What Does It Really Mean to Scale Your Service-Based Business?

In business, growth is the difference between surviving and thriving. But growth without scale could mean you’re bringing in more revenue while simultaneously increasing operations costs. 

Business jargon often confuses the terms growth and scale. In reality, if expenses increase alongside revenue, then growth isn’t happening at scale. That means growth could actually come at a cost to your business. And while businesses have to grow to thrive, scaling is a way of future-proofing your business to run as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. 

So should you be focusing on growth or scale? The short answer is both. But the first step to growing at scale is understanding the difference between the terms, along with when to spend and when to scale. 

Skip Ahead:

• What’s the difference between growth and scale?

• Should you be focused on growing or scaling?

• Can you scale as you grow?

What’s the difference between growth and scale?

Growth is focused solely on increasing revenue. Your business offers a unique service. As you grow, you connect with more and more customers who can benefit from that service. But as a business grows, so do costs. Perhaps you started a small business out of your home. With just a few clients, it was easy to manage schedules, meet with clients, navigate business technologies, and manage marketing to attract new customers. But a thriving business means you have less time to focus on providing top-notch customer service due to a growing backlog of admin, marketing, and other time-consuming tasks that don’t earn you money. 

So now you have to bring on new team members or invest in services to help manage these tasks. Even if you are growing, you’re likely spending more to outsource responsibilities. It’s the growth paradox: you have to spend more money while keeping prices competitive to attract new clients. 

Not necessarily. 

That’s where scale comes into play. Scaling a business means growing revenue without significantly increasing spending. For example, perhaps instead of investing heavily in digital marketing, you start a podcast focused on your industry, which helps attract new customers without incurring a lot of additional expense. Or it could mean adopting business technologies to organize tasks without hiring new employees to manage operations. Successfully scaling a business ensures customer service remains top priority while operating costs remain low. 

But while scaling is generally considered the ideal scenario for long-term profitability, there are specific situations where prioritizing growth over scale can be strategically beneficial to your business.

To grow or to scale: That’s the question

How do you know if you should be focused on growing or scaling? There are times when you should plan for growth rather than focus completely on scale. However, prioritizing growth should lay a solid foundation for future scalability.

When to focus on growing

You’re just starting out: In the early stages, it’s important to prioritize acquiring customers and establishing a market presence. This might mean investing in marketing, tech, and building a team. Focusing on growth can help gain traction, attract clients, and build a framework for future scaling.

You’re Expanding: When introducing a new service or expanding your existing business, focusing on growth can help gather valuable feedback from a larger customer base, test the waters, and refine operations as you plan for the future.

But even as you invest in growth, scaling should always be your long-term goal. Choose strategies that can be eventually adapted and scaled as the business matures. The upfront cost of adopting a service or technology should always be offset by its long-term benefits.  

When to focus on scaling

You’re established in your market: After those early stages, when you’ve established a consistent demand and a loyal customer base, it’s time to start planning for scale. You’ve set the stage for significant growth and can now scale without major changes to the quality of your services.

You’ve got a steady revenue stream: Once you’ve built a stable foundation, it’s time to start thinking about ways to streamline your operations to support future growth without incurring significant costs. 

You’re doing it all on your own: If your business grows quickly, you might find yourself struggling to keep up with a full inbox, a packed calendar, and the prospect of adopting and integrating tech that seems to complicate, rather than simplify, your business operations. Now is the time to look for solutions that can help you focus on growth at scale.

Can I scale as I grow?

Absolutely. The best solutions for growing your business prioritize growing and scaling. The common business advice is that you have to spend money to make money. But there’s a difference between spending money just to keep your day-to-day operations afloat and investing money to help your business grow while scaling. 

That’s why Day to Day Assist has developed Done-For-You Systems and Operations Director Services to help save time at a fraction of the cost of bringing on a new full-time employee. 

For growing businesses, our Done-For-You (DFY) Systems Service can solve those nagging tech issues that are tying up time you could be spending with clients. DFY is perfect for teams of 1-5 people who need immediate new client relationship management (CRM) and task management systems. It’s a scalable, growth-minded solution for businesses that need to save time with tech and automation but haven’t quite gotten all the systems in place to help the business function at maximum efficiency. Our DFY Systems have been proven to cut admin time in half while you focus on growth. 

One of our clients, who operated a multi-six-figure wedding venue, was struggling to incorporate tech into his operations, spending valuable time grappling with systems that were eating into the time he spent giving clients the perfect day. Within 12 months of working with us, he was able to perfect the process and even open a second venue.  

For larger teams, our Operations Director Service means having the power of a full-time operations director without the cost of an additional hire. We work on a 6+ month retainer to manage your back-end operations so you can confidently sustain and grow your million-dollar business with a lean team. 

Investing in our Operations Director Service can save you up to 30% on operations costs while designing customized solutions for long-term growth. By adopting new systems and tech using our services, one of our real estate clients built 2 additional businesses with fewer than 3 employees, effectively scaling her business while growing exponentially. 

If you’re ready to grow your business by building systems solutions that help you scale, let’s get started.