When looking to raise outside expansion funding, the safe path might not always be the optimal path. Think about growing aggressively. This will give you the greatest advantage.

Don’t fudge the metrics. You’ve calculated your economic model to predict your future profits from current losses. Now, don’t be overly optimistic. Pay attention to the metrics that signal the greatest impact on your business and be realistic in your measurements.

When scaling your company, the biggest thing that’s going to change is your distribution engine. You’re moving away from your entrepreneurial sales model, and what you’re trying to build is a replicable, scalable distribution machine that will allow you to efficiently grow your business.

If you’ve reached product-market fit, it means you’ve got the innovation piece nailed. You’ve figured out how to take an idea and package it into a product and deliver it to market. Now comes the challenging part, taking early traction and expanding it into broad market penetration.

You scale by repeating whatever it is that is working to generate revenue. You’re no longer in experiment mode. You’ve found something that works. Now your objective is to repeat it as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

When you’re starting to scale, it becomes all about execution, which is a very different way from the way a startup is organized. This has major implications moving forward.

The scaling stage is just one of the stages of a company’s life cycle. At this point, it’s all about growth. You have some early, committed customers and you’re ready to grow those numbers significantly, likely growing many times faster than the overall economy.

How much does scaling cost and how long is it going to take? The answer is, it depends. Depending on your company and your industry, the timeline for scaling could be vastly different. The key is to understand which timeline matches your company’s profile, and to adhere your goals and metrics to meet this.