Garrett Peters built Duncan and Stone Paper Company alongside his wife and best friends, launching an ecommerce journals and keepsake journals brand during the chaos of 2020. What makes his story stand out is not just the product, but the pressure that followed when the business started to work. Growth came fast, responsibility came faster, and Garrett found himself carrying a company that could not function without him.

As founder and CEO, Garrett opens up about founder burnout, inventory forecasting challenges, and protecting a brand in a market full of copycats. Business coaching and team alignment became turning points, helping him rebuild roles, boundaries, and systems so the business could grow without consuming his identity. The lessons that follow reflect what happens when founders stop pushing harder and start building smarter.

Key Takeaways:

1️⃣ If it needs you, it will break
A business built entirely on the founder eventually becomes the bottleneck. Garrett learned that real scale starts when you offload the work that drains you and build systems that move without you. If your ecommerce business pauses when you step away, that is your signal to redesign the engine, not push harder.

2️⃣ Protect the brand before the balance sheet
Short-term revenue fixes can quietly damage long-term trust. When Duncan and Stone faced a misprinted product run, the team chose brand protection over fast cash, even when it hurt. Founders who play the long game understand that reputation, not inventory, is the asset that compounds.

3️⃣ Alignment beats hustle every time
Founder burnout often comes from misalignment, not lack of effort. Weekly leadership alignment, clearer roles, and better communication removed pressure Garrett could not grind his way out of. When teams know the goal and their lane, energy shifts from busy work to real momentum.

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