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.

Lyric Abbott

Building a business from ground up takes a lot of self-discipline. At first I had to realize that my business was my only financial option. If Visionary Palette didn’t make any money therefore I didn’t make any money. For the first year of my business I chose to miss out on all the fun to build financial freedom. Meaning no hang outs, no social media, I completely went ghost. At that time I didn’t really associate with anyone so it wasn’t hard. For 365 days & 8,760 hours I mostly stayed at my computer posting on my business social media pages advertising to attract more clients. Read more>>

Brittany Brickey

When I first started out, I only had a God-given dream. I didnt have a plan, a strategy or a degree in photography. I had no idea what I was doing. And honestly I was launched into full time not by choice but because the company I was working for went out of business. I had a longing in my heart to go full time, but it was terrifying. I knew God had something greater though. So I decided to give Willow Rae Photography my all. What was my all? Because I certainly didnt have it ALL figured out. I didnt have ALL the time, the money, the resources, the energy. But what I did have, I gave. Read more>>

Victor Collins

Scaling up has been bitter sweet. Often times, when you start a business you are also working in your business so it is not until you grow that you begin to think about the future. For me, scaling my business began with hitting road blocks with serving clients and acknowledging that in growth you may begin to compromise client experience if you do not trust other people in your business. As someone who has always handled most things in my business it has been hard bringing in others to help. It’s been hard because you get use to doing everything on your own. Considerably, having this understanding helped me begin to think more like a business owner and a CEO which means stepping outside of doing the work and having others work with you. Read more>>

Matt Norris

I lead a nonprofit program called Minnesota Afterschool Advance that’s on track to pay for over $1 million of afterschool programs for low-income Minnesota students this year. In the beginning of the program, though, reaching seven figures worth of programming seemed like a pipe dream I was hired to build the program from scratch. We decided to pilot it in one small town about an hour south of Minneapolis. I spent many days on the ground in that community meeting with local leaders, schools, and families. I attended special events and handed out flyers. Read more>>

Sheryl Baker

Becoming a Travel Advisor was never my dream. In fact, I never even thought about it until I was in my mid-50s. I had already had a career in Oil & Gas for 12 years and then as a Director of Sales for a book company for 24 years. So, I was getting closer to retiring than starting a new career! I’ve always been big into networking and I joined BNI (Business Networking International) in 2010 as I was promoting a skincare business that I thought would be my retirement adventure. In BNI, you do a 10-minute presentation several times a year about you and your business. Well, my husband & I were blessed to travel the world so I would always share pictures of travel adventures we had taken. Read more>>

Jordan Schneider

So with Kratom you have 3 main colors red, green and white which all have various “strains” . So when you purchase Kratom you choose the strain and color and the cost will depend on the weight. Purchases could range anywhere from just one ounce up to the 5s, 10s to 100s of kilos. When I started my business and not to sound cliche I started from nothing, I had enough money to buy 1 kilo of Kratom and didn’t even think to consider that once I received it, I didn’t have anything to properly weigh it with, nothing to package it in once it was weighed nor did I know who I was going to sell it too. Still I took what little money I had left and I bought some baggies and a cheap kitchen scale from Walmart. Read more>>

Jennah Lear

The path to scaling your business to the next level is never linear; not really. 
 I read this quote once that said: 
“Every next level of your business will require a new version of you.” In my opinion, no truer words have ever been spoken. Which is why when I was racking my brain in year 3 of my business (it was still a side hustle at that point), on how to scale, I had no clue that it would require me to shift my way of being entirely. I remember asking expert after expert:
“How do you actually scale?” Read more>>

Q. Matisse Myers

How Did I Scale Up? I scaled up by following the community i’m in, there needs and wants, the current market trends, social media and being open to strategizing with multiple ethnic cultures, demographics and ages. I worked hard on my branding and what the people want. I also mad sure i invested time, education and training with my team to whee they are able to run our company and there potential companies. You have to invest in there future as well when your building your brand or your scale up. It will pay forward all the way for each generation to come. Read more>>

N’jeri Agyeman & Serwa Groves

As business owners who birthed our business amid the pandemic, we already knew what challenges might lay ahead and how perseverance would be an intricate part of our story, especially during such a unique time. Zaria Cards is currently “scaling up” and is still very new to the stationery industry. However, the goals that we continue to achieve such as: -getting our first wholesale deal with a global brand like Urban Outfitters – Our feature in Stationery Trends Magazine and other leading stationery outlets – Raising money during the pandemic to continue our regular course of business, like printing, etc. Read more>>

Robert Harris

Since the release of my clothing brand Stylistic Science, I prided myself to stay consistent and keep my vision clear. I knew that if I constantly designed fresh clothing and properly marketed my brand it would reach the masses. I understood that it would be a process to make my vision manifest into reality, however I was willing to go through it. Read more>>

Scott & Rob Carr & Demlow

The thing Scott and I keep finding interesting about this journey is that as our names are becoming more recognized, people want to know about the business side of our adventures. In our most recent TV interview, the questions continued about how our business started. This forced us to think about last October before we discovered our niche. We just thought it would be cool to have our legacy hanging on a wall at our favorite places to socialize. In February, when Brotherhood Designs, LLC was founded, we did not consider ourselves any more than firefighters trying to sell a cool flag that tells a story. Read more>>

DEANNA MONROE

First order of business… being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart. In order to build your business to be successful, you have to work more than anyone with a regular job. I didn’t quite know what I was getting into when I started. All I knew was that the 9 to 5 life was not for me because I enjoyed the freedom of making my own schedule & running things how I wanted them to be ran. My business started off as a side hustle actually. I was in college, majoring in media studies with aspirations to be on the radio or TV. And of course, college kids gotta eat so I started doing hair on the side since doing so had been a skill of mine going back to middle school. Read more>>

Chhaya (Charu) Rege

I’ve always been an artistic person, and I had learned to do henna in my youth, but it was only when I saw someone doing henna in NYC that I became inspired to do henna professionally. At first, my business was just a secondary source of income to help support my kids, and like most small businesses, it was very difficult when I first started. In the beginning I would sit on the street with just a table, chair and a few handmade signs. Naturally, I hardly made any money as it had been a long time since I had done henna designs on people, nor did I have any reputation as a henna artist. This was also when I moved from my residence in New York City to Austin, so I was completely out of my element. Read more>>

Phillip Jordan

One of my most valuable resources today, is social media and how using it properly scaled my business X10 in a matter of months. When I first started recruiting and looking for clients for the most part, a lot of them came in relations and friend of friends who would tell their friends and so forth.I’ve always had a knack for social media and use always knew it could be the potential to unlocking something bigger for my brand. Take myself for example, first thing i do when i wake up is check my emails, my text, missed calls etc, followed by social media etc.. maybe not in that order but for sure its always the phone. Read more>>

Elijah Thompson

Collaborating with my brothers and executing. We just work really hard and follow through on ideas and hold each other accountable. Lots of phone calls, paperwork and networking. We were able to obtain sponsors, venues, donations and make something out of nothing. In the industry where we’re doing community service and interacting with people trust is our top priority. We ensure we keep our people safe every season and keep our dues at an affordable level. And we deliver a really good product every summer. This has also helped us boost our social media marketing and branding, as well as our YouTube channel. All of these factors and the wonderful musicians in the state of Georgia have truly gotten us to this position. Read more>>

Courtney Wysinger

Often times people see, as my friend says, ” Bar Magic’s owner and Celebrity Mixologist, Courtney Wysinger, is known to mix spirits all over the globe.” However, that is definitely not where me nor this company started. I started selling cups of my drinks in DeRidder, LA at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. I was a bartender that was laid off due to the rise in the pandemic. I went to stay with my mom and grandmother during the shut down. Restaurants and bars were closed but liquor stores were deemed essential. So if the mountain won’t come to Muhammad, the Muhammad must go to the mountain. so i started bringing bar like drinks to peoples homes. Read more>>