How to Scale a Business
 

If you’ve built a successful small business, congratulations—that’s huge! You know first-hand the blood, sweat and tears it takes to advance from chief everything officer to chief delegation officer and beyond. But what’s the reward for all that hard work? Harder problems, more hurdles and a lot of growing pains.

The good news is, growth also brings bigger wins and the chance to make an even greater impact. It’s totally normal to feel both the weight of new challenges and the thrill of momentum. So if you’re asking yourself how to level up your business and live to tell the tale, you’re not alone—that’s where scaling comes in.

But what does scaling a business mean? And how do you know if your business is ready to scale? Most importantly, what are the steps for how to scale a business successfully? Let’s break it all down.

What Does Scaling a Business Mean?

Scaling a business is different from simply growing it. Let’s look first at growth.

Growth happens when your revenue goes up—but often, so do your expenses, and that eats into your profits. For example, if you hire more team members to serve more customers, your income may increase, but so will your payroll costs. Bye-bye, profit.

Here are some other common problems with growth:

• New business gets turned away because your systems can’t keep up.
• Leaders are stretched too thin.
• The team burns out.

Sound painfully familiar? Growth without a strategy is simply unsustainable.

Scaling, on the other hand, is about creating systems that make you unstoppable. Scaling means increasing revenue without expenses rising at the same rate, leading to greater profits. It could also mean streamlining operations so you make more profit even if revenue stays the same. At its core, scaling is about creating a business that can handle more—and do it more efficiently.

A Cautionary Tale: When Growth Outpaces Scaling

Scaling is essential, but not every business gets it right. Let’s talk about Groupon, a company that learned this lesson the hard way.

Groupon launched in the e-commerce space in 2008 with a clever idea: use group buying power to reimagine digital couponing. Groupon’s daily emails brought unbeatable offers straight to each subscriber’s inbox, and everyone benefitted. Local businesses got new customers, customers got deep discounts on everything from pizza dinners to Jet Ski adventures, and Groupon got a cut from every deal.

The concept took off like wildfire.

By 2010, Groupon was valued at over $1 billion, making it one of the fastest-growing companies in history. A year later, it had the largest internet IPO since Google, with a valuation of $12.7 billion.¹

Then came a huge problem: Groupon’s growth outpaced its ability to scale. The systems and strategies they had in place couldn’t handle the quick expansion. By 2012, Groupon was bleeding money, and new leaders are still trying to turn things around today.

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Groupon’s quick rise and fall is a powerful reminder of what happens when growth outpaces scaling. The lesson? Scaling isn’t just about growing fast—it’s about growing smart.

Let’s look at how you can avoid mistakes and scale your business the right way.

Are You Ready to Scale Your Business?

Before you try to scale, make sure your business is ready. Scaling isn’t just about being ready financially. You need systems, processes and people in place to keep things running smoothly as you grow. So ask yourself which stage of business you’re in and whether you’ve built a foundation that can handle scalable growth.

Here’s what we mean:

Your business is through Stage One: Treadmill Operator.
As a Treadmill Operator, you’re running hard to keep things going and too much of the business relies on you. To move past it, you’ve got to become a rock star at:

• Creating and following a budget
• Managing your time
• Hiring great team members
• Delegating the work

Your business is also through Stage Two: Pathfinder.
If you and your team lack clear, unified direction, you’re probably still in the Pathfinder stage. It’s not enough for your mission and vision to be second nature to you. You need team alignment and everyone moving in a shared direction.

You’ll know you’ve mastered the Pathfinder stage when:

• Your mission, vision and values are clear—and your team believes in them
• Better communication is happening across your team
• Everyone knows their roles and responsibilities

When these pieces click into place, you’ll advance to Stage Three: Trailblazer. At this stage you’re set to put leaders and plans in place to scale your business and unlock serious rewards.

What Scaling Your Business Can Mean for You

Scaling the right way doesn’t just mean boosting your profits (although that’s a big win). It’s about building a sustainable, rewarding way to run your business for the long haul. Here’s what scaling can look like:

You’re not the only decision-maker.

You have a leadership team in place to help execute the plan and make decisions that align with your vision.

You’re leading leaders.

Instead of managing every detail of every task, you’re empowering leaders who oversee their teams to get the right things done.

Your team is aligned and working together.

You’ve developed a healthy company culture where everyone is moving toward goals with clarity and accountability.

You finally have space to focus on what matters most.

With the right systems and people in place, you’ll have more time to work on the business—like casting vision, setting big-picture goals, and creating strategic plans for long-term success.

Pretty great payoff, right? Growing pains are worth it when they lead to growth you can actually enjoy. So now let’s tackle how to scale a business.

The 3 Essentials to Scaling Your Business

Scaling your business requires these three essentials: a solid plan for growth, the right leaders, and a committed team.

1. A Plan for Growth

Scaling isn’t magic—it’s strategy. It starts with a clear plan that lays out where you want your business to be in the next 12 to 18 months and the steps to get there. A solid strategic plan is how every successful company builds momentum. Without one, you’ll keep flying by the seat of your pants, unsure where you’re winning, losing and primed for growth.

Strategic planning helped Dave Ramsey slow down, focus on the right things, and grow Ramsey Solutions into a $250 million business. “Businesses and entrepreneurs have become experts at microwaving rather than Crock-Potting their business plan,” he says in his bestselling book, EntreLeadership. “They trade real, rich, abiding, deep success for the momentary win and then are constantly having to start over.”

Hint: Don’t settle for shortcuts. Instead, schedule an off-site planning meeting with your key leaders to map out a killer strategic plan.

2. Bought-In Leaders Who Push the Plan Forward

You’ll only scale when you have leaders who are fully bought in to your mission, vision and values. The good news? If you’ve conquered this in the Pathfinder stage, you’ve already started nailing team alignment. Now, it’s time to focus on getting buy-in for your strategic plan. How? Include your leaders in the planning process. When your team has a voice in creating the plan, they’ll feel ownership of the objectives—and they’ll be excited to lead their teams to accomplish them.

Once the plan is in motion, use your weekly leader meetings to track progress, tackle concerns, and adjust as needed. Follow up individually during your weekly one-on-one meetings to keep everyone on the same page. With strong leadership, your plan won’t live on paper—it’ll turn into action.

3. A Committed Team to Execute the Plan

Every team member needs to understand and believe in your strategic plan. Not sure they’re aligned? That’s your cue to step up as the chief repeating officer. Keep the vision and goals front and center, and create space for your team to ask questions, share ideas, and truly connect with work that matters.

Once you have alignment, fight for accountability. Is everyone clear on their role and how it fits into the bigger picture? Does every team member know what’s expected of them and feel equipped to deliver? Are leaders following through by holding team members accountable to delivering on their responsibilities? Alignment and accountability go hand in hand.

When your team is united, accountable and moving in the same direction, your goal becomes bigger than just scaling—it becomes the drive to build something unstoppable.