How to Grow Revenue 50% in Year 1

oday's guest bought a business that does not fit the typical criteria cited by many searchers.

But the frame shop that JD Hasley bought in April of last year has already returned all the equity he put into the deal and then some.

His year 1 levered return was 139% cash-on-cash — and yes, that does account for paying himself for his time in the business, which was substantial.

JD ran the shop, learned to frame, and even fulfilled jobs himself.

But that was temporary; his goal was not to buy himself a job. He has since hired a shop manager who's been transformative.

JD has grown the business from around $600k in revenue to a run rate of $900k.

How has he pushed revenue 50% in a single year? Believe it or not, simply responding to emails promptly has been a big driver.

To be sure, this is quite a small business. Revenue is lower than many searchers would consider. And the headcount is extremely low — it only takes a couple people to run a frame shop, and many shops are actually just one-person businesses — so key person risk is structural, almost unavoidable.

But from an ROI perspective, and more importantly a life perspective, so far it's been wonderful for the 26-year-old JD.

As one example, he was able to spend a lot more time seeing his infant boy grow than he would have otherwise.

"It's been one of the best decisions I've ever made," he says.

And here he is, JD Hasley, owner of Uptown Frame.