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For as long as I’ve owned a house, I’ve had a ladder. They’re one of those things you don’t really think about - until you need one. Mine was the sort that could be used as a step-ladder or converted to a longer ladder, and in my little suburban house, it did everything I needed.
But when we moved to our country house, the scale of everything was just so much bigger. My trusty little ladder that had served me so well for years in suburbia, just wasn’t cutting it anymore. There were parts of the new house I simply couldn’t reach. Jobs were put off. Maintenance was delayed. Eventually, faced with a high ceiling that needed attention and a few other niggling issues that had been hanging around, I realised something up-scale was needed.
So, I bought a new one. Twice the reach, more configurations, a wider base for stability, yet folding down to the size of the old one - an impressive piece of engineering; and being an engineer, that pleased me. But here’s the important part: I didn’t buy a new ladder just for the sake of it. I bought it because it enabled me to get things done. I want a house in good repair, not a collection of ladders. The ladder is just a means to an end.
And that, in many ways, is what scaling a business is all about.
It’s tempting to think of scaling as doing more of the same. Twice the sales team, twice the revenue. Twice the manufacturing lines, twice the output. But it doesn’t work like that. Two of my old ladders wouldn’t have helped me reach the ceiling.
Businesses hit thresholds where what once worked perfectly well suddenly breaks. One bookkeeper can cope with a certain level of sales and number of staff, then the finance function falls apart. A founder can keep direct tabs on everything as the company grows to a certain point, then they become swamped. Doubling revenue often triples the number of headaches.
Scaling, in reality, feels like a series of plateaus and step changes. You climb, you stabilise, you climb again. Each step requires something new.
In business, scaling means building new capabilities that let you reach further and do more than before, and those new or additional capabilities are often more sophisticated, not merely bigger.
The capabilities needed vary, but typically include:
The important point is that these capabilities are enablers. They are not an end in themselves; no one sets out to 'buy systems' or 'implement processes' just for the fun of it. They’re the means that let you reach the outcomes you want and as your desired outcomes evolve, the means have to evolve, in a balanced way, to keep up.
Scaling doesn’t always mean revolution. Sometimes it’s evolutionary: tightening processes, strengthening the team, upgrading systems step by step. Other times it’s transformative: rethinking the entire model — shifting from product to platform, or from services to subscription.
In practice, most businesses do a blend of both. The key is to be clear about what you are scaling into. What kind of future business are you building? Without that strategic vision, you can end up with solutions and systems that don’t actually get you to where you want to go.
And equally important: not everything needs to scale. Choosing where to scale - which markets, which products, which customer segments etc, is just as strategic as building the capability itself.
Scaling sounds attractive, but it comes with pitfalls:
Scaling, then, is less about size and more about reach. It’s not the number of ladders you have, but whether you’ve got the right ladder for the job. And it’s not the ladder that matters most, it’s what it enables you, and your business, to achieve.
Ad Futurum
Graham