What does it take to build a business that grows without breaking? We’re talking about the real-life version, including the things that didn’t go as planned and the mindset shifts that nobody warned you about.
Comploy founder and CEO Chris Myers wrote about exactly that in his first bylined article for PEO Insider, the publication of the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO). The piece “Disrupting with Discipline: What I Wish I Knew Before I Became a CEO” landed this month and pulls from experience building a PEO.
Here's what he shared.
1. Enterprise accountability means the decisions stop with you.
Before leading a company, Myers spent his career in sales for large payroll processing firms. As a CEO, he found the shift was about accountability for an entire team whose decisions touch compliance, customers and reputation. The lesson: ask not what wins now, but what makes the business stronger in three years.
2. Hire for what you don’t know.
Businesses can’t scale on hustle alone. For Comploy, that meant bringing in a COO who is process-driven, disciplined and relentless about building structure. The principle: don’t hire for cost. Hire for fit. Then actually listen to the people you hired.
3. Fail forward.
Early on, Comploy made a business decision where ambition outpaced operational readiness. The team caught up, but the experience led to a formal acquisition framework that matches opportunities to what the organization can actually support, not just what sounds exciting in theory. Treat challenges as data inputs rather than blame exercises.
4. Calculated risk is part of the job, but reckless risk is not.
Comploy recently launched a master self-funded healthcare plan for small business partners. High stakes, and a potential differentiator. The approach was methodical — persistent research, hard questions and confidence before committing. The broader lesson: know where you win and take smarter risks from that clarity.
5. Culture is a strategy, not a slogan.
Comploy keeps a simple phrase up in the office: “Do great work. Be great people.” It shapes how the team treats clients, makes decisions and shows up when things get hard. When people feel trusted and supported, they do better work. And they stay.
Comploy brings these same fundamentals to client work every day, because the businesses we support are trying to do the exact same thing: build something sustainable, protect what they’ve built and keep growing with realistic guardrails.
If you’re a business owner, COO, CFO or HR leader navigating a growth moment, we’d love to talk about what that could look like with Comploy in your corner. Get in touch at comployhr.com/contact-us or call (833) 266-7569.