There are a lot of factors to consider when you’re scaling a startup. What should your recruiting strategy look like? How much should you invest in marketing? Is it too late to adjust your brand?
Every startup is different, but it’s always a good idea to learn from others who have gone before. Here are 12 tips on how to scale up a startup, from founders and CEOs who have been there:
1. Forge beneficial partnerships
ADARA CEO, Layton Han credits the travel data company’s success to its network of data partners and other industry collaborations. If you partner with recognizable industry brands, you can gain access to greater resources and more customers.
2. Know what you stand for
Josh Reeves, CEO, and co-founder of the HR software company Gusto, says that companies should care about the problems they’re trying to solve for their clients. Identify the specific ways in which your product or service benefits clients, and stay passionate about it.
3. Say “no” when you need to
Reflecting on delivery logistics company Onfleet’s first three years of business, co-founder and CEO, Khaled Naim says that as hard as it may be, sometimes saying no to an opportunity is the right thing to do. You can’t please everyone all the time, and startups have to prioritize.
4. Create a strong company culture
When CEO Nicolas Dessaigne and CTO Julien Lemoine co-founded Algolia, a web search service, they centered everything around company culture so that all employees would share similar values and feel a strong connection to the company. Keep company culture in mind while recruiting.
5. Learn how to delegate
Rachel Drori, CEO of food delivery service Daily Harvest, says that delegation is a vital skill. She made most decisions herself in the early days, but she hired specialists as the company scaled and allowed them to run their own teams. As you scale up, remember that you can’t do it all on your own.
6. Spend money strategically
Lorenzo Gomez III, co-founder, and CEO of content platform Geekdom Media, recommends that companies work on research and development before they spend big bucks on marketing. Advertising a half-baked product is a common mistake for startups that can limit your ability to scale.
7. Don’t be afraid to rebrand
Liz Wessel is the co-founder, and CEO of WayUp, a job platform that was originally named The Campus Job. When the company rebranded, they changed both their name and logo to better fit the services they provide. Such a big change can be intimidating, but don’t feel obligated to keep a name, logo, or brand persona that isn’t working.
8. Prepare for flux
Tim Chen, co-founder, and CEO of NerdWallet, advises leaders to embrace change. As your startup grows, you’ll encounter shifts in everything from KPI goals to consumer needs. It makes sense to have a detailed plan for the next six months, but you can’t necessarily map out the next ten years right out of the gate — things may be very different by then.
9. Scale communication
According to Melanie Perkins, the co-founder, and CEO of the online design platform Canva, communication is one of the most important leadership qualities. Communication was relatively easy when Canva was small, but it got harder to maintain as they scaled, so they did some restructuring and implemented weekly meetings to keep everyone in the loop. Adapt to changing communication needs as you scale up.
10. Listen to feedback
Michael Wystrach is the co-founder, and CEO of Freshly, a meal delivery service. He says that good leadership requires adapting to change and listening to feedback from mentors, advisors, and other executives. Keep in mind that your leadership strategy might need some adjustments during the scaling process.
11. Make diversity a priority
Studies have shown that diverse companies perform better. Matthew Glotzbach, CEO of Quizlet, was familiar with this research when he decided to amp up diversity recruiting at the education app company. Varied backgrounds and experiences make companies stronger, so start diversity recruiting as soon as possible.
12. Don’t limit your talent search by geographic area
Once you’ve decided to expand your talent search to those who live outside your morning commute - remote can mean the next town over or the next country. Why limit your growing startup to a higher-priced, smaller talent pool when there are solid benefits to be had by broadening your search? Once you decide to go remote, don’t continue to region-lock your talent options.
Over to you
As you might have noticed, many of these tips come down to being adaptable. Scaling is a risk, and requires a great deal of versatility — you have to be ready for anything. If you stay adaptable and make adjustments in real-time, you’ll have a much smoother scaling process.
