I once met someone at a conference who asked me what I did. When I told him I consult with people who launch online courses, he told me that wasn't scalable.
He didn't know a damn detail about me or my business, didn't ask a single follow-up question, and had no idea what my goals were. All he knew is that I was consulting, and that was bad because "it didn't scale."
There are seasons in business, and we regularly go through each of them at different times. Scaling is a phase to focus on when you’re sure you’ve found product-market fit.
Plants go dormant in the winter; the rest phase is crucial for their survival. Nature has much to teach us about growth.
Planting the right seeds: develop new product ideas, ideate on product improvements, create new content/resources, prune non-essentials activities; make room for growth.
Tending to projects, focusing on growth related activities: marketing & sales, build nurture sequences, optimize content, pay attention to metrics, maintain momentum.
Reaping the rewards of our efforts: celebrate our accomplishments, re-invest in the business, hire and train new team members, hone new skills.
Resting and maintainance: customer research activities, optimizations and improvements, cancelling subscriptions, trimming services, reflection and review.
There are times where you may want to intentionally slow down growth because you have more maintenace work to do, or new products to create.
If you haven’t reached stability with your offers or your operations, scaling can mean adding a huge burden to your time, energy and attention before you’re ready.