In November I gave a presentation explaining the difference between Scaling and Growing your business, oftentimes clients will say one thing but actually mean another. So in this article I will explain the difference as well as why downsizing is an option for some business owners – and not just when struggling.
Growing = Bigger Growth is all about increasing revenue by adding resources, such as hiring more staff, expanding services, or working in additional areas. It’s about focusing on quantity, more weddings, more clients, more reach.
Characteristics of Growth:
- Directly Proportional: To grow, you often need to spend more (time, money, or effort). For example this might be hiring more planners to manage additional weddings, renting a warehouse to expand your stock or opening a second office to cover a new region.
- Goal: To expand in operations to serve more clients or offer broader services.
Scaling = Better Scaling is about increasing revenue without significantly increasing costs or resources. It focuses on streamlining and efficiency, allowing you to work smarter, not harder and stay in your zone of genius more. Scaling aims to maximise profitability without a linear increase in workload.
Characteristics of Scaling:
- Exponentially Proportional: Revenue grows faster than costs. For example raising your prices and targeting luxury weddings, creating online tools/templates for passive income, or automating client management.
- Goal: Maximise profit and impact without burnout.
Downsizing = Refocusing Downsizing involves intentionally reducing the size of your business to create a more manageable, sustainable, or profitable operation. While it might seem counterintuitive, downsizing can sometimes be a powerful strategy to align your business with your personal and professional goals. For example you might want to reduce your hours so you can look after a young family or to free up time to launch a different venture.
What Downsizing Might Look Like:
- Offering fewer services or focusing on a specific niche (e.g., luxury weddings or micro-weddings).
- Reducing team size and handling more tasks independently.
- Moving to a home office.
- Cutting overhead costs or taking on fewer clients to prioritise higher-quality work.
Remember, downsizing doesn’t mean failure. Often, it’s a strategic choice to simplify operations, boost profitability, or create a better work-life balance. Can also be ideal when working towards an exit plan.

What Could Scaling, Growing, or Downsizing Look Like in Practice?
- Growing: Expanding your team to plan 50 weddings a year instead of 30. Opening an office in a new location to serve additional areas / regions.
- Scaling: Raising your prices to work fewer weddings while maintaining or increasing revenue. Creating an online course or templates for passive income.
- Downsizing: Letting go of an office space, reducing team size, and focusing on luxury weddings that require fewer clients but generate higher profit margins.
Both growth and scaling have their place in business strategy. However, scaling is often more sustainable for long-term success, particularly for wedding business owners seeking profitability and balance.
How to Decide What’s Right for You
Before choosing a path, ask yourself these questions:
- What is your vision?
What do you want your business and personal life to look like? Not what you think you “should” want, but what truly aligns with your personal and professional goals. Is your current business model lighting you up, or is it time for a change? When working with clients this is where I start. - Market Positioning:
Are you serving the right niche? Do you truly understand your market? Who are your competitors and what is your differentiating factors? - Do you love what you sell?
What services or products bring you joy? If you’re not passionate about what you’re offering, it will show. Focus on services or products that align with your strengths and eliminate those that drain you. - Are you ready to invest in foundational work?
Scaling isn’t just about raising your prices or launching a new service. It requires building strong business foundations, like refining your systems, understanding your ideal client, and streamlining your processes. Sometimes clients see this as going back and feel frustrated but this is where the true change happens. - What does freedom mean to you?
Scaling often means more freedom, more time to focus on what brings you joy without sacrificing revenue or profit. Define what freedom looks like for you and build your business around it. Life is too short after all.

What Scaling Isn’t
Scaling isn’t about adding more to your plate or saying yes to every opportunity. Here are some misconceptions about scaling:
- It’s not just about getting more clients.
- It’s not about blowing your budget on ads or hiring a big team without a strategy.
- It’s not about styled shoots, rebranding, or repositioning as a luxury brand without first doing the foundational work.
- It is intentional, strategic, and focused.
Scaling is about creating a business that works for you, not one that drains you.
The Principles of Scaling
Scaling a business takes time and effort, but it’s worth it for the time freedom and profitability it can bring. Here are the key principles:
- Vision: Clarify what you truly want from your business.
- Market Analysis: Stop guessing and start using data to make informed decisions.
- Streamlining: Systemise processes and embrace technology to free up your time.
- Confidence: Build the mindset to carry you through self-doubt and setbacks.
- Failure as Learning: Understand that failure is part of the process. Learn, adapt, and grow.
- Boundaries: Learn to say no to opportunities that don’t align with your goals.
Final Thoughts
Scaling, growing, or downsizing your wedding business is a deeply personal decision. Ultimately there is no one-size-fits-all approach, but instead, the key lies in aligning your business strategy with your vision, values, and goals. Whether you’re expanding, streamlining, or simplifying, the right strategy can ensure you create a business you love while also creating a life you enjoy.
So, as you reflect on your long term plans, what’s your goal for this year? Are you prepared to scale for freedom, grow for expansion, or downsize for balance?

Are you ready to transform your wedding or creative business and experience more freedom and joy?
How would it feel to step into your CEO role as you scale your business with complete confidence?
I work with service entrepreneurs who want to have more creative freedom as they grow and scale their business.
They are ready to start attracting and selling to high-end ideal clients who are ready to invest now. No more marketing to time wasters who frankly don’t respect what you bring to the table.