If Someone Wired You $10M, Would Your Business Break?
When Jacob Neffendorf asked me this on the podcast, it hit like a punch to the gut.
“If somebody came into your business and gave you $10 million to grow it and you got triple the customers in two or three months, are there systems and processes in place for your business to handle that?”
Most guys say they want “more leads” and “more jobs.”
Very few are actually ready for it.
In this episode with Jacob (Rise Online Ads / Land Clearing Growth), we unpacked what he learned spending serious money on coaching with Alex Hormozi and the acquisition.com team and how it applies directly to land clearing, forestry mulching, fire mitigation, and really any home service business trying to go from operator to owner.
1. The Mindset Shift: It Is Possible (You Just Aren’t Set Up Yet)
Jacob runs a seven-figure agency that only works with land clearing companies. He flew out, spent a day one-on-one with Hormozi, then a full day with the acquisition.com department heads — marketing, sales, people, the whole squad.
They tore his business apart (in a good way), handed him an 87-page action plan, and basically said:
- Yes, you can get way bigger.
- Here’s why you’re not.
- Here’s exactly what to change.
The big mindset shift?
Most of us quietly believe, “Maybe this is as big as I can get. Maybe my market is tapped. Maybe there just isn’t more.”
But when you’re sitting in a room with people who have either built or helped build businesses way bigger than yours, that excuse dies fast. The data doesn’t lie: for most of us, the constraint isn’t “no more market.”
It’s that we’re not focused, we’re not systematic, and we’re trying to be everything for everyone.
2. Step One: Get Ruthlessly Clear on Your Ideal Customer
This is where almost everyone messes up.
Jacob didn’t start out as “the land clearing guy.” He was doing pressure washing, power washing, and running ads for different niches. Then five years ago, he made a decision:
And it felt risky. He didn’t know if the market was big enough. He didn’t know anyone in land clearing except one client.
But here’s the kicker: he’s never met a single person who niched down and then discovered, “There just wasn’t enough market.” If the niche exists, there’s usually plenty of demand especially if you’re the one specialist who actually cares about the space.
Then he niched further:
- First: any land clearing company.
- Then: land clearing companies doing at least ~$50k/month.
- Now: established operators, usually with multiple machines, proven demand, and the desire (and capacity) to scale.
Along the way, he said “no” to more clients than ever before and his revenue went up because they were doing better work for the right people.
I’ve lived the same lesson.
When I started Bear Claw Land Services, I chose a broad name instead of “Bear Claw Fire Mitigation” because I was scared:
“What if there aren’t enough fire mitigation jobs? I’ll just do driveways, excavation, whatever comes along.”
Looking back, I would’ve gone all-in on fire mitigation from the start. Now our best customers, best margins, and clearest marketing all circle around that one thing.
If you want to grow past the chaos stage, you have to answer:
- Who do we really want to serve?
- What specific problem do we solve better than anyone?
- Who are we willing to say “no” to, even if they’re ready to pay?
Niche down. Then niche down again.
3. Turn Your Clients Into a Sales Machine (a.k.a. the 72-Hour Booking System)
One of the biggest tactical takeaways Jacob got — and is now rolling out to his clients — is simple:
Your clients shouldn’t just get leads from you. They should get a system to close those leads.
He’s building what he calls the 72-Hour Booking Machine:
- A clear process to work every lead for 72 hours
- Scripts so the team knows what to say
- Key metrics: booking rate, close rate, follow-up touches, referrals
- A definition of “what winning looks like” — not just “we sent you leads, good luck”
Why does this matter to you?
Because your business needs the same thing internally.
If you’re getting leads but:
- No one is responsible for fast follow-up
- There’s no script or framework for site visits
- You’re not tracking close rates, referral rates, average job size
…then you’re leaving a lot of money on the table.
You don’t need a fancy name for your system. You just need a consistent way your team works leads for the first 72 hours:
Call, text, email, follow up. Every time. No exceptions.
4. Build Systems Like You’re Going to Sell (Even If You Never Do)
This is where that $10M question comes back:
If someone wired you $10 million to grow and your customer count tripled in 90 days…
Would your business handle it — or collapse?
Do you have:
- Hiring systems?
- Quoting systems?
- Client retention and follow-up systems (especially for annual or seasonal work)?
- Invoicing and collections that don’t require you chasing checks?
Most people want “scale” without the boring part:
Documented processes. Clear roles. Software that supports the workflow (we use Jobber in multiple businesses because it keeps quoting, scheduling, invoicing, and payments from turning into a disaster).
You should build like you’re going to sell your business someday because a sellable business is almost always a better-run business.
Even if you never exit, you win:
- Less chaos.
- Less owner dependency.
- More profit per unit of effort.
5. Stop Making Content for Other Operators. Make It for Buyers.
This one stung a little for both of us.
Jacob sees two types of operators online:
- The guys who don’t want to make content at all.
- The guys who make tons of content… for other operators.
Clean equipment shots. Cool edits of machines ripping through brush. Slow-mo tracks of the tractor rolling off the trailer.
Fun to watch. Totally useless for your actual customer.
Your buyers want to know:
- Can you solve my specific problem?
- How fast can you do it?
- How much will it cost (ballpark)?
- What’s the difference between options (forestry mulching vs. traditional clearing, fire mitigation vs. “just knocking stuff down”)?
That’s why educational content wins.
And that’s why Jacob’s best clients — and our best moves — are built around content that:
- Shows the before/after and outcome on real properties
- Explains tradeoffs (price, timeframe, mess, long-term benefits)
- Talks about risk: wildfire, erosion, property value, usability
The goal is simple: by the time someone calls you, they already understand:
- What you do
- Roughly what it costs
- Why you charge what you charge
- Why it’s worth it
You’re not trying to go viral. You’re trying to make money.
6. Talk About Price (Stop Hiding It)
This is a big one we talked about on the show, and it’s something we’re actively improving at Bear Claw too.
Every operator complains about “tire kickers.”
But most of them hide all pricing.
If someone has no idea whether your service is $500 or $15,000, you’re going to waste a lot of time driving to site visits that should’ve never been booked.
Jacob’s data from running land clearing ads all over the U.S. is clear: top search terms are things like:
- “cost to clear land”
- “cost to clear land per acre”
- “forestry mulching pricing”
- “land clearing pricing”
People want to know what things cost.
You don’t have to publish an exact, rigid price list. But at minimum:
- Give a realistic range.
- Explain what moves the price up or down.
- Educate on options:
- Full land clearing vs. forestry mulching
- Fire mitigation vs. “just cleaning it up a bit”
Even better? Build a simple price guide or “ballpark estimate” tool:
- They answer questions about their land and goals
- They get a rough range
- You get a qualified lead who understands this isn’t a $500 job
You filter out the wrong fits before your sales team ever gets in the truck.
7. Pick One Platform and Squeeze It
This came straight from Hormozi to Jacob: pick one platform and dominate it before you spread yourself thin.
For Jacob’s business (selling to operators, usually younger guys, scrolling fast), TikTok is his main channel. He posts a ton of educational content there, sees what hits, and then:
The videos that perform best organically become his paid ads.
That’s the play:
Use organic to test. Then put money behind what the market already told you it likes.
For land clearing / fire mitigation operators serving landowners, ranchers, and older demographics, the platform might be different:
- Facebook and Instagram for a lot of property owners
- YouTube for long-form education (Jacob calls it “Boomer TikTok” — older guys who “aren’t on social media” are watching YouTube Shorts for hours)
Whatever platform you choose, keep the content framework simple:
Hook – Meat – CTA
- Hook: Call out your ideal customer in the first 3 seconds.
- “Colorado landowners…”
- “Front Range ranch owners…”
- “If you own 5+ acres in wildfire country…”
- Meat: Share one clear teaching point.
- Why fire mitigation matters
- Why forestry mulching might save them money
- What to do before building on raw land
- CTA: Give them a simple next step.
- “Click to get a ballpark estimate.”
- “Hit the link to schedule a walk-through.”
- “Download our fire mitigation price guide.”
That’s it. Don’t overcomplicate it.
8. The Three Big Levers (Your Playbook From This Episode)
If you strip everything else away, here’s what this conversation with Jacob really came down to:
- Market to the right people.
Get painfully clear on your ideal customer and say “no” to the rest. Your business gets easier and more profitable. - Show them what winning looks like.
Educate with your content. Give away the playbook. Be transparent about pricing. Help them make a decision before they ever talk to your team. - Build systems so you can actually handle growth.
From lead follow-up to quoting to invoicing to repeat work — build like someone’s about to hand you $10M and triple your volume.
Because here’s the reality:
Most operators don’t fail for lack of opportunity.
They fail because they stay stuck as “just the operator” and never build the systems, focus, and marketing that an owner would build.
If this punched you in the gut a bit — good. It did for me too.
Now ask yourself:
- Who’s my real ideal customer?
- Where do they spend time online?
- What systems would break first if my volume tripled?
Start there. Fix one thing at a time.
And if you want to go deeper, listen to the full Owner Ops episode with Jacob — we get into even more tactical stuff we couldn’t fit in here.
