| Scalability refers to a venture’s ability to: |
Reference |
| Maintain or increase its level of performance or efficiency when performing under an increased or expanding workload |
Investopedia investopedia.com/terms/s/scalability.asp |
| Grow without being hampered by its structure or available resources |
Investopedia investopedia.com/terms/s/scalability.asp |
| Implement processes that lead to an efficient operation |
Investopedia investopedia.com/terms/s/scalability.asp |
| Add revenue at an exponential rate while only adding resources at an incremental rate (e.g., add customers at a quick pace while adding very few additional resources to service those customers) |
Fundable fundable.com/blog/post/growth-vs-scaling |
| Enable next sale to require less time and effort than the one prior to it (e.g., once the costly development stage is complete, the company who made the software can sell as many copies as it wants as fast as it needs to with very little incremental cost) |
Fundable fundable.com/blog/post/growth-vs-scaling |
| Produce the product faster and cheaper for every additional customer who buys it |
Fundable fundable.com/blog/post/growth-vs-scaling |
| Replicate the value of their solution very quickly and inexpensively (e.g., people were selling junk out of their garages just fine before eBay came along; however, eBay found a way to make the process work faster and cheaper) |
Fundable fundable.com/blog/post/growth-vs-scaling |
| Automate the delivery process of its goods or services |
Fundable fundable.com/blog/post/growth-vs-scaling |
| Optimize efforts, not duplicates efforts |
Josh Lowry joshlowryblog.com/2012/03/15/what-does-scale-mean-in-business/ |
| Increase sales volume while keeping costs unchanged or decreases them |
Josh Lowry joshlowryblog.com/2012/03/15/what-does-scale-mean-in-business/ |
| Operate infrastructures that enables scale-up when customer demand is high without having to invest in new hardware and reduce server capacity and (scale-down) during normal operating periods |
Josh Lowry joshlowryblog.com/2012/03/15/what-does-scale-mean-in-business/ |
| Grow revenue with minimal or no increase in operating costs (e.g., administrative, sales, etc.). (e.g., in Year 1, company delivers $10M in revenue with $1M in operating costs. In Year 2, company delivers $12M in revenue with $1M in operating costs. Company scales because it grew revenue by $2M without increasing its operating costs. This is common with software and other technology companies who develop IP at an early stage and subsequently monetize it at low marginal costs over time. if company requires its operating costs to increase by $2M to grow its revenue by $2M, the business is not scaling. Consulting firms like Accenture and McKinsey & Company are prime examples of organizations that do not scale. This is because there are a fixed number of billable hours in a day, so they add consultants on a one-to-one basis to grow revenue.) |
Josh Lowry joshlowryblog.com/2012/03/15/what-does-scale-mean-in-business/ |
| Has a repeatable sales model |
Josh Lowry joshlowryblog.com/2012/03/15/what-does-scale-mean-in-business/ |
| Increases the size, amount, or extent of something |
Merriam-Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/scale-the-business-meaning-origin |
| Grows or expand in a proportional and usually profitable way |
Merriam-Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/scale-the-business-meaning-origin |
| Profitably reaches many people |
Merriam-Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/scale-the-business-meaning-origin |
| Can handle a growing amount of work or sales in a capable, cost-effective manner |
Tallyfy https://tallyfy.com/scaling-your-business/ |
| Can cope with an increased amount of work while maintaining or increasing its efficiency. |
Tallyfy https://tallyfy.com/scaling-your-business/ |
| Grow revenue exponentially while keeping operating costs low. |
Tallyfy https://tallyfy.com/scaling-your-business/ |
| Has operating leverage – additional revenue requires relatively smaller and smaller additions to operating costs |
Alex Taussig http://fortune.com/2011/06/01/how-to-know-if-your-business-will-scale/ |
| Has big revenue multiples – public markets reward them |
Alex Taussig http://fortune.com/2011/06/01/how-to-know-if-your-business-will-scale/ |
| Approach the limits of growth |
http://shannamann.com/you-need-to-scale-your-business-but-what-does-it-mean/ |
| Grow while adapting to a larger workload without compromising performance or losing revenue. |
Patel, 2014 |
| Handle a growing amount of work in a capable, cost-effective manner. |
Johnson, undated |
