Startup to scale-up: the awkward teenage years of business
- Kim Hoang
- Jun 18
- 7 min read
When people talk about business growth, they often focus on two stages: the exciting startup phase and the impressive scale-up success story.
What gets overlooked is everything in between.
That middle stage can feel a lot like being a teenager. You're no longer a child, but you're not quite an adult either. You're growing rapidly, figuring out who you are, testing boundaries, making mistakes, and occasionally wondering whether everyone else has somehow got it all figured out.
For many businesses, this is the most challenging period of their journey.
The startup years are often defined by energy, flexibility, and determination. Decisions are made quickly. Everyone wears multiple hats. Processes are informal because they don't need to be formal. The founder is involved in almost everything.
Then growth arrives.
Sales increase. New employees join. Customers expect more. Opportunities become larger and more complex. Suddenly, the systems and habits that helped the business survive its early years start showing signs of strain.
Welcome to the awkward teenage years of business.
Read on to discover what that means and what you can do if your business is stuck in the tricky in-between.
Business growth can be challenging and tricky to navigate
Growing a business sounds like a good problem to have. And it is. Yet, growth creates challenges of its own.
A founder who once knew every customer by name may now be managing multiple teams.
Communication becomes more difficult. Decision-making slows down. New responsibilities emerge that nobody anticipated when the business was operating from a spare bedroom or kitchen table.
Many business owners are surprised to discover that the skills required to start a business are not always the same skills required to scale one.
The entrepreneurial instinct that drives early success can sometimes become a bottleneck.
Founders who are used to doing everything themselves often find it difficult to delegate.
Processes that once felt unnecessary become essential. Informal conversations need to become documented procedures.
In short, the business has to mature.
The path from startup to scale-up can unlock new problems to overcome before it delivers success
One of the biggest misconceptions about growth is that more sales automatically solve business challenges.
In reality, growth often creates new pressures.
One of our clients, ProVis Events, found themselves in this exact situation. Business boomed quicker than expected and suddenly they were spending time “spinning plates” rather than actively working on growth.
In co-founder Sharese Gascoigne’s words: “We had grown very quickly. We needed to invest in further software for the company to support the designers with things like CAD designs and technical drawings.
“We needed to get more people employed in the company to help us meet demand. And then obviously we needed to invest in further machinery and things like that as well.
“Ultimately, we needed “more” to service the work that we had coming in, and operating how we were, we had begun to lose out on money as we weren’t operating efficiently.
“I think for any sort of director, sometimes when things happen, it's really difficult to step out and work “on” the business rather than “in” the business. We were left firefighting because things came in so much quicker than we had anticipated. It was literally week by week, just going up and up and up.”
A larger order book may require additional staff. New staff require training. More customers mean greater expectations around service, communication, and delivery. Cash flow can become tighter even as revenue grows.
This surprises many growing businesses and can catch founders off-guard (as it did at ProVis).
Imagine receiving your biggest contract to date. It's exactly the opportunity you've been working towards. Yet fulfilling that contract may require recruiting new team members, purchasing equipment, increasing stock levels, or investing in new technology before you've been paid.
Simply put, growth costs money.
That's why so many businesses experience growing pains during this stage. Success can arrive faster than the infrastructure needed to support it.
The ideal scale-up journey involves building systems while still retaining your business’ unique personality
One challenge many founders wrestle with is maintaining the culture and personality that made the business successful in the first place.
Customers often choose smaller businesses because of their personal service, flexibility, and authenticity. As the business grows, there's a risk that these qualities become diluted.
The answer isn't to avoid growth. It's to be intentional about it.
Strong systems don't replace personality. They protect it.
Clear processes free up time for meaningful customer interactions. Well-defined roles help employees deliver consistent service. Effective technology can reduce administrative burdens and allow teams to focus on what they do best.
The goal isn't to become more corporate.
The goal is to create a business that's capable of delivering the same great experience to 1,000 customers as it did to 100.
Business growth requires accepting when it’s time to step back and give up some control
Perhaps the most difficult transition for many founders is learning to step back.
In the early days, involvement in every decision makes sense. Nobody knows the business better than the person who created it. But scaling requires trust.
Trusting employees to make decisions. Trusting managers to lead teams. Trusting systems to support operations.
This can feel uncomfortable at first. For many business owners, their company isn't just a source of income. It's something they've built from the ground up through years of hard work, sacrifice, and resilience.
Letting go doesn't mean caring less.
It means creating the conditions for sustainable growth.
A business that depends entirely on one person can only grow so far. A business that empowers others can continue growing long after the founder steps away from day-to-day operations.
Why does access to finance matter?
For businesses navigating this awkward middle stage, access to the right support can make a significant difference.
Growth often requires investment before results are realised. It might involve:
Recruiting staff
Purchasing equipment
Developing products
Entering new markets
Improving existing technology.
At the end of the day, scaling takes resources.
The challenge is that many growing businesses don't fit neatly into traditional lending criteria.
They may have strong potential but limited assets. They may have ambitious plans but a relatively short trading history.
This is where understanding your options becomes important.
ProVis Events had trouble accessing finance from traditional sources, saying: “Traditional lenders don't take the time to look at your business idea and the people behind the application. They just look at their computer saying “no”, because we haven't met some kind of criteria, and don’t consider the human aspect.
“As a recently established start-up company, we didn't have enough trading history to access any grants. We needed to look at alternative lending options.
“At First Enterprise, there was an open dialogue in addition to reviewing our documents and statements. It was a more open minded and refreshing process.
“They wanted to understand our business, our goals, and how we planned to reach them. They considered multiple factors rather than just simple figures. We felt seen and listened to in a way we didn’t with traditional lenders.
“Our Business Loan helped us scale-up and meet our rising customer demand, helping us get back on track towards our long-term goals.”
Remember: The right funding can provide breathing space, support investment, and help your business seize opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach.
More importantly, it can allow you to focus on growth rather than constantly worrying about cash flow.
Finance alone won't solve every challenge. Yet having the right financial foundations can make growth far more manageable.
Growing up doesn't mean growing old, it’s just another part of your journey — let us help you get to where you’re going
The good news is that most businesses eventually emerge from this awkward phase stronger, more resilient, and better equipped for long-term success.
The businesses that thrive are rarely the ones that avoid challenges altogether. They're the ones that adapt.
They invest in people. They improve systems. They seek advice when needed. They remain connected to the values that made them successful while embracing the changes required for future growth.
Every successful scale-up was once a startup trying to figure things out.
Every established business has experienced moments of uncertainty, growing pains, and difficult decisions.
The awkward teenage years of business may not be easy, but they're often a sign that something exciting is happening. Growth isn't always comfortable, but then neither is growing up.
If you’d like to explore how finance could help your business go from startup to scale-up, and overcome any awkwardness in-between, reach out to one of our advisors, either by completing the form below or calling 03456 027 355.
We’ll leave you with some final words of wisdom from Sharese: “I always think you should start bigger than what you think you are. I think investing early in a lot of our key procedures and machinery helped us over the long term.
“It enabled us to both cope with pressure and grow when there was an opportunity to bounce back. So, when you’re starting out, think big. Put the systems in place and prepare for that future growth.”
Please note:
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future. Please do not act based on anything you might read in this article.
We always recommend that you seek direct financial advice from a relevant expert or professional before making any financial decisions.
First Enterprise is a not-for-profit, FCA-regulated finance provider offering unsecured loans from £500 to £250,000 for start-ups and growing businesses across the UK.
We support businesses that struggle to access mainstream finance, with a focus on underrepresented groups. Funding is delivered through government-backed national and regional programmes.
We offer human-made lending decisions, a dedicated advisor for every applicant, and no penalties for early repayment.
