Building Your Flywheel: How to Create Self-Sustaining Business Growth

By Evan Nierman (EO South Florida), who is CEO of Red Banyan, a global PR firm specializing in brand building, communications training, and crisis management.

For most entrepreneurs, growth feels like a grind. You push hard, chasing leads, closing deals, putting out fires, only to wake up the next day and do it all over again. The hustle never stops, but the results don’t always match the effort.

But what if growth didn’t have to be so exhausting?

The most successful businesses aren’t scaling just through effort. They’re building flywheels—systems that create momentum and keep it going. Once these systems are in motion, they generate energy, compound results, and require less effort to maintain. In his legendary book Good to Great, the incomparable Jim Collins explores the concept of the flywheel in depth, and it’s worth tapping into his teachings.

Thankfully, you don’t need to be a tech giant or large publicly traded company to create one. You just need to know how to spot momentum, remove what slows it down, and build a system that moves your business forward naturally.

Here’s how to begin.

Start with what’s already working.

Most businesses don’t need a radical new idea. What they need is a better focus on what’s already delivering results. Look at the parts of your business that are gaining traction. It might be a loyal customer segment, a product that sells well, or a marketing channel that consistently drives leads.

That’s your starting point.

Instead of chasing every new idea, double down on what’s moving the needle. A flywheel doesn’t require something brand new. It needs momentum that is already in motion.

Align efforts with outcomes.

A common reason growth stalls is misalignment. Sales might be chasing volume while marketing focuses on impressions, and customer service just tries to keep up. Everyone’s busy, but not necessarily working toward the same goal.

To build an organizational flywheel that leads to success, every part of the business needs to reinforce the same outcomes.

Define your main growth drivers. Then make sure each department understands how their work connects to it. When teams are clear on what success looks like and how their role supports it, momentum builds faster.

Alignment turns scattered activity into progress that you can actually measure.

Remove friction wherever you find it.

Momentum slows when friction creeps in. It could be a clunky approval process, a confusing customer experience, or a tool that drains your team’s energy. These small issues act like brakes.

Your job is to find those sticking points and fix them.

That might mean simplifying a system, removing an unnecessary step, or simply asking your team what’s in their way. The fewer obstacles you have, the faster your flywheel spins.

Get others involved.

A flywheel is never a solo effort. If the founder is the only one driving it, then eventually she or he will burn out. The best businesses build systems that involve the entire team in pushing things forward.

That means showing people how their work fits into the bigger picture. When your team understands how they contribute to growth, they work with more purpose and consistency.

Even customers and partners can help build momentum. Make it easy for them to contribute—whether through reviews, referrals, or feedback—and your flywheel will move faster.

Use small wins to fuel more wins.

The most powerful flywheels are designed so that each success feeds the next one. A happy customer leaves a review, which draws in new prospects. A strong case study drives leads. A great campaign creates buzz that boosts awareness.

But none of this happens by accident. It only works when your business is intentional about turning wins into fuel.

Ask yourself: Are we leveraging success, or just moving on to the next task? Don’t let momentum go to waste. Instead, use it to drive the next step forward.

Measure the momentum.

You cannot improve what you do not track. And with flywheels, momentum is not always obvious—especially early on.

Look for signs of movement. Are customers coming back without being prompted? Are referrals picking up? Is the time between opportunities shrinking?

You do need an elaborate dashboard; and will actually benefit from keeping it simple. A few key metrics can tell you if your flywheel is spinning or stalling. Tracking the right signals helps you refine your system over time.

Know when to pivot.

Even a well-built flywheel needs adjustments. Markets change. Customer expectations shift. What worked before might slow down unexpectedly.

Pay attention to the early warning signals. Never hold onto a system just because you invested in it in the past. If you have done everything right and growth still is not happening, then it may be time to rethink the strategy and adjust.

A small tweak in focus, messaging, or process could reignite momentum. Flywheels aren't static. The best ones evolve.

Keep the wheel turning.

Flywheels take time to build. They require patience, consistency, and regular care. But once they start spinning, they fundamentally change how your business operates and grows.

You stop relying on short bursts of effort. You stop chasing every new opportunity. Instead, growth becomes steady, reliable, and far less chaotic.

That is what self-sustaining business growth looks like. Not a sprint. Not a hustle. A system that runs because you built it to last, for the long haul.

So to assemble a flywheel that delivers results, stay focused on what works. Get others involved. Track your progress. And keep going—even when the payoff is not immediate.

Eventually, the wheel will start to turn. And when that happens, everything changes.

You stop chasing growth and start attracting it. The late nights and the guesswork give way to clarity and rhythm. What once felt like pushing a boulder uphill starts to feel like catching your stride.

A well-built flywheel doesn’t just move your business forward. It frees you to lead it.

You may be interested in Evan Nierman’s other recent posts:

Why Authenticity Is Your Greatest Asset as a Business Leader

8 Things Entrepreneurs Need to Know About PR Crisis Management in the AI Era