We are prioritizing applicants who are building companies with scalable business models. This means that the company has the potential to grow rapidly over a short period of time (versus incrementally) and can maintain or improve profit margins as sales volumes increase. These companies would also typically seek venture capital funding as part of their pathway to growth.
In many, but not all, scale is achieved through the use of technology, including reaching a large number of customers and/or delivering its product online, being a software or internet-based product, being a physical product that can be scaled up through increased manufacturing. In other words: If your business follows a scalable model, your cost per customer won't increase, even if you gain 100 customers overnight. See more examples below.
Examples of high-growth, scalable companies include:
Software & Downloads
Once a product or design is developed, additional units have lower production costs and higher margins.
Online Content & Curriculum
The amount of time is used to create content that reaches 1,000 people is the same as it would take to create the same content if it reached 1,000,000 people.
Subscription Services
People are often willing to pay more for things monthly then they would if they bought each product individually and companies benefit from increasing economies of scale in production.
E-Commerce
Most products or services provided via the internet are scalable when they use technology to expand their addressable markets.
Line production
Most processes of line commodity production are automated and are able to ramp up production to meet market demands without large incremental investments in staffing.
Franchising
Companies with a strong brand or product offering can expand their businesses without spending much additional money by developing a franchise offering that is sold to other entrepreneurs. The original company doesn't have to pay for the new companies' facilities, staff or operations, but will still reap profits from the initial franchise fee, royalties, and other fees paid by franchisees.
Examples of high-growth, scalable companies do not include:
Single-Location Businesses
Such as one-off restaurants, salons, boutiques, etc., unless they have a business model to reach more customers beyond a limited number of locations.
1-1 Service Providers
Businesses where the amount of time used to reach or serve one customer increases proportionally as the number of new customers increases, and is therefor not scalable due to resource limitations. I.e. individual consulting services.