Chad Silverstein on scaling a business: each growth stage brings different problems. At 10 employees versus 100 versus 200, you need entirely different skills. Sometimes that means replacing founders or leaders who can't grow into the role.
Chapters
The most challenging aspect of scaling a business is seeing things in the moment and not having a clue what's coming down the road when you break through ceilings and break records. And what I experienced in my company is that when you build this traction in your company and you're growing, you're hiring people and you're getting excited because you got clients coming on, you got people using your service or buying your product, you break through these ceilings, you hit these complexities that you just. You couldn't see. They just come out of nowhere. One day you realize, oh, my Gosh, I have 50 people now. I have 100 people now. And it just opens the door for different types of issues and challenges that you weren't ready for. And the most challenging part about that is that you may not have the capabilities to be able to rise above and overcome that challenge. And that requires you to hire different types of people with different skill sets that can come in and do what you can't do. And that means that people are going to have to shift. And the people who get your company to 10 people are not going to be the company who get your people to 70, and the people who got you to 70 people are not going to be the same people who are at 200. And so that constant climb from plateau to plateau, that requires you to get a different set of capabilities and different set of skill sets that are going to be required that you don't need today. That's such a hard thing for people, especially when you realize that you're the person who's the problem. You're the person who doesn't have the capabilities to take your company to that next level and having to either replace yourself, step aside, find someone who can do it better, and you can be sure there is someone who can do it better. There always is someone who can do it better. And you want to make sure you're doing your unique ability, what you love and what you're good at, and then making sure that everyone around you is in their unique ability. So the right person in the right seat is not just a cliche and a bumper sticker. It's something that you actually have to do. And that requires you to make really hard decisions. And it requires that to be an ongoing process that never ends if you're growing. And so that's a very challenging aspect of scaling your business.
