Victoria Devine

Scaling your small business in six easy steps

Things you need to consider when scaling your business.

Every big business you’ve ever come across was once a small business. They’ve started at markets, in a lounge room, or a garage. None have ever started off big.

So, how do they get there? By scaling their business smartly. This could be by buying their first premises, employing one person, or just finding a new way to ship orders.

At our latest Small Business Growth Masterclass, Victoria Devine, owner of Zella and ‘She’s on the money’ podcast, and Vodafone Business customer for 10+ years, shared some insights around how small businesses can work out if they’re ready to scale, and how they can do it successfully.

3 questions to ask yourself before scaling.

When talking about scaling small business at the Melbourne Masterclass, Victoria Devine said there are three questions that every small business owner needs to ask themselves before they consider scaling their business:

What does growth mean to you?

Growth can mean different things to different people. So, what does it mean to you? Do you want to grow your revenue? Get more staff or add more products to your inventory? Perhaps you want to expand into new locations. Take the time to sit down and think on what you consider to be signs of growth.

Is your business ready to scale?

While the desire to scale your business may be there, is it ready? Most small businesses are trialling new systems and processes all the time. They’re seeing if they work and fixing any bugs they come across. Scaling your business too soon will expose the cracks in your business and possibly cause more issues than you expected. Take the time to assess if your business is ready to scale, and if not, revisit it again later.

Where do you want to be in 6-12 months?

This is question directed at you AND your business, so look at it as a two-part question. You need to plan your goals and align them with your lifestyle and vision. By setting a time frame you can break your goals down into smaller, manageable chunks. Not only will this help you track your progress easier but will help you adjust or amend them if you find they’re not aligned.

3 ways to scale successfully.

Another topic Victoria Devine discussed during her keynote at the Small Business Growth Masterclass was how to scale a small business successfully. Which she put down to three elements:

1. Automate
2. Delegate
3. Eliminate

Automate

Every business has tasks that are repetitive. Whether it’s accounting tasks, stock ordering, or your social media posting. There is software and applications that can automate some of these repetitive tasks that help you save time and let you focus on other, more important, tasks for your business.

Delegate

As a small business owner you wear many hats. Accountant, buyer, marketer, salesperson, cleaner, the list goes on. You might be aware of this, but not everything needs your attention. Even as a one-person operation, you can hire virtual assistants and message taking services to handle appointment setting or phone calls. You don’t have to hire these services full-time. They can work on specific days, or you can even pay for a block of hours over a week or month. If you do go the hourly route, you can top-up your hours like a pre-paid mobile plan.

Eliminate

Writer’s have a saying: “Kill you darlings.” This means that if something isn’t working you need to get rid of it, no matter how much you love or are invested in it. The same goes for small

business. You need to be able to recognise when something isn’t working or functioning as it should and eliminate it. This could be a promotion/sale you’re running, a product that’s not getting any traction, or a process that’s not working as efficiently as it could. Be ruthless with your culling. This is your business after all.

*Important side note*

In the excitement of running and growing a small business most don’t consider setting boundaries. Not with your family and friends, but with your business. Victoria Devine speaks from experience when she says:

“Your business will take as much time away from you as your willing to give. Just know how much you’re able to give.”

So, as you’re planning the expansion of your business, consider how much time you’re willing to invest.

Your small business is a living organism you’re trying to cultivate into a massive, or at least bigger, tree that can support your lifestyle. Like most new things it requires a fair bit of trial and error. Just with hopefully less errors.

If you’re looking for more insights into running and managing your small business don’t forget to check out further content on our Small Business Growth Masterclass hub. You will be able to find videos on past Masterclass sessions as well as highlights from the 2025 sessions. We also have a series of small business insights on our Small Business Hub page you can view at your leisure.

Watch the interview with Victoria Devine