Should You Scale or Stay Small?

advanced

Evaluate whether aggressive growth or sustainable profitability is the right path.

When to use this:

  • •Profitable but considering venture capital
  • •Investors pushing for growth
  • •Competitors raising large rounds
~15 min•8 questions

Framework Details

Category

Strategy

Difficulty

advanced

Estimated Time

~15 minutes

When to Use This

  • •Profitable but considering venture capital
  • •Investors pushing for growth
  • •Competitors raising large rounds
  • •Team wants to "go big"
  • •Questioning if bigger is better

Warning Signs

  • •Scaling just because others are
  • •FOMO driving decision
  • •Can't articulate why bigger is better
  • •Your business model requires high-touch (doesn't scale)
  • •Scaling would compromise your differentiation

Real Example

This framework is based on patterns from:

The $4M Services Business Scaling Mistake

Tried to "productize" high-touch consulting firm. Clients paid for humans, not software. Lost clients and $4M.

Read the full story →