Growth and scaling are imperative to the survival and success of any business — and while the two words may sound similar, they’re actually very different. Many businesses push to grow without an emphasis on scaling, and that usually isn’t sustainable over time. 

So what exactly is scaling, why is it so challenging, and how can outsourcing help? 

Growth vs. Scale: What Does Scaling Mean in Business?

Especially in relation to outsourcing, people tend to think of scaling in terms of responding to seasonal fluctuations by increasing or decreasing staff as needed. 

However, that’s not what scaling a business for growth means. When we discuss scaling, we’re talking about a longer-term strategy: increasing revenue without proportionally increasing resources spent. 

For example, a successfully scaling business might create automated processes that enable them to send ten emails or one million emails with the same level of effort. In this scenario, the resources and labor costs required remain the same regardless of email volume, allowing the business to reach more customers and earn more revenue. 

Growth is also often associated with scaling, but growth is more linear — it increases revenue by adding new resources, like capital, people, and technology. This can lead to gains, but it isn't always sustainable in the long term, because it requires a continuous input of additional resources.

The Business Growth Plateau: Why Some Companies Struggle to Scale

A number of factors contribute to growth plateaus, but they often come down to this: the strategies that are effective in one stage of growth may not be suitable for the next stage. In other words, an operational approach that gets you to Series A might not get you to Series B, and so on. 

Common signs of a growth plateau include:

Stalled Revenue and / or Profits — If you’re just breaking even (or losing money), and that pattern lasts for several months, you’ve hit a plateau. You might notice that annual recurring revenue (ARR) per employee is stagnating or declining. 

In turn, slim profit margins limit your ability to invest in crucial processes like marketing, improving customer experience, and hiring more team members.

Operational Bottlenecks — Scaling operations successfully requires that your workflows evolve with your business. Your existing processes may be causing bottlenecks because they can’t accommodate the growth you’ve experienced. 

Reactive Approach — If you’re constantly grappling with urgent issues or “putting out fires,” that reduces the time and resources available for developing a long-term growth strategy. 

Human Capital Management Challenges — This can manifest in a few ways. Maybe your team members feel like they’re juggling multiple roles and responsibilities, or growth-related changes have left your organization underutilizing certain employees. 

Or, maybe you’re experiencing high turnover because disengaged employees feel stagnant in their roles.

Customer Relationship Management Challenges — You need to not only keep current customers, but gain new ones over time. If customer churn matches or surpasses acquisition, customer feedback is often mixed or neutral, or you’re struggling to provide excellent customer experiences, your organization might be in a growth plateau. 

Struggling to Outperform Competitors — Whether you’re dealing with a saturated market, an inability to keep up with customer demands, or a lack of continued investment in marketing or product development as your company grows, losing your competitive edge can be a sign of a growth plateau. 

Many companies hit a plateau even if they’ve had positive growth in the past. If your organization is currently in this phase, it’s an ideal moment to take a step back, assess the business as a whole, and identify new opportunities for scalable growth.

How to Scale a Business with Outsourcing

There are many strategies out there that can help your organization overcome a plateau — implementing new technology, upskilling your full-time employees, improving quality standards, and more.

Outsourcing can help you deploy these strategies while also boosting efficiency and planning for long-term success. 

Outsourcing with the right partner can help your organization:

Focus on Core Business Processes — Outsourcing can let your in-house team focus on processes that are at the heart of your business, while delegating other tasks to your outsourced team.

Strategize for Long-Term Success — The right outsourcing partner will go above and beyond mere task completion, delivering true value by helping you strategize for the long term and examine your processes to identify optimizations.

Upskill Your Employees — By outsourcing tasks that are repetitive or less complex, your internal team can focus on upskilling and development in their current and future roles.

Outsourcing can also help reduce burnout by better distributing work and alleviating strain on in-house resources.

Improve Quality Standards — During periods of rapid growth or surges in volume, quality can slip. The right outsourcing partner will work with you to implement innovative solutions for maintaining high quality as you grow and scale. Working with an outsourcing provider who offers AI-enabled quality assurance (QA) can also help.

Reduce Burn Rates — Bringing in an outsourcing partner can help slow your burn rate, allowing you to make the most of your revenue. 

Meet Customer Needs — Outsourcing can help you better meet your customers’ needs and expectations, from technical support for your products and multilingual support, to AI-powered options that enable 24/7 availability.

For best results, we recommend taking a proactive approach to outsourcing — this will allow your outsourcing partner to align with your goals and fully integrate with your business processes. 

Ready to Overcome Your Scaling Limitations?

Scaling a business for growth may pose significant challenges for many companies, but it doesn't have to be a problem for yours. With SupportNinja, you can achieve sustainable scaling with outsourcing that goes above and beyond cost-saving measures.

We provide high-quality outsourcing services that add true value — not rigid, one-size-fits-all solutions. Our contracts are flexible and tailor-made to meet your unique needs, so you can overcome the obstacles on your path to growth. Get in touch with us to learn more.