Ryan Zofay: Most Business Owners Don't Have a Strategy Problem, They Have an Influence Problem

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Oct 06, 2026, 08:42 ET

9-figure founder takes his fix for the "founder bottleneck" live at Speak to Scale October 10–11

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla., Oct. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Business owners have more growth tools than ever, yet many still stall at the same revenue ceiling. Author Ryan Zofay says they keep fixing the tactics instead of the person running them.

This weekend, Zofay teaches his approach at Speak to Scale, a two-day event in Deerfield Beach for 140 business owners who have proven their model and hit a wall.

An Unlikely Businessman: From Overdosed to Multimillionaire by Ryan Zofay, a #1 Amazon bestseller about building a business with no formal training and the leadership lessons behind his success.

Ryan Zofay, 9-figure founder and author of An Unlikely Businessman, hosts Speak to Scale on October 10-11, 2026, in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The two-day event shows established business owners how to stop being the bottleneck by strengthening their influence in sales, personal brand, speaking and leadership.

"Tactics don't make you a CEO. They make you a busier owner," said Zofay.

Three problems that are really one problem

Zofay's diagnosis: once a company has a proven model, what usually stalls it is the founder's influence, not the plan. He points to three commonly misread symptoms.

The team won't execute. Owners blame skill; Zofay blames influence that only works when the owner is present.
Deals fall apart at the close. Owners rework the offer; Zofay says the prospect senses an owner who can't hold the frame.
"We have a hiring problem." Zofay calls it a communication problem: the owner never built the frame for the team to operate inside.

He maps the fix in three stages: the Owner, in every decision; the Leader, still the brand, closer and bottleneck; and the CEO, whose team executes without them in the room.

His tool is the Agreement Method: understand what someone believes, feels and needs, then communicate so clearly they choose their next step.

Learned the hard way, inside his own companies

Zofay details his operating history in his book, An Unlikely Businessman: From Overdosed to Multimillionaire. After a teenage overdose and two years in juvenile detention, he built his way into business with no formal training.

As co-owner of a struggling Florida treatment center, he turned it around in six months, then founded We Level Up, now a 9-figure behavioral health company.

Growth brought its own bottleneck: him. He had put people into roles because he wanted to be liked, not for business reasons.

"I was the bottleneck long before I was the CEO," said Zofay. "Every problem I thought was about my team turned out to be about how I was leading them."

Attendees leave with a positioning statement, presentation outline, practiced leadership conversation and implementation plan.

Event details

When: Saturday–Sunday, October 10–11, 2026, 11:00 AM-6:00 PM
Where: 1701 Green Road, Suite B, Deerfield Beach, Fla. 33064
Who: Owners with $250,000+ in annual revenue
Tickets: General admission is free; VIP is $297.
Register: go.ryanzofay.com/event

About Ryan Zofay

Ryan Zofay is a best-selling author, speaker and founder of We Level Up, a 9-figure behavioral health organization. Through his events and coaching, he helps business owners build companies that don't depend on them. Learn more at ryanzofay.com.

Contact:
Ryan Zofay
954-475-6031
[email protected]

SOURCE Ryan Zofay