Most business owners think they only have two options when they want to scale: Pay expensive consultants… or give up equity to investors. But what if there was a third option? In this episode of Service Business Mastery, Tersh Blissett and Joshua Crouch sit down with Mike Michalowicz and Greg Eckler from The Prosper Group to break down a completely different approach to scaling service businesses. Instead of charging fees or taking ownership, their model focuses on partnering with business owners, executing alongside them, and only getting paid when the business becomes more profitable. What You Will Learn in This Episode • Why most consulting models fail to deliver real results • The downside of giving up equity to investors • How a no-fee, no-equity partnership model works • Why alignment of incentives is critical for growth • The biggest red flags in struggling businesses • How debt structure impacts your ability to scale • What "return on payroll" means and why it matters • Why overstaffing is killing many businesses • The difference between A, B, and C players • Why titles can hurt performance inside organizations • How to match tasks to talent instead of titles • Why most businesses are doing too much unnecessary work Timestamps 00:00 Importance of hiring A players05:33 Formation of The Prosper Group08:24 Making the business sellable11:50 Northcote Parkinson's observation14:27 Focusing on essential tasks18:10 Staying true to coaching values20:50 What they look for in companies25:12 Evaluating employee fit and performance28:05 Aligning roles and maximizing talent31:42 Appreciating small businesses32:27 Small businesses and workforce impact35:33 Managing cash flow challenges39:50 Talking with potential clients41:52 Understanding the balance sheet basics Follow the Host and Guest Tersh Blissett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tershblissett/ Joshua Crouch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-crouch/ Mike Michalowicz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemichalowicz/ Greg Eckler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-eckler-68b79630/ Connect with Us LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/service-business-mastery TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@servicebusinessmastery Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/servicebusinessmasterypodcast Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/servicebusinessmasterypodcast This episode is kindly powered by: UpFrog: upfrog.com MarketStorm is an AI-powered advertising platform. Results vary by market, budget, and campaign configuration: https://marketstorm.ai/ Get Your 14-Day Free Trial with CallRail!: https://www.callrail.com/sbmpod CompanyCam: https://companycam.com/ Breezy: https://getbreezyapp.com/ Your calls hold the key to growing your business. PhoneTAP gives you instant AI analysis, real customer lifetime value, and tools to coach your team. Learn more: phonetap.ai/demo