The Real Work of Scaling a Business

One of the lessons I’m learning as a small business owner is that scale isn’t about doing the same thing, just bigger, once you have more money. It’s about getting crystal clear on the core of what you’re creating and being incredibly creative in how you modify, adapt, and problem solve so it still works when the context changes. As I get deeper into this kind of problem-solving, it strikes me that this is both a universal truth and a struggle for businesses of every size. Because every successful business seeks to grow, scaling is inevitable. The question is whether that growth builds long-term profitability or just short-term wins that eventually collapse.

I run a business built around social, creative experiences: small to mid-sized group candle-making classes designed to feel joyful, connective, and personal. Our core in-studio experience invites guests to start with a library of more than 90 base fragrances, mix their favorites into a custom blend, and then choose from 35 to 40 vessels to create a candle that is both handmade and uniquely theirs. They wick, blend, pour, and label. While their candles set, they connect with their group through games, conversation, or simply time together. It is not just about the candle. It is about the experience.

Over the past year and a half, we’ve found a strong rhythm with our core in-studio format. However, as we grow, the demand for larger groups, mobile experiences, and shorter sessions increases. Requests for 50 or 75 people in a single-seated class, hosted in a building lobby or hotel event space, have forced us to ask how we can honor the integrity of what we do without making promises that the format may not be able to deliver.

In responding to these requests, we’ve had to get clear about our non-negotiables. For us, that’s creating joy, sparking connection, and fostering creativity. If we can’t deliver on those, it’s probably not the right event for us.

That clarity gave us room to decide what could flex. Once groups reach more than 30 people, the seated format where everyone moves through the same steps at the same time, starts to break down. Guests stop paying attention, miss instructions, or distract others, and the experience loses the personal, connected feeling that makes it work. To preserve that, we shift into a station-based format where people can move at their own pace and still get support at each stage. Bringing our full set of 90 scents to a large group is also impractical. You can't just bring one bottle of each, you need multiples, and with 50 guests, that quickly turns into hundreds of bottles. To solve this, we created scaled scent libraries. Sometimes guests work from a curated set of 25 or 35 that they blend, and in the tightest timelines, they choose from a handful of blends we developed in advance. We work with organizers to streamline vessel options to keep setup realistic.

Each of these adjustments is a logistical solution designed to protect the integrity of the experience. Guests still leave with a high-quality candle they made themselves, and they still share a social, creative experience together.

When new opportunities come in, the biggest question we ask ourselves is whether our core promise can still be preserved. It can when we adjust the format, like offering a smaller set of vessels, narrowing the scent library, or shifting to stations so larger groups can move through at their own pace. It cannot when the request itself makes the promise impossible. For example, trying to run a fully customized class for 40 people seated at once rarely works. Neither does compressing the experience into a timeline that leaves no room for guests to actually enjoy it.

In those moments, we do not simply say no. We make recommendations that shift the format while still protecting what makes the experience valuable. Sometimes those adjustments work for the client, and sometimes they decide it is not the right fit. That is the gamble, choosing to protect the promise rather than deliver something that would compromise it.

And I don’t think that tension is unique to my business. Any leader who has tried to grow something, whether a team, a program, or a company, has felt the same pull. As opportunities expand, the real challenge is deciding what is possible without compromising the heart of what you are building, and what is not. Scaling with intention is hard because it requires planning, creativity, and risk. It is not simple, but it is the work of keeping a business alive and moving forward.