5 Leverage Points – Do More

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The Five Leverage Points to do MORE

The Real Question Isn’t “How Do I Do MORE?”

How do I create more output from the same inputs.

Most people look for:

  • A new business
  • A side hustle
  • A “big opportunity”
  • Or worse—a lottery-style promise disguised as advice

But the truth is simpler and harder at the same time:

Most income growth comes from leverage, not reinvention.

You don’t need to abandon what you’re doing.
You need to understand where leverage already exists inside it.

Money Is Just the Scoreboard

Talking about money makes people uncomfortable—but money itself isn’t the goal.

Money is:

  • A measurement
  • A scoreboard
  • A way to track whether value is being created efficiently

The deeper question underneath income is always:

  • Can you do more with what you already have?
  • Can the same effort produce more results?

That’s a leverage problem—not a motivation problem.

The Five Leverage Points That Control Income

Every role—employee, manager, founder, consultant, sales rep—operates inside the same five leverage categories:

1. People (The Biggest Lever)

People are the highest-impact leverage point—and also the messiest.

If You’re an Employee

If you want more money, asking for a raise isn’t enough.

You need to answer one question clearly:

How does my work increase revenue, reduce costs, or reduce risk?

That requires understanding:

  • How the business actually makes money
  • Where margins come from
  • Where bottlenecks exist

A raise is not a favor.
It’s a capital allocation decision.

Smart managers will listen if you frame the conversation this way:

  • “Here’s what I’m producing”
  • “Here’s how I can produce more”
  • “Here’s what that’s worth to the business”

And if your employer won’t even discuss the economics?
That’s not loyalty—that’s asymmetry.

You can’t negotiate without options.

Which means:

  • Your CV should always be ready
  • You should always be testing the market quietly
  • Rejection rates of 90–95% are normal—anything else is fantasy

If You’re an Employer

People can multiply output—or destroy it.

You essentially have two viable strategies:

Strategy A: Overpay and Keep

  • Hire exceptional people
  • Pay them more than feels comfortable
  • Build the business around retention

This works because productivity follows power-law dynamics (a few people produce most results).

Strategy B: Systematize and Rotate

  • Simplify roles
  • Reduce onboarding friction
  • Expect turnover—and design for it

Restaurants, call centers, and operations-heavy businesses often use this model successfully.

The worst option?
Trying to hire elite talent without paying for it.

2. Systems (How Effort Compounds)

Systems prevent you from paying the “reinvention tax” every time.

A system is simply:

  • A repeatable way of doing something
  • That doesn’t require constant re-decision

Without systems:

  • Training becomes exhausting
  • Scale becomes painful
  • People become the bottleneck

With systems:

  • New people integrate faster
  • Output becomes predictable
  • Leverage becomes possible

3. Marketing (The Force Multiplier)

Word of mouth is not marketing.

Marketing exists to:

  • Amplify word of mouth
  • Target attention efficiently
  • Reach people before they’re already convinced

If you spent the same money:

  • Hiring ten people to talk to strangers
  • Versus running targeted campaigns

Marketing almost always wins on reach, efficiency, and measurability.

That’s why it’s a leverage point—not an expense.

4. Technology (The Accelerator)

Technology lets you borrow scale.

Cloud platforms, automation, AI tools—none of this is proprietary anymore.
The advantage comes from how well you integrate it, not owning it.

The same tools are available to:

  • A solo consultant
  • A mid-size company
  • A global enterprise

Execution is the differentiator.

5. Capital (The Feedback Loop)

Money funds leverage—but leverage also creates money.

The mistake most people make is:

  • Spending surplus instead of reinvesting it
  • Avoiding risk instead of managing it

Growth requires:

  • Betting on systems
  • Betting on people
  • Betting on learning curves

Staying “safe” often guarantees stagnation.

Why This Feels Hard (But Isn’t Optional)

Every business—and every career—follows entropy:

  • Standing still means falling behind
  • Stability requires constant input
  • Growth requires leverage

That’s not ideology.
That’s physics.

The Core Idea

You don’t need a new direction.

You need to re-engineer leverage inside your current one.

Ask yourself:

  • Where does effort compound?
  • Where does it leak?
  • Where can small changes produce disproportionate results?

That’s how income actually grows.

FAQs

Do I need to start a new business to make more money?

No. Most income growth comes from increasing leverage inside an existing role or business, not starting something new.

What’s the fastest leverage point to improve?

People and systems. Improving either tends to unlock gains everywhere else.

Is asking for a raise really about economics?

Yes. Compensation decisions are capital allocation decisions—emotionless by design.

Why do companies struggle to grow?

Because most effort is spent maintaining the current state, not creating new leverage.

Can technology alone solve growth problems?

No. Technology amplifies systems and people—but can’t replace them.

If you’re trying to increase income without burning everything down, I help individuals and organizations identify where leverage actually lives. Email me directly at [email protected]

This essay connects to the broader execution and leverage frameworks in my Systems & Execution writing:
👉 https://gabebautista.com/essays/systems/

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