When businesses are covered in the media, often there is a lot of focus on the initial idea, the genesis moment. Then they almost brush over the middle part – the scaling up part – and arrive at how big and awesome the business is today. It makes for a fun read or in the case of a movie or show an entertaining watch, but it’s also a missed opportunity. The middle part – the scaling up part is where so many small business owners get stuck. It’s the part so many of us need more guidance with and so we wanted to get conversations going on the topic of scaling up.

Shweta Mistry

I did free work. For years. Just to build myself into the community and prove my worth. To this day, I still do free work for a few. The point is, drop your ego and stop thinking about the money. How will people believe you can benefit them if you don’t have proof? Network while you create, you will see your clients turn into loyal clients and then into friends. If you photograph someone who allows you to be creatively free or whose status/brand could help other people discover you, this one free shoot could bring in a client willing to pay you hundreds and thousands of dollars. Read more>>

 Ashlee Bergeron

Success is indeed not overnight. Success takes tunnel vision. 16-20 hours days. Work ethic and a dreamer. Don’t forget the dreamer. Success is defined differently by each individual. Success also changes as the individual grows, learns and evolves. Success in my story has come in many different forms. At 16 success for me was playing college softball. Read more>>

Randa Salloum

It had been years since my first product-based business. I had spent the last six years running a service-based company, all while a friend and I had just come off of a three-year run executing Canada’s Largest Consignment Warehouse Sale: ARCHIVE, and the pandemic shut us down as fast as we opened. Read more>>

Kristen Edwards

The most important thing to have as a business owner is courage. My spouse and I took a chance and purchased a tiny run down barber shop. In 2013. Through grit and determination within three years we were so busy it was time to expand. Once again we mustered up the courage and rented another suite in the same building. Essentially, we have a double decker barbershop! It was a crazy idea but we jumped in not having the slightest clue if customers would be receptive to it. Read more>>

Caroline Carniel

I started photography about 7 years ago, but I didn’t really make money with it until 2021. I moved to Hawaii from Brazil in 2020, I had already traveled to a lot of different countries to where I had brought my camera along, and in my head I was always “just creating portfolio and practicing”. Hawaii was exciting but it seemed like everyone was either a model or a photographer so it was quite hard to break into the market and have people choose you, so there I was, one more time, “creating portfolio”. Read more>>

Tyler Cupp

I’ve fished and hunted my entire life. It’s how I release stress and enjoy nature. I have been in the Air Force for 12 years now and it’s still my favorite way to decompress. Through my travels, I’ve gotten to fish and hunt alongside a variety of different outdoorsman that taught me different techniques and tricks to hone my skills. As time went on, some of my friends started asking for tips and tricks about hunting and fishing. What better way than to show them? Read more>>

Christi Saint Laurent

For me, the key to scaling up in my business has been to continually take risks by putting myself in business atmospheres outside of my comfort zone. I believe that my main asset to growth is I have been willing to put myself in situations I knew little about to be “taught’ something new. I found it is much harder as an adult to walk into situations and feel like a beginner. Read more>>

 

Trenton Carson

Scaling up has been one of the hardest and most rewarding part of the business journey. It requires constant pivoting, refining, retooling and sometimes rebooting. Each level presents new sets of challenges that you haven’t dealt with before. My business has drastically changed since first starting out. When I first started my video production company, we were mainly a music video production company. Read more>>

Sha’Rese Davis

Thank you for your interest in my business and for asking about my journey on how I “scaled up”. It has certainly been a challenging but rewarding experience, and I am happy to share my story with you. When I first started in the fashion industry, I quickly realized that I did not fit the typical model mold. I was not super tall, and I did not have the traditional body type that was often seen on runways or in fashion campaigns. This was a significant obstacle for me, but I refused to let it hold me back. Read more>>

Bryn O’Reilly

The one thing I’ve learned about scaling a business is constant and it’s never easy. As the founder of Braven Creative, I can attest to the fact that it’s a never-ending journey. Being in the throes of this process has given me a new perspective on success. It’s easy for people to assume success happens overnight or that a successful person “got lucky”, and I can assure you that is not the case. Read more>>