This document provides 5 tips for successfully scaling up a startup: 1. Determine if your business is truly scalable without exorbitant resource costs. 2. Identify your core products, customers, and marketing channels before scaling. 3. Automate and outsource as many processes as possible to streamline operations. 4. Simplify and standardize processes so the business can run without the founder. 5. Exercise restraint when hiring, spending, and expanding to avoid overextending resources during scaling.

1. Scale
your

2. Scale
your startup

3. Preparing
to ScaleY
our
Startup
Scaling up can be a make-or-break moment for your company. If
you scale your startup too quickly or recklessly, and you’ll
create a host of organizational problems that will be hard to
undo.
Premature scaling may even cause your business to fail. And if
you scale too slowly, however, and you’ll miss out on key
opportunities that come with greater resources and revenue.
As you plan for the next phase of your company’s
development, remember these five tips for a successful
scale-up.
As you plan for the next phase of your company’s
development, remember these five tips for a successful
scale-up.
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4. 1. Ask Yourself If
YourBusinessIs
Really Scalable
Even though you might have a killer
product that serves a real need, but
that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a
cornerstone for a scaled-up business.
Be honest as you examine your
offerings—if scaling will come at the
cost of inordinate amounts of
resources, maybe it’s better to stay a
lean, successful, small business.
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5. 2. IdentifyYour
“Core”
Y
ou need to know your core
products, customers, and marketing
channels before you try to take your
business to the next level.
Not convinced? There’s hard data to
back up that assertion: a 2011 study
by The Startup Genome looked at
over 3,200 startupsand found that
74% of them failed because they
tried to scale up too quickly.
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6. 3. Automate or
Outsource
Everything You Can
If any aspect of your startup is
labor-intensive, you won’t be able to
scale effectively. You need to start
figuring out a means to streamline
every process you can. ]
This includes automating payroll and
billing, creating training videos to
quickly bring new hires up to speed,
finding ways to automate marketing
your business, and so on.
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7. 4. Make Your
BusinessWorkable
WithoutYou
Y
our process needs to be simplified
and streamlined to the point that
even if you disappeared off the face
of the earth, someone could easily
come in and know what to do.
Y
our process must be easily
understood and repeatable. Don’t let
anything about your business be so
fragile that less talented or
unmotivated employees can bring it
down.
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8. why:
5. Don’t Go
Overboard in
These Key Areas
Three areas where you must show great restraint as you
scale your startup: hiring, spending, and building. Here’s
• Spending: Again, there’s a
tendency for startups to get loose
with their money once they’ve raised
a lot during the fundraising stage.
Keep all of your spending focused
on growing the business.
• Building: Once you’ve
achieved product-market fit and
started scaling up based on that
main offering, don’t go crazy trying
to add features or related products.
Make sure you can do one thing
better than anyone before you start
building new stuff.
• Hiring: Remember, you need
to stay lean during the scaling
process. Don’t hire too many people
(especially middle managers or
specialists). These take away from
your core competencies and leave
you prone to trying to scale other
areas too quickly.
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9. ving the
growth as
gs to start
le your
source
t’s not
.
Don’t
u’re
y scalable.
nd lean if
What You Need to
Remember
Scalability is a mindset that’s all about ha
systems and people in place to make your
seamless as possible. Here are some thin
thinking about now as you prepare to sca
startup.
• Figure out how to automate or out
everything you possibly can, especially if
directly related to your core competencies
• Stay disciplined with your money.
spend on new people or features until yo
absolutely ready to do so.
• Make sure your business is actuall
There’s nothing wrong with staying small
the product or service demands it.
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