Unlocking Hidden Revenue: How Business Owners Can Gain Control and Grow with Confidence

A Conversation Between MOD Ventures CEO Gabrielle Luma and AlphaRev Founder Candace Frasier

For many business owners, revenue growth feels like a constant uphill battle. Despite hard work, talented teams, and strong values, growth can plateau. Worse, it can feel unpredictable. But what if the path to financial growth isn’t just about selling more or hiring faster? What if, instead, it’s about uncovering what’s already there?

In a recent episode of Entrepreneurship Uncovered, Gabrielle Luma, CPA and CEO of MOD Ventures, sat down with Candace Frasier, founder of AlphaRev, a revenue consultancy on a mission to help businesses reclaim the revenue they’ve already earned. Their conversation unpacked how operations, strategy, and mindset intersect to drive business success, and why slowing down to analyze revenue can actually accelerate growth.

From W-2 to Founder: Candace’s Journey to Entrepreneurship

Candace’s leap into entrepreneurship wasn’t born from frustration, it was born from clarity. After years as a W-2 employee building systems and teams within other companies, she realized she had a choice: continue improving one business at a time, or find a way to help many.

“I saw what made businesses successful and what made them stall,” Candace shared. “And I developed a passion for the topline, for building stability and predictability in revenue.”

That passion turned into AlphaRev, a consultancy built to serve two groups: business owners looking for sustainable revenue growth, and revenue professionals struggling to articulate their value and land meaningful roles.

The Missing ROI: What Most Business Owners Overlook

Candace noticed a recurring theme in B2B professional services firms: owners wanted to know where their marketing dollars were going, how to improve customer acquisition, and whether their sales processes were really working.

“Customer acquisition costs are high. Sales teams are either overwhelmed or unaccountable,” she explained. “Business owners kept asking, ‘What’s my ROI here?’”

At the same time, Candace saw talented professionals, especially women, struggling to find roles where they could make a measurable impact. Her solution was to bridge the gap, helping businesses see where revenue was leaking while also empowering professionals to drive meaningful results.

A Revenue System Built on Five Core Levers

So how does AlphaRev help clients unlock dormant revenue? Candace shared five strategic pillars she uses to turn underperforming revenue systems into growth engines:

1. Retention: Keep the clients you have. It’s less expensive to retain than replace, and loyalty breeds profitability.
   
2. Expansion: Help existing clients buy more or different services. Done well, this is not upselling, it’s offering meaningful value.
   
3. Winbacks:  Re-engage former clients. Exit interviews and follow-ups can turn past relationships into new opportunities.
   
4. Referrals: Systematize your referral process. Go beyond word of mouth, create intentional moments that generate introductions.
   
5. Lost Deal Analysis: Look at who didn’t convert and why. There may be opportunities to serve them now that didn’t exist before.
   

Most companies start with referrals, but Candace encourages businesses to begin with retention, it’s the most cost-effective and often the most neglected.

Operational Roots, Strategic Growth

What sets Candace apart is her rare combination of operational discipline and marketing creativity. Starting her career at Verizon in field operations, she learned how systems support scale. Later, she transitioned into marketing and sales, applying that operational lens to revenue activities.

“I like helping owners regain control over their revenue,” she said. “They should be able to pull back or push forward with intention, not just run at full throttle and hope for the best.”

Gabrielle echoed this sentiment, noting that MOD Ventures also takes an operational approach to accounting. “We help our clients pull the right levers,” she said. “Understanding how day-to-day operations impact revenue is where the real magic happens.”

Building Systems That Scale: A Real-World Example

Candace recounted a recent success with a $3.5M company that had no centralized pipeline, just a collection of spreadsheets from different salespeople. After implementing a cohesive system, that pipeline grew to $9M.

One small but powerful change? Publicly celebrating new clients on LinkedIn.

“By tagging the company and decision-makers, we turned a private win into a public moment of credibility,” she explained. “It wasn’t a direct ask for referrals, but it signalled momentum. That visibility brought in new leads without a single cold call.”

The lesson? Strategic systems don’t always require overhauls. Small, consistent actions, backed by clear processes, can yield significant results.

Mindset Shifts: From Wearing Every Hat to Building a Team

Starting a business often means doing it all, but staying in that mindset can be costly. Candace reflected on the early challenges of entrepreneurship, especially the mental toll of managing everything at once.

Her solution? Morning journaling to clear her head, and surrounding herself with people who are a few steps ahead. Gabrielle herself played a pivotal role in this shift, reminding Candace to delegate tasks that weren’t in her zone of genius.

“You told me, ‘Don’t do that. It’s not your best and brightest work.’ And that stuck with me,” Candace said. “Now, I’ve built a team that loves doing the things I don’t, and I get to stay focused on what I do best.”

The Power of Testing and Scaling

One key insight that both Gabrielle and Candace shared is that building a business doesn’t require massive upfront commitments. Whether it’s hiring, outsourcing, or launching a new offer, you can start small.

“Use test projects to validate fit before going all in,” Gabrielle advised. “You don’t need a full-time team out of the gate. Start with fractional help and grow from there.”

This flexible, test-and-scale approach is at the heart of both MOD Ventures and AlphaRev’s models, offering expert support at the right time, without overextending resources.

Final Takeaways: Service is Selling, and Vision Requires Visibility

At the heart of Candace’s message is a powerful mindset shift: selling is not about pushing products, it’s about solving real problems. When you deliver exceptional service and help clients “peek around corners,” you create value that sells itself.

“B2B buyers don’t want to be upsold,” she said. “They want to be shown what’s possible.”

Whether it’s through better financial reporting, intentional revenue strategies, or smarter hiring, both MOD Ventures and AlphaRev exist to equip business owners with the tools and perspective they need to grow sustainably.

Because when you can see what’s coming, you can prepare. And when you’re prepared, you lead with confidence.

Reach out to MOD Ventures or visit AlphaRev at GetAlphaRev.com to learn how operational and revenue strategies can work together to support your next phase of growth.