There's an African proverb that my husband loves to use at work which says, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
My response is always, "I want to go far and I want to go fast."
I think my lessons from 2025 are going to help me do just that.
Some of those lessons came from a question that has come up more times than I can count over the past year.
“Just tell me who gets to decide this.”
When that question keeps resurfacing, it’s usually a sign that growth has outpaced design.
In 2025, we did a lot of work with franchise businesses. If you want a masterclass in scale, watch what happens inside a franchise system with 100+ locations.
You see very quickly what works and what breaks.
One lesson stood out above the rest: taking the time to meet with stakeholders to intentionally design (and document) the system before building anything pays off in ways most leaders underestimate.
Having candid conversations up front creates clarity, reduces risk, and substantially improves the likelihood of success.
As Scott Thompson, a franchise expert who has worked with many brands, including global franchises, shared on a recent RevOps Champions podcast, “Technology doesn’t fix the mistakes that are already there. It just accelerates whatever behaviors exist.”
In franchising, autonomy only scales when it’s supported by clear guardrails. Without design, speed disappears fast.
When design is missing, the first thing to break isn’t trust.
It’s speed.
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Decisions slow down.
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The same questions get debated again and again.
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People make side decisions just to keep work moving.
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Eventually, someone has to clean up the mess because authority was never clear.
This dynamic recently surfaced on a call I had with a private equity–backed company rolling up founder-led businesses.
Their model is thoughtful and well-intentioned. Local companies keep autonomy. The parent organization provides capital, shared services, and a path to growth.
At the same time, the parent company has real pressure. Investors expect visibility. Leaders need to show performance. Results have to be proven.
They weren’t just implementing a CRM. They were building the operating system that would allow them to scale.
They didn’t have a tech problem.
Or a people problem.
It was a design problem.
That tension isn’t unique to private equity or franchises. It shows up anywhere a business grows beyond a single leader or team.
We’ve lived it ourselves.
Denamico grew quite a bit in 2025 and we realized something uncomfortable: we hadn’t clearly defined the Denamico way to deliver everything we sold. Everyone was doing good work, just in slightly different ways. That created inconsistency for clients and friction for our team.
Our growth didn’t expose a talent problem. It exposed a lack of design and shared process.
So we slowed down.
We defined our methodology. Clarified ownership and decision rights. Standardized the parts of the work that should be repeatable. Not to take away autonomy, but to protect it.
Each client is still unique, but how we deliver is now consistent.
That’s why we now start every client engagement with an Architecture & Clarity phase to prevent chaos later. It forces the hard conversations early:
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Who decides what?
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What must be consistent?
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Where is flexibility allowed?
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How do decisions get made once, instead of six times?
When those answers are clear, teams move faster. Leaders stop second-guessing. Local operators keep autonomy without fragmentation.
This is the real lesson about scaling:
You don’t lose speed because you grow. You lose speed because decisions weren’t designed for growth.
Whether you’re running a franchise, a multi-location business, or a fast-growing B2B company, the principle holds.
Trust is essential.
Systems are what make trust scalable.
Here’s to building systems that let people move fast, together.
Kristin
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Kristin Dennewill
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