerability

Yeah. Well, every team has room to grow. Some of them are pretty far along—they’re pretty healthy. Others come in and it takes work. There’s been drama. There are skeletons in the closet. There’s stuff that just hasn’t been talked about.

Team health is a big part of what we’re doing. Patrick Lencioni says most teams spend a lot of time and energy becoming smart, but not enough time becoming healthy. And being healthy is critically important.

So we do some exercises together to help people start letting their guard down. We build vulnerability-based trust with one another to open the door to having meaningful conversations as a leadership team.

Sometimes that can happen in month three. Sometimes it’s month 18.

And honestly, sometimes if a person is not willing to go there—they might not be a fit for this team or this company. And they need to go. Sometimes they’ll self-eject. And that’s okay, too. They need to find a place where they feel comfortable being themselves.

Yeah, and I’ve definitely seen that over the years. Scaling companies—you’re right—one of the number one things you need is leadership growth.

You can’t grow a company just by going wide—you can’t just keep adding people. You’ve got to grow a layer of leadership. And leadership and growth always come outside your comfort zone. That’s what makes it so difficult for some people.

But again, like you said, that’s a filter. That’s a process that allows you to identify true leaders who are willing to be vulnerable, listen, get feedback, adjust, and not take it personally. That’s a really good point.

Well, what would you say are some of the biggest mistakes leadership teams make when they try to do this on their own, instead of bringing someone in?

Yeah. If it’s the owner, the visionary, the founder of the company—typically, not always—but very often they have shiny object syndrome. They grab something, plug it in, and hope it fixes everything.

They’re strong on ideas and creativity—but usually weak on execution and project completion. Driving it through to the finish line is hard for visionaries.

For that to happen, a few things are needed.

First, a deep, unwavering commitment to see it through to the end. That’s hard for a visionary. That’s why they need a great team. They need an Integrator. They need people around them who are actually going to execute.

Second, buy-in. The whole team needs to be bought in and committed.

Without those two things, it becomes another fad. Another thing we threw at the problem. And EOS—or any system—is not a fad. It’s fundamentally changing the way you run your company.

It sits below your area of expertise. It’s how you get people aligned. How you get a vision executed. We’re changing how we do the work—not just dabbling in something.

No, that’s a great point. As with anything in business, the best thing you can do isn’t just find a growth strategy you try to apply—it’s putting a structure and foundation in place that you can scale upon.

That’s a long-term focus. It’s not a 90-day experiment. And I think that’s such a powerful takeaway.

This has been very helpful. I think it opens the eyes of a lot of people that there are proven systems—like EOS—that can help you scale, build, and grow your business.

So I really appreciate you being willing to share what that structure and process looks like. Is there anything else you’d like to leave with our audience before we take off—about business, systems, or structure in the current market?

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Final Thoughts and Takeaways

Sure. Sam Carpenter wrote a book called Work the System. I love this line—he said:

“Your business is nothing more than a dispassionate collection of systems.”

And I love that. Because it helps you separate yourself from the entity.

It helps you see the business as a collection of systems. And you just have to tinker. You’ve got to get down in the basement where all the boilers are—where everything is produced.

If you want to see change, go down into the basement. Start flipping levers. Tweak the systems.

Because whatever you’re experiencing on the ground floor—it’s exactly what your business was designed to produce.

All the great stuff? Hey, great job.
All the frustrations, hang-ups, pain points?
You’ve got to take responsibility for those too.

Because you designed and created a system that’s producing them.

Yeah, no, I think that’s great. I appreciate you saying that. And I’d like to just leave one more thought with our listeners.

One of the things that marks a successful entrepreneur or business leader is someone who can clarify and crystallize a strong vision for the future.

And they recognize that vision is outside their current capacity and skill set.

When you're working toward something in the unknown, nothing gives you more certainty than having systems in place. Systems that can help you scale. That’s why I wanted to feature Will on today’s episode.

So Will, thank you for being here with us. I’ll put your contact links—social media and website—in the show notes so people can reach out. Thanks again for spending time with us. I really appreciate it.

Thank you, George. Keep up the great work. I’m excited to see where your companies are going as well.

Yeah. Thank you, sir. Okay, guys—thank you for being with us today. Share this episode and, as always, hit me up on The Daily Mastermind on Instagram, Facebook, pretty much all the social media handles. Look forward to talking with you more tomorrow.

This is George Wright III and this has been The Daily Mastermind. Have a great day.

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About Will Watrous:

Will Watrous is a seasoned entrepreneur, investor, and Professional EOS Implementer® based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. With a rich background in founding and scaling multiple companies across the U.S. and Canada, he brings firsthand experience to his role in helping leadership teams gain clarity, alignment, and traction in their businesses. As the founder of StructureM, a growth agency dedicated to assisting local service companies, Will has demonstrated a commitment to driving business success through strategic marketing and operational excellence.

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Guest Resources:

Website: EOS Worldwide – Will Watrous

LinkedIn: Will Watrous

StructureM: About StructureM

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About George Wright III:

George Wright is a Proven, Successful Entrepreneur- and he knows how to inspire entrepreneurs, companies, and individuals to achieve Massive Results. With more than 20 years of Executive Management experience and 25 years of Direct Marketing and Sales experience, George is responsible for starting and building several successful multimillion-dollar companies. He started at a very young age to network and build his experience and knowledge of what it takes to become a driven and well-known entrepreneur. George built a multi-million-dollar seminar business, promoting some of the biggest stars and brands in the world. He has accelerated the success and cash flow in each of his ventures through his network of resources and results driven strategies. George is now dedicated to teaching and sharing his Prosperity Principles and Strategies to every Driven and Passionate Entrepreneur he meets. His mission is to Empower Entrepreneurs Globally to create Massive Change and LIVE their Ultimate Destiny.

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