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.

Jay Irwin

It’s hard to say but for John (my business partner) and I, our journey started with losing our jobs. We were both forced out of our comfortable jobs and had to figure out how to move forward in life. John had wedding video side- hustle that he decided to make his full-time gig. I just started to freelance in video production and work any job that was available. I laugh thinking back because I had no business doing so many of the jobs i was doing like home repair, working for an industrial engineer and substitute teaching. Thankfully i had a really supportive wife with a good job. Read more>>

Emily Francis

When I started Francisphotographs during the pandemic, I had no intention of becoming a licensed business so quickly. Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved taking photographs. It started with my Pop Pop, who always had his camera at every family function. He would show me all the cool tricks and ideas he had. As I got older, for Christmas, I would ask for digital cameras and force my younger sisters to do “photoshoots.” Read more>>

Tara Bench

I enjoyed my education. I studied Culinary Arts and Food Service Management at Utah State University. However, I didn’t know what I was going to do with it. I knew what I didn’t want! I didn’t want to become a chef or caterer like most of my peers. I knew enough to know that wasn’t the lifestyle I wanted. I landed an internship in the Martha Stewart Test Kitchen. After my internship I was hired as a freelancer, then offered a job as Recipe Developer. I worked my way up the ladder, getting a promotion every year or so until I became Senior Food Editor. Read more>>

Scott Mitchell

In 2015, I quit my corporate job and began working at Travis Jean, an antique shop in downtown Macon. We began to toy with the idea of offering more than just antiques and added gift items. The idea grew into a business model that became Travis Jean Emporium in 2016. I wanted to create a place where artisans and artists could showcase locally made goods that speak to the essence that is Downtown Macon. In 2018, I enrolled in NewTown Macon’s inaugural Entrepreneur’s Academy pitch competition and won. I purchased the business with the help of NewTown Macon’s small business loan program and began my journey as a small business owner. Read more>>

Sharonda Harden

Hey world, i am Sharonda Harden. I now have to reintroduce myself as the OLBA Harford County Chapter President. I have been in the business world for about 5 years now. I have owned multiple small businesses. All have not stopped due to me being one person and struggling with growing one and moving on to another because i did not understand how important collaboration was. I burned myself out most days with offering so much, and it just being me. Read more>>

Linsley Schneider

Scaling up doesn’t happen overnight. It’s not one big thing most of the time that translates to scaling up or “success”- it’s all the little choices that you make over time. I’ve been in business for 7 years and I started where many photographers start- with a nice camera in hand hoping to learn enough to take great pictures of my children. Once I started getting serious about turning my hobby into a business I took every small paid job (this was $50 at the time) as a learning experience and an opportunity to practice. Read more>>

Lauren Atkinson

Let’s be realistic- The hardest part about owning a business is all the work no one actually sees. The hours that are put in when no one is watching. The days or hours off you need so desperately for your sanity but instead you are crunching numbers and organizing or answering that email that you have been waiting to answer for weeks. Read more>>

Tiffany Kenyon

This is such an important question because it’s rare that a company is an “overnight success”. The media tends to gloss over the nitty, gritty details that form the middle phase of a business journey because it’s less buzz worthy than launch day or achieving success. For my branding business, the most crucial part of the middle phase was remaining consistent in everything that I set out to do. Read more>>

Her Excellency Shanta Lana Hereford

When I moved to Atlanta in 2008, I didn’t know anyone, have any friends and was very low on funds. I had to work three jobs at first until I burnt myself out. I started posting my amateur services on sites like Craigslist to make money. Since I didn’t have a network here I would volunteer at events and apply for internships to get more experience and start meeting new people. Eventually, I began to build a small clientele from word of mouth and online advertising. Read more>>

Jonathan Hammel

When I first started in this business, around 2011 in Nashville TN, I used my home as my studio. Often times working in my kitchen if it was raining or in my backyard when the weather permitted. As I started getting more clients and projects, I made a decision to rent a small space. That space was roughly 2000 sq ft. About a year later I once again decided to move into a larger space, roughly 10,000 sq. ft., to accommodate the larger projects that we were starting to get. Read more>>

DJ LADIBUG

I am a business owner. Dj Ladibug is not just my name. It’s my brand.. I am constantly trying to stay up do you date and current. The music and entertainment industry is constantly evolving. Rebranding is mandatory in this field. Asan artiste manager of Lysten, we are always looking for ways to branch out his music. Read more>>

Kyiamoni Legacy

I started off in the culinary industry at 14 years old. It began when I was given a homeschool project on what homemade desserts I can make out of a pumpkin. They very first pastry dish I created was pumpkin bread. Before the project I never knew becoming a pastry chef was my gift. I started with no culinary experience or training. Giving that I wanted to pursue a career I had absolutely no knowledge in, I had to learn everything from trial and error, experience and failure. Read more>>

Marissa Walch

I was very lucky to get to start doing what I love while I was in college and then immediately dove into the industry full time. I knew how to work my connections, I loved working with people and I worked really hard to get the certifications I needed quickly so I could advance my career. I worked for everyone, anyone and pretty much all over the place. I always said yes, but I always made sure I was taking care of myself – enough sleep, workouts to myself and personal time. Read more>>

Reggie Pettegrew

Nothing is given in this business, everything is earned. Whether it’s trust or reputation, it’s something you have to work for. Most people come up with ideas and assume it’s as easy as creating an “LLC” and calling it good. They figure the business will come to them (If its a service based business) , They think it’s a simple exchange of services for profit and the business is self sufficient. When in reality, it’s not. It’s hounding social media/ google / coffee houses / community boards ect. for leads. Read more>>

Que Maxwell

My business didn’t hit success until year two and that was the beginning of the pandemic. I wasn’t really advertising my business per say, but I was being active on my business page. Posting quotes, offering encouragement, giving tips and tidbits on how to make your business work. My mutuals made had a hand in helping with scaling my business, by sharing my post and recommended me to people who needed my services. Read more>>

Dwanna Roberts

My passion has always been cooking and the beauty of food, how it makes me feel to cook and share it with others. As a child cooking became my safe space and my desire to keep cooking grew stronger and stronger. While on the journey I developed a skill of designing food. I was given the opportunity to cater my first event 10 years ago. The effort it took was nothing I had imagined it to be. It was stressful and demanding during the process. When the dust settled I was exhausted and completely fulfilled all at the same time. Read more>>

Ray Woods

One of the biggest roadblocks business owners and even career professionals run into when trying to scale is not investing money into themselves. Another obstacle could also be growing too fast. Let me touch on investing in yourself first before growing too fast. Money is a tool and tools are to be used to produce, fix, or create. If the tool sits there idle for too long, then it will become rusty and worthless. It’s the same with money. If money is not in circulation, it becomes worthless since it is not creating or fixing anything. Read more>>

Ian Canham

I started in a 1400sqft shop. Working on 1 maybe 2 cars at a time 5 years ago. My first jump up was 3 years ago coming into the pandemic I was worried. I was worried I would not be able to make it threw. Bit because I had built such a great relationship with my customers I was able to survive by word of mouth. So much that when everyone relieved there stimulous I felt as tho they wanted to come to my shop to get something done. Read more>>

Shante Hairston

Happy to have this opportunity to share my story. Nicole & Co. Beauty Spa has reached one year in business and I’m looking forward to many more. Although the journey wasn’t easy it was worth it. I would honestly say I’ve learned so much in the first year between educating myself and learning how to formulate cosmetics was just the start. I made a lot of mistakes along the way from wasting products, labels the list goes on. Read more>>

Gordon Jackson

Throughout my media career – at least in stature – I have been fortunate to scale up in my profession primarily through a combination of building a good reputation, always providing great quality in my body of work and the ability to take on major tasks in my industry. I have fortunately succeeded in becoming the consummate self-taught worker. Read more>>

Wahaj, Aman, Danish

As of September 2022, we have been in the creative world for five years! Over this time, we’ve had to learn not only how to scale the business but also when to pivot so we can remain relevant. In the first six months of our journey, we needed to build our portfolio and offered free shoots to close friends and family. This allowed us to practice and more importantly fail so we could learn and prepare for future shoots with people we did not know and who would be paying us for our services. Read more>>

Yasmine Anderson

It is important to note that the word “scale” in a business context was not even actually part of my vocabulary until about 3 months ago, which marked the 2 year anniversary of our incorporation in 2020. I was on the phone having a venting session with one of my village moms and entrepreneurship mentors when she told me that I had to regain control over the reigns in the organization that was, quite literally, blowing up in every direction. Read more>>