Most small business owners stay trapped in the same cycle: long hours, low margins, unreliable income, and a business that falls apart the moment they step away. Today’s guest broke that pattern in a spectacular way.

In this episode, host Jeremy Shapiro sits down with David Hilton, a former studio owner who transformed a struggling family business into one of the top 10 photography companies in the entire country, scaled it across multiple locations, and took it to a high seven-figure exit — all while working normal hours and taking four weeks of vacation every year.

David reveals the exact steps that took him from:

• A single, owner-dependent studio

• To a business that multiplied sixfold in the first year

• To multiple profitable locations

• To a company that ran without him

• To an exit timed perfectly at the market peak

Inside this conversation, you’ll learn:

• Why trying to serve “everyone” was killing the business

• How niching down unlocked pricing power and demand

• Why premium pricing attracts better customers, higher margins, and stronger loyalty

• The difference between growth and profitable growth

• How to build systems that remove you from daily operations

• The real reason a second location destroys most businesses — and how David survived it

• How to spot the constraint that’s quietly blocking your revenue

• How to prepare a company for a major sale years before the exit

David’s story shows what happens when you stop chasing volume, start focusing on profit, and use systems to create freedom. His approach works in nearly any industry — not just photography — because the fundamentals don’t change.

🎧 If you want to grow, step back from daily chaos, or build a business you can eventually sell, this episode gives you the roadmap.

👉 Connect with David Hilton:

• David Hilton on LinkedIn⁠
• Spark (Book on Amazon)

📊 Hosted by: Jeremy B. Shapiro, Host and Author, ⁠⁠Your Business Growth Playbook