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.

Kellie Wright

When we first started our business, we believed it would be a fun hobby we could do from our home. We had no business plan, real vision, or even intention for it to turn into a fully operational business. Our local community quickly changed our course as they were extremely receptive to our concept, and we had trouble keeping up with the demand. Read more>>

Brooke Schnittman

Scaling up for many entrepreneurs is the ultimate goal in “making it.” Along with many of my clients, I thought you bring on more people, you do less work, and make more money! Ehh not quite… Read more>>

Jessica Amicarella

I picked this question because it has been quite the road for me to “scale up.” When I first opened The Lash House, it was a very simple concept. We just rented rooms, people came and went as they pleased, and there wasn’t much of a culture established. Read more>>

Alfio Lora

I have heard a phrase once long time ago that says: “Be careful of what you do , because there is always people watching you !!”. I have always applied this . I believe first of all , since I do love photography, I do it with love and passion, and when I meet with a client, this feeling transmits. Read more>>

Tina Herrmann

When I started Watermark Organizing 5 years ago, my goal was to make enough money to pay for one of my daughters to go to college. I was ecstatic when it happened the first year! After that first year, I focused on building my client base and getting our name out in order to build up word of mouth marketing. It took 3 years to see that come to fruition. Read more>>

Jaleesa Brown

A trip to Los Angeles to visit one of my best friends is what ultimately led me to starting Uplifting. Unfortunately, it was the death of that same friend that led me to scaling up my business to where it is today. Read more>>

Chris Dillenbeck

Our biggest challenge with Tree Line Candle Co has been figuring out how to scale the business incrementally. Scaling a manufacturing business is definitely a chicken and egg problem. You simply can’t go after the bigger customers if you don’t have the production capability, and it is hard to justify and afford to grow the business if you don’t currently have the sales. Read more>>

Jessica Bronzert

I’m not sure anyone is ever done scaling up, but there was a key point at which I needed to decide to intentionally pursue getting larger or intentionally pursue getting smaller. The business had been growing organically, and while I was thrilled, I wasn’t doing anything strategic to manage that growth. Read more>> 

Wenter Shyu

My husband Sam had been baking Mochi Muffins since 2014 and when we officially started Third Culture Bakery in 2017, we knew we wanted to lead the company with the Original Mochi Muffin, a pastry that he created out of wanting to honor his memories of baking with his mother in Indonesia and the baking techniques he had learned and acquired through his fine dining experience. Read more>>

Mitchell McNamara

So Cal Adult Softball started in 2012. A two man operation between my Dad and I. We started with recreational leagues and in the beginning we ran mostly coed recreational leagues. Over the past ten years we have incorporated the Bio Tech Softball Leagues. Read more>>