Scaling your business isn’t going to fix any existing issues: it just magnifies them. So address any underlying problems first.
Western work culture glorifies the entrepreneurial hustle, but the reality might feel more like stress than success. Sara Howard, author of Beyond Solo, shares five things she’s learned the hard way about scaling a business.
Lying awake at 3am, wondering how we’d get through the tsunami of new projects that had, inevitably, landed at once. Working every weekend just to stay ahead of the next wave. Feeling the pressure of being responsible for everything, everywhere, all at once.
My business, a copywriting agency called Writers, was growing. But it wasn’t scaling profitably. My business wasn’t working for me: I was working every waking hour for it.
There are plenty of frameworks to help you scale your business, and achieve revenue growth that exceeds cost growth. But they demand exponential efficiency, and that’s not easy in a service-based business. Sure, we can use AI to work smarter and faster – but it still takes time to think deeply and deliver the impact our clients value.
If you want to avoid turning rapid growth into exponential chaos, here are a few things I’ve learned.
There’s more than one way to grow
Around 14 years ago, I was flying solo – and consistently too busy. A business coach helped me hire my first two team members. While I don’t regret building my business that way, I wish I’d known there were other options.
You don’t need to go all in on permanent employees – you can flex around a hybrid model with reliable sub-contractors and virtual assistants. Or team up with like-minded experts in an A-Team collective, and collaborate one project at a time. Set up a more permanent collective structure, with a shared profit pool. Or create a product ecosystem that generates evergreen income while you sleep.
I spoke with dozens of business owners who have experimented with these models for my book, Beyond Solo. One thing they shared was a common desire to create a business that allowed them to thrive – and could flex around their changing life circumstances.
Start with the end in mind
Running a business can feel like a marathon. But you get to decide the finish line – and planning early for your exit can help you extract outsized value from your efforts.
You can set up a succession plan, or structure your business to be in the best position for acquisition. Either way, at a certain point you’ll need a market valuation. These factors can increase that value, and are also levers for scaling your business.
- a strong recurring revenue stream
- a clear competitive advantage
- a diverse customer base
- retaining your top talent
- robust business policies and systems
- industry-benchmarked profitability.
So as you grow, your market value grows too. Win-win.
Get the foundation right
Scaling your business isn’t going to fix any existing issues: it just magnifies them. So address any underlying problems first.
There is no point hiring staff if you don’t have the efficient systems and positive culture that encourages them to perform at their best. You also need a clear purpose, a good grasp of the financial numbers that drive your bottom line, and some rock-solid processes.
Stretch out of that comfort zone
For several years, organic growth came easily. Referrals rolled in, and every time I suspected our pipeline looks a little dry I asked the universe to send us one more big job. And, like magic, that worked.
It turns out, karma is not a sustainable growth strategy.
Now is not the time for complacency. What got your business to this point will not get you through the next growth threshold. That might mean setting stretch targets that scare you, experimenting in adjacent revenue streams, or investing in an idea that circuit-breaks your existing model.
As long as you’re clear on why you’re doing it.
Think better, not just bigger
For a few years, business growth plateaued – no matter how hard we worked. I felt stuck, until I started to think about what good growth really meant to me and my team. We want the time and clarity to do meaningful work that makes a positive impact for our clients. We want flexibility and financial security. And we want to keep learning.
We want to be better. Not just bigger. Because we know growth for growth’s sake is usually unhealthy. And while being profitable matters, success means more than money.
There can be power in scaling back, not just scaling up. For example, can you set boundaries on the types of clients you want to work with, knowing like attracts like? That’s just one way to scale a business that works for you.
Sara Howard is the founder of Writers Australia. Beyond Solo is available now at www.beyondsolo.co
ALSO READ: What to consider when expanding your business into a new market
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14 years ago, Sara Howard was a one-woman show, learning to scale the hard way. Here’s the wisdom she gained from years of experience. Expert, Business Expansion Dynamic Business
