What happens when success comes faster than you can handle it? In this episode of Built Without a Net, host Brad Foley shares how HR Value Partners grew from steady progress to an overwhelming surge—adding 12 new clients in just four months. What began as a marketing triumph quickly revealed cracks in onboarding, leadership planning, and team capacity. Brad reflects on the hard lessons learned from rapid expansion and offers practical insights on sustainable growth, smart hiring, and protecting both your people and your clients along the way.

In this episode, Brad discusses:

• The struggles of scaling HR Value Partners and the realities of rapid business growth
• How cold calling and email marketing evolved his client acquisition strategy
• The dangers of growing faster than your team or systems can handle
• Employee burnout, client strain, and the consequences of poor onboarding
• The leadership lessons learned from unsustainable expansion and recovery

Key Takeaways: 

• Sometimes, the smartest business decision is restraint. True sustainability comes from pacing expansion in alignment with your team’s capacity and your systems’ readiness.
• Great leaders recognize that excitement can mask exhaustion. Establish growth goals based on strategy and data, not just morale or momentum.
• When cracks appear in performance or service, it’s usually a signal to reassess leadership structure and workload distribution. Accountability starts at the top.
• Every rushed hire or shortcut in training eventually leads to bigger problems—lost clients, high turnover, and eroded trust. Investing upfront in preparation pays off tenfold.
• Rapid success can disguise instability. Sustainable success depends on maintaining the balance between growth and operational integrity.

“Sustainable growth requires way more than sales energy. It requires that you have the capacity for that client. It requires that you have the systems in place. It requires that you have leadership discipline. It requires that you have employees that are prepared for the challenges of serving those clients.” - Brad Foley

Connect with Brad Foley:

Website: https://www.hrvaluepartners.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradfoley/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hrvaluepartners/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hrvaluepartners/ 

Email: [email protected] 

Show notes by Podcastologist: Angelo Paul Tagama

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.