Episode Summary
In this episode of The Flywheel Effect, Brent Sonnek-Schmelz sits down with Matt Bernath to break down what it takes to set a business up for lasting growth—especially as many integrators settle back to pre-pandemic norms. Matt shares how some owners used the COVID spike to build stronger companies, while others struggled to adjust as demand returned to normal. He explains that clear financial planning and honest self-assessment have separated resilient businesses from those still chasing past highs.
Matt guides listeners through a simple, actionable approach for setting a vision and translating it into daily action. He encourages owners to dream big but focus on what needs to be true each year to keep moving toward that bigger goal. The conversation covers why most planning fails, how to avoid common traps, and the power of breaking goals into small, inevitable steps.
Brent and Matt close with practical advice for making progress stick—both in business and in life. They highlight the importance of habits, realistic targets, and tracking what matters most. If you want to move from reactive to strategic, this episode offers a clear path forward.
Featured Guest
Guest: Matt Bernath
What he does: President
Company: VITAL
Noteworthy: Matt helps custom integration business owners build clear financial plans, right-size their teams, and turn long-term goals into actionable steps for growth.
Where to find him: LinkedIn
Recommended book: Atomic Habits
Key Insights
Sustainable Growth Requires More Than Riding a Market Wave
A surge in demand can give a business a temporary lift, but it won’t guarantee future success. The companies that sustain growth do more than capitalize on a “bump.” They use periods of increased demand to strengthen their fundamentals, invest in their teams, and build better systems. When the market changes, these organizations adapt quickly, right-size their operations, and make tough calls—like reducing headcount or adjusting targets—if needed. Instead of chasing old highs or clinging to ego-driven expectations, resilient leaders focus on facts, not feelings. They see the business cycle clearly and embrace change as a chance to reset and refocus. Over time, this approach leads to long-term stability and profit, not just a fleeting spike in revenue.
Break Big Goals Into Inevitable Steps
Ambitious goals can feel out of reach until they’re broken down into clear, actionable steps. It’s not enough to set a vision for three years out—you need to define what must be true at the end of each year to stay on track. From there, identify the small, repeatable actions that make progress inevitable. For example, if reaching a target means hiring new staff or improving margins, outline the specific habits or daily efforts that get you there. This approach turns daunting objectives into manageable routines. It also builds confidence, because you’re not just hoping for a result—you’re following a plan with measurable checkpoints. Over time, small wins add up, closing the gap between where you are and where you want to be.
Planning Fails When It’s Too Detailed—or Too Vague
Most planning efforts fall apart for one of two reasons: too much detail or not enough clarity. Overly detailed plans bog people down in logistics, making them hard to follow or adapt as things change. On the other hand, vague dreams never translate to real action. The secret is to strike a balance. Start with a clear, specific vision—one that excites you but isn’t tied down by every step. Then, each year, ask what needs to be true by year’s end to keep moving forward. Use that answer to set a handful of realistic, measurable goals. This process keeps your plans flexible, actionable, and focused on outcomes, not just activity. When you plan this way, you’re more likely to follow through and see real results.
Episode Highlights
Challenging the Business Annuity Fallacy
00:00:00
Many business owners view their companies as guaranteed sources of income that should grow perpetually, which can cloud judgment about when to sell or reinvest. This episode opens by addressing this “business annuity fallacy,” where leaders assume continued growth is their right, not something earned through effort and adaptation. The discussion sets up how this belief can keep owners stuck, missing key moments to make hard choices or prepare for shifts in the market. By recognizing that sustainable profit takes consistent work and isn’t automatic, leaders can make smarter decisions about their future.
“The business annuity fallacy where people look at their businesses as annuities that never go down. And they think growth is perpetual just because it’s their right. I think this gets in the way of people when they should sell. Like, ‘Hey, why would I sell when I can make $10 million over the next four years?’ When in reality it takes a lot of work to make those $10 million.”
Gaining Clarity With a Simple Profit Planning Tool
00:01:50
Financial planning can overwhelm business owners who lack the time or experience to build complex models. The episode highlights a streamlined, web-based tool designed to help custom integrators build a clear profit plan for the year ahead. This system simplifies the process, focusing on the key numbers and targets that matter most—such as headcount, revenue, gross margin, and operating expenses. Attendees of a recent workshop left with a full plan after just ninety minutes, showing that strategic clarity doesn’t require endless spreadsheets or guesswork. When owners know which levers to pull, they can set achievable targets and track their progress through the year.
“We simplified this so that we had what we call an 80/20 tool that was fantastic for 80% of the custom integrators out there. We built this tool, it’s actually a web-based tool that we introduced and taught people how to use. They left that 90-minute workshop with a financial plan for 2026, which included how many people they should have on staff, what their revenue should be, what their targets are for profit, what their gross margin targets are, how much they should be spending on operating expenses, how much they should be spending on people—all of that stuff in an online tool where they really only needed to fill out like five things.”
Vision Boards and the Power of Specificity
00:14:52
Setting a vision for the future is more than dreaming—it’s about making your goals concrete and visible. This section explores how leaders can use vision boards and written prompts to clarify what they want their life and work to look like in three years. The conversation encourages listeners to move beyond vague aspirations by giving their vision specificity, whether that means picturing a particular trip, a financial milestone, or a business goal. By putting their vision in writing or on their desktop wallpaper, leaders keep their targets top of mind, which drives daily choices. The key is to start with what excites you, then refine it into something actionable.
“What I believe is really table stakes for anybody who’s an entrepreneur is a three-year vision that is constantly three years out. For me, that’s my wallpaper on my computer. Put it out into the universe what you want your business and life to look like in three years—pictures, words, whatever.”
Avoiding Burnout With Small, Sustainable Changes
00:30:40
Many leaders try to overhaul everything at once, but that approach backfires. The episode closes with a focus on why sweeping changes rarely stick and how breaking progress into smaller pieces leads to better results. Trying to fix your business, personal life, and relationships in one shot is overwhelming and unsustainable. Instead, choose a couple of areas, set realistic goals, and build momentum over time. This method helps people move from feeling stuck to building habits that support their vision, without the frustration of early failure. The message: real growth comes from steady progress, not all-or-nothing pushes.
“We also can’t—it’s really hard for us to fix our business, our personal, and our relationships all in one shot. You can grab little pieces of each one of them, but we can’t go from having all these things broken in our life and in our business to having them all fixed within even just a year. I gotta pick a couple of these things and just make progress. Eventually you go from being someone who doesn’t know themselves as being goal oriented to someone who is goal oriented because you’ve set goals that are achievable, not unrealistic.”
