How to scale a business, 8 tactics for startups to leverage in 2025

It’s a good sign if you’re even thinking about scaling your start up. Most likely you’ve enjoyed some early successes and are now contemplating how to take the plunge into bigger and broader markets. We’ll look at 10 top tips on how to scale a business, from devising a sustainable strategy to growing your resources and personnel while minimising your expenditure.

While you're looking into scaling your business, make sure to check out the Wise Business Account. It’s ideal for start-ups of all sizes, especially if you have new international markets in sight.

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What does scaling a business mean?

It’s common for start-up founders to use “grow” and “scale” interchangeably when talking about expanding their business. While the two terms do carry a similar meaning, there are some key differences.

Scaling a business can be summed up as a company adding on new revenue at a much quicker pace than it accumulates new costs and resources. To the contrary, growing a business involves taking on increased costs, be it with staffing or operations, in order to increase revenue

That means that a company that scales at the top level will expand its customer base, operations and infrastructure - all while taking on minimal costs.²

When should you start scaling your business?

As a rule of thumb, you know it’s time to scale when your sales are picking up too fast for the company’s current capacity. When you don’t just see the uptick in demand as a one-off occasion, and can foresee a sustainable growth, it’s likely time to make the shift from start up to scale up.

Another telling sign that it’s time to scale is when staff are struggling to juggle their current workload, or it goes beyond their knowledge base.³

Top tips to scale your business

Make sure you have a clearly thought-out vision

Having a business plan in place may seem like a no-brainer. However, some founders rely too heavily on their initial vision, rather than making sure they adapt it to their business growth. Lay out any barriers which could stand in the way of scaling your business in order to come up with the strategies needed to avoid or overcome them.³

Document your processes

Having a plan doesn’t go far without the processes in place to ensure that everyone on your team is following it. To keep everyone on the same page, develop KPIs and SOPs which break down the steps and strategies you follow within your team. An instant plus is that these are then available to future hires, meaning you won’t need to invest quite as much time and energy into training them.³

Spend (and save) smartly

Spending wisely within your company’s budget means looking into where it makes sense to divvy out extra funds now, and where you should save them up instead.

For example, just because you’re the CEO does not mean you need to take home a CEO’s salary - at least at first. You might actually pay yourself the lowest income as you scale your company in order to build up reserves and ensure all others costs are covered.

On the other hand, it could make the most sense to fork out more for new hires with a lot of experience under their belt. Sure, these FTHs cost more than entry level hires but in the end you’re likely to invest less time - and resources - into onboarding and training them.⁵

Don’t be shy about seeking mentorship

A mentor does not need to come in the form of a VC or angel investor who also has a stake in your company. They can also be a paid couch or membership in an organisation such as Tech Nation, Antler, Virgin Startup or the government-backed InnovateUK. If you’re eyeing international expansion, the UK’s Global Entrepreneur Programme connects founders with experienced business people who have global experience.

Turn to AI and automation where possible

As your company continues to grow, it could get difficult for employees to handle all tasks on their own - and they shouldn't have to. Instead of investing in more personnel, you can instead focus on business automation where applicable. For example, you could implement a radio frequency identification system (RFID) in order to count your inventory.

You can also automate customer support emails or offer 24/7 support through AI chatbots. Investing in digital accounting and payment solutions is another way to massively help streamline operations. For example, Wise’s international invoicing system can help you manage overseas bills and invoices more seamlessly.¹

Access growth capital

Having sufficient funding allows you to expand your marketing efforts, invest in infrastructure and in general chase new opportunities. Whether you’re getting a hold of funding through private equity, venture capital or other sources, it’s important to develop dynamic forecasts. This can help you assess profit based on previous income, and identify real business drivers such as revenue growth, customer retention and loyalty, and market demands.^{3 6}

Be sure to put your customers first

Scaling should not just be focused on acquiring new customers but also pleasing the ones which you already have. Happy customers are the best advertising for your start up going forward, as they often refer friends, family and colleagues.

In doing so, they can play a direct scaling process: incentivised sharing through discounts and rewards can help grow your user base. You can also involve loyal customers in pilot programs, in which they test new products or features. You can furthermore use customer interaction data in order to optimise operations and the overall use experience.^{3 4}

Prepare for new regulations in new markets

Especially if international expansion is part of your scaling process, make sure that your company is on track to comply with local emerging environmental and digital governance standards such as carbon reporting and data privacy in order to future-proof your operations. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the UK and EU are similar but still have many core differences.⁷

Scale your business with Wise Business

Whether fine-tuning your business plan or automating your processes, there are numerous ways to scale your start up. As your company expands, a Wise business account can help you get an upper hand on your finances, including making payments in 40+currencies, integrating your accounting software on multiple platforms and making batch payments.

Get started with Wise Business🚀

FAQs - scaling a business

How to know if your product or business idea has scalability potential?

Ask yourself if your product or idea can be sustainably replicated and delivered outside of your current market. Is it ready to reach customers in a wider region, and is it suitable for an eventual international expansion? If the product or idea can be sold to a broad audience, regardless of geographic limits, that’s usually a pretty promising sign.¹

Should I bootstrap or seek external funding to scale up my business?

Bootstrapping refers to using your own funds in order to grow. For example, a start-up might dig into its personal profits or savings instead of turning to an outside investor. The advantage of this is that you can grow your company at your own pace without feeling rushed to please or pay back investors.

If you do seek external funding - be it from angel investors, venture capitalists or even fundraising platforms - keep in mind the costs. You can likely grow much faster with VC money, but with an exchange for equity. You’ll receive a little less from angel investors, but they’ll still expect a stake in your company. That being said, it could be worthwhile to hand over some control, especially if you’re a first-time founder, considering that these outsiders also bring industry connections and mentorship.³

How to ensure my business can handle scaling up financially?

If you’re still unsure that your start-up could pass a stress test against scaling up, there are a few things to consider.

Do you have a positive cash flow, or at least a clear path to it? Even if your finances are in tip-top shape, it’s also important to have buffer capital - basically a rainy day fund for revenue delays or expenses that catch you off guard.

You’ll also want to keep up-to-date financial statements, key for both planning ahead and attracting investors down the line. Don’t just keep tabs on your past expenditures, but also on future ones: financial projections looking ahead 12 to 24 months can help you gouge both the best and worst case scenarios.^{1 5}

Sources used for this article:

1. Imaginovation - Product scalability 101: How to know if your idea can grow
2. NW Bank - What does it mean to scale a business?
3. Business.com - 8 tips for scaling your business
4. Stripe - How to scale a start up
5. Forbes - The top 10 ways to strategically grow
6. BDO United Kingdom - Ten top tips to scaling up your business
7. GDPR Advisor https://www.gdpradvisor.co.uk/eu-gdpr-vs-uk-gdpr

Sources last checked 15 May 2025