GROW by Design
Jacob Godar is an expert at scaling contractor-based businesses and the founder of GROW Comm, a private coaching group for contractors. Each week, he shares experiences, lends advice, and teaches strategies to help you achieve your next level in your life, relationships, and business.
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Episode 205: How Entrepreneurs Balance Family & Business Without Burning Out
In this episode, we dive into one of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs face: juggling family and business.<br /><br />Building a business requires sacrifice, long hours, and constant decision-making. But if you're not careful, the pursuit of growth can slowly start taking away from the very reason you started in the first place, your family.<br /><br />In this conversation, we talk honestly about the reality of entrepreneurship, including the pressure of leadership, building a team, making difficult decisions, and learning how to create balance between growing your company and being present in your personal life.<br /><br />You'll also...
Episode 204: How to Sell More in Your Service Business | Upselling Strategies That Actually Grow Your Company
In this episode of Grow By Design, we break down how service business owners can increase revenue without constantly chasing new customers. Learn practical upselling strategies, mindset shifts, and value-driven sales techniques that help lawn care, landscaping, home service, and contractor businesses sell more while better serving their clients.<br /><br />Discover how recognizing opportunities on every job, overcoming scarcity mindset, and consistently adding value can create loyal customers, referrals, and long-term business growth.<br /><br />How to upsell services the right way<br />Turning existing clients into more revenue<br />The mindset shift that improves sales instantly<br />Real...
Episode 203: How Client Experience Becomes Your Strongest Competitive Advantage
Growing your business isn’t about chasing more leads, bigger jobs, or the next shiny “hack".<br /><br />It’s about one thing most business owners overlook: the client experience.<br /><br />In this episode, I break down how focusing on your client’s journey - from the first call to final payment and everything in between - creates a compounding snowball effect that drives real growth.<br /><br />We cover:<br /><br />Why “client first” doesn’t mean “customer is always right”<br />How removing friction makes it easier for people to buy from you<br />The real reason businesses lose cl...
Episode 202: Why Employees Quit: Company Culture, Hiring & Leadership Mistakes Killing Your Business
In this episode of Grow by Design, we break down why great employees really leave—and how leadership, culture, and hiring decisions directly impact turnover and growth. We cover culture killers, accountability, career paths, and what business owners must fix to build teams that scale and stay.<br /><br /><br /><br />
Episode 201: My Biggest Business Mistake of 2025 (And What It Cost Me)
In this episode of Grow by Design, I break down my biggest business mistake of the year: overspending on marketing without alignment, tracking, and accountability. We talk about why “more ads” isn’t the answer, how fragmented marketing kills results, and the systems every business owner must have in place before spending another dollar. <br /><br />If you’re a service business owner investing in marketing—or thinking about it—this episode could save you tens of thousands of dollars.
Episode 200 : kicks off 2026 with a raw, real reset.
In this episode, I break down why pain is unavoidable—but suffering is optional. We dive into hard truths about leadership, accountability, scaling service businesses, management failures, efficiency, marketing struggles, and building a company that can survive the next economic cycle.<br /><br />I also share personal lessons from fitness, mindset work, Tony Robbins events, and the perspective shifts that changed how I see failure, growth, and success.<br /><br />This year is about real conversations, real struggles, and real growth. <br /><br />No fluff. No excuses. Just value.<br /><br />
Episode 199: Why I'm Pressing Pause on the Podcast (For Now)
In this short but important episode, I dive into the reason behind this decision and share a message that applies to every business owner: sometimes doing more doesn’t move you forward, it spreads you thin. I reflect on what it means to overcommit, how that affects leadership and life, and the power of evaluating what truly drives results. If you’ve been grinding nonstop and feel like you’re skimming across everything instead of going deep on what matters, this one’s for you.
Episode 198: The Raw Truth Behind Our 2025 Wins and Losses
Today I talk about the brutal, unfiltered reality of my 2025 business journey, the wins we celebrated, the losses that nearly broke me, and the leadership shifts that changed everything. This year wasn’t just another chapter; it was a true test of resilience, vision, and the willingness to own every mistake along the way. From massive financial obligations and losing key team members to building back with new systems and a stronger foundation, I’m sharing it all without sugarcoating a thing.<br /><br />In this episode, I dive deep into how I realized the importance of extreme ownership at a wh...
Episode 197: From Throwing Mud at the Wall to Strategic Growth Planning
Today I go over our first Level 10 meeting and why I waited way too long to implement this game-changing system in my business. If you're a business owner struggling with direction, wanting things perfect before taking action, or questioning your leadership strength, this episode is exactly what you need to hear.I'm sharing the real story of how we hit $5 million in sales by throwing mud at the wall, then got completely stuck because nobody knew what was actually important anymore. Everyone felt like everything was a priority, and honestly, that was my fault as the owner. I was the...
Episode 196: The Obsession Formula That Separates Winners from Losers
In this raw episode of Grow By Design, I dive deep into the real meaning of passion and why suffering is absolutely required for business success. Recording from our Naples location, I break down the one correlation I've found between all my biggest wins - passion drove everything. I share insights from Cameron Haynes' book "Undeniable" about how the Latin roots of passion literally mean "to suffer and endure," and why this changes everything about how you should approach building your business. I get honest about the plateaus, anxiety, and lowest lows that come with being obsessed and passionate about...
