How to Scale Your Startup Without Spending a Fortune

Build your efficient growth machine in six phases

Why do some startups take off like rockets while most others drift like leaky rowboats?

The key to startup growth is what’s commonly referred to as “scale.” Scale is something everyone will say you absolutely must have, but no one ever tells you what that means or how to get there.

Scale is this: Once your company settles on a working business model, you can’t just execute and repeat. Somewhere in there is another mandatory step: Refine.

In 20+years of taking startups from troubled-but-promising small businesses to efficient growth machines, I’ve learned that when startups stagnate, more often than not it’s because they spend all their time executing and zero time refining.

Scaling a business isn’t rocket science, but when done right, you could end up with a rocket.

What does scale look like?

If you’re thinking about growth, your company probably already has a compelling story. Or maybe you’re not quite there yet, but that doesn’t mean you can ignore growth. If your goal is to build a lawnmower, you’ll be just fine with a lawnmower engine. If your goal is to build a rocket, that engine will need to be…