We’ve seen the words “business growth” come and go, but what about scaling your business?

If you’re a small or midsized business owner, you’ve probably heard that term thrown around and thought it’s more useless jargon that means ‘growth.’ Unfortunately, you’d be incorrect.

To survive this insanely competitive market, you’ll want to truly understand what scaling your business To survive this insanely competitive market, you’ll want to truly understand what scaling your business means, and why it matters so much. 

It’s as simple as either scaling or failing. If a startup wants to graduate to a business, they have to scale (see https://www.tinkerpopbook.com/how-long-is-a-company-considered-a-startup/ for more details on this). If a business wants to expand their target markets, they have to scale. Not doing this will lead to failure.

Keep on reading for our full breakdown of what scaling your business means, the main difference between growth and scalability, as well as why it’s so important for fledgling businesses to know the difference. 

Scaling Your Business 101: What Does It Mean?

In the simplest of terms, consider scalability as the measuring unit of your business’ capability to perform well under an ever-expanding workload and market pressure. It’s basically your business’s ability to increase its performance, even with larger requirements for your outcomes. 

There are two main factors that you should look at before considering your scalability. These are your business capability and capacity. Meaning, does your business have the capability to grow? Then, does it have the capacity to meet the increasing demands that growth will put on its shoulders?

If both answers are yes, your business’s scalability is increasing. 

Scaling vs. Growth

On the other hand, most entrepreneurs can get a bit confused when investors are talking about scale instead of growth.

You can think about it in this way: growth is the increase in your business revenue, while scaling is your business’s ability to increase its revenue without hiking up your costs of production.

Therefore, if your team is able to meet all the production requirements (or deliverables) of a new client without needing additional resources, that’s scaling your business. 

Why Is Scaling Your Business So Crucial?

It’s as simple as either scaling or failing. 

There are no stagnant businesses in the market. Businesses are either scaling up or scaling down, otherwise, they’re failing to meet their requirements and will be losing their customers as a result. 

Sometimes businesses have to deal with natural peaks or recessions, so they have to be prepared to either scale up or scale down. It’s the ability to change strategies depending on changes in the market, you should be taking advantage of opportunities in the market and scaling up whenever possible. 

On the other hand, you’ll want to be ready to scale down when the going gets tough. If you’re not ready to do so, your business will crash and fail at the first hint of an economic downturn. 

Ready to Boost Your Business Revenue?

We know that it’s a bit intimidating to tackle new business terminologies, then apply the appropriate strategies for the first time. However, that’s the nature of business management. 

Hopefully, our little guide was able to shed some light on what scaling your business entails, as well as why it’s crucial for your business health and success. But, there’s still so much more to learn about managing your business.

Therefore, make sure to check out our ‘business’ section for additional tips and strategies that will help you scale (and grow) your business in a sustainable way.