The 3 Biggest Myths About Scaling Up Your Business

Lauren Hamilton, Founder of Digital Narrative

Scaling up is a phrase that’s spoken of in reverent tones in the small business community. Along with business automation, lead magnet and sales funnel, it’s the kind of aspirational jargon which can inspire and confuse in equal parts.

The first and biggest myth around scaling up is that it is essential. It’s not - if you’re comfortable as a sole trader and earn an income you’re happy with, there’s no need to fix what isn’t broken. But, if growing a business is your dream, there are some persistent myths to be aware of which can make the process of scaling up seem overwhelming.

Here are the three biggest ones, and how to shake them off.

There is one way to scale up, and one way only

Every business and every entrepreneur are different. Your products or services are different, your customers are different, your support network is different. Similarly, there is not ‘one’ golden, proven method for scaling up your business. You may have access to investors who can pour money into your fledgling outfit, allowing you to grow rapidly and dramatically. You may have no clue about investors, be working on a shoestring out of your garage, and be more comfortable taking it slowly.

Each of these methods is viable. A typical low-risk path to scaling up is by doing it in stages – for example, by firstly employing sub-contractors or freelancers to take on overload work before you hire permanent staff. Other examples include moving into a co-working space for a while before you rent office space, or building a fast, cheap website initially before replacing it with a deluxe, automated site when budget allows.

Rapid growth doesn’t suit everyone. If you prefer to work steadily at your own pace, and within your own budget, you’re still scaling up – you’re just doing it in what can be a more sustainable, less stressful way.

You can scale up with zero investment

You may not need a $500,000 cash injection to begin your journey to CEO, but you also can’t scale up with no budget at all. Respect your dream enough to give it the oxygen it needs to thrive; by oxygen, I’m talking time and money.

plans. Set aside as much clear, unbothered time each week to work out how you’re going to grow, what you’ll need to make it happen and what are the key steps.

To fund this plan, you’ll need a budget. Statistics show that female founders struggle to raise funding for their businesses compared to their male counterparts. It applies to both external investment and internal allocation of funds.

While women are now more likely than men to start a business, they are less likely to receive investment or venture capitalist funding. In 2018, $130 billion in venture capital funding changed hands. Female founders only gained 2.2 percent of this money, which means that male founders received almost 98 percent of total funding.

It doesn’t have to be this way. There are barriers to accessing external funding, but they aren’t insurmountable. Do your research (start with this article) and consider whether attracting investment should be part of your scaling up strategy.

Excluding an elite few at blue blood private institutions, we are not taught how to grow a business at school. Nor do most of us have the personal connections to make it easy. You may have studied business, in which case you have an advantage, but most business owners only have formal education in relation to what they produce or sell.

So, we’re all in the same boat (the one in which we’re the captain, first mate, cook and deckhand). What we need is a map.

Before you scale up your business, invest in yourself through training, coaching, or mentoring. Find a program which will hold you accountable and commit yourself to it. Read books, listen to podcasts and talk to people who are ‘there’ already in their business journey about how they did it.

You need to dedicate serious hours (beyond the usual time you spend working on your business) to planning and enacting your scaling up digitalnarrative.com.au

Closer to home (and easier to access) there is self-funding, which brings with it a distinct set of challenges. Female founders report feeling guilty about reinvesting their profit into their business growth, instead of spending it on their families. This can be hard to overcome but understanding that investment in your business is investment in your families’ future financial security is key to unlocking your appetite for investing your own money in your enterprise.

Scaling up is an incredible challenge. It is statistically harder for female business founders than it is for males, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. It takes strong selfbelief, patience and tangible resources to grow from a onewoman-band in your leisure at home to a thriving team in an office or store, but it’s possible. The key is to plan, learn and never stop having faith in yourself and your business.