Most business owners think scaling looks like this straight, smooth line up and to the right. But the truth? Scaling isn’t a line. It’s more like a staircase. And behind that staircase are seasons of growth. Each season requires something different from you and from your business. And if you don’t honor the season you're in, that’s when growth starts to feel heavy, messy, or you just feel stuck.

In this episode, I want to walk you through the three scale seasons of business. We're going to talk about why so many founders get stuck, the common mistakes that stall growth, and how to figure out what season you're in right now. Because if you keep slipping, it's not because you can’t scale — it’s because you’re skipping the season you’re actually in.

So let’s start with this. When you zoom in on what growth actually looks like, it doesn't happen in one clean upward motion. It’s not that exponential growth chart you see online. It happens in steps — like climbing stairs. And every step requires something different. First you start, then you stabilize, and then you scale. And that cycle repeats. If you miss one of those steps, things start to break.

You don’t climb the staircase once. You move through these seasons again and again at every level. So let’s talk about season one: Start. This is where you try something new — a new strategy, a new offer, a new marketing tactic. The whole point is to test it and see if it even works. Too many people expect something new to blow up on day one. And if it doesn’t, they call it a failure. But the start season isn’t about perfection or instant results. It’s about testing and collecting data.

Once you know something works, you’re ready for season two: Stabilize. This is where you lock it in. You systemize it, automate it, delegate it. The goal is simple — make the success predictable, repeatable, and consistent. You want it to be reliable and not dependent on you. This is the season that creates balance and safety in growth.

Once things don’t rely on you and results start happening with less effort, you’re ready for season three: Scale. This is where you multiply results without multiplying effort. More customers. More revenue. More leverage. All without burning out.

So that's the rhythm of scaling: start, stabilize, scale. One at a time. And here’s where most founders go wrong.

The first mistake is expecting to scale immediately. A business owner launches a new offer or hires a new team member, and if they don’t see instant results, they pivot. But the start season is for learning — not scaling. If you treat every experiment like it should scale immediately, you’ll abandon great ideas before they ever get the chance to prove themselves.

The second mistake is skipping stabilize. Something works — maybe you finally figured out how to book sales calls or you have a marketing campaign that’s pulling in leads. But instead of stabilizing it, you pour on volume. No systems. No delegation. You just try to do more yourself. And suddenly you’re drowning in calls, drowning in fulfillment, drowning in admin work… all because you multiplied effort instead of multiplying results. That’s exactly how burnout happens.

The next mistake is stabilizing too early. On the flip side, when something sort of works, perfection kicks in and you immediately start creating SOPs, building training modules, hiring people… and the truth is, you don’t even know if it’s going to keep working. So you waste time building a system around something that’s not proven. Only stabilize what’s been tested enough times to know it’s reliable.

Then there’s the mistake of stopping innovation once something works. Maybe you start something, stabilize it, maybe even scale it — and then you freeze. You’re afraid to try something new because what’s working feels safe. But if you stop innovating, that success won’t last. Maintenance without innovation doesn’t lead to growth — it leads to decline.

Another mistake is holding back because you think scaling means more of you. You assume more clients equals more hours and more stress. But that’s only true if you never stabilized. If everything still relies on you — delivery, marketing, decision making — then yes, scaling means more of you. But real scaling, the kind that happens after stabilization, actually requires less of you because you’ve created the leverage you need.

And the last mistake is trying to do all three at once. Maybe you're starting something new, stabilizing something else, and trying to scale another thing. On paper it feels efficient, but in reality you’re half testing, half systemizing, half scaling — and none of it sticks. You end up with shaky systems built on shaky foundations and you accidentally scale a mess. More volume just amplifies the chaos.

So I want you to stop and ask yourself: what season are you in right now? If you could only pick one — which one is it?

If you're in start, remember this is a test. Don’t expect perfection. Once you validate that something works, move into stabilize. And if you're in stabilize, your job is to get things off your plate — not perfect them — so the business can scale without scaling your workload. And once you've done that, then you’re ready to scale. That’s when you multiply what's working. But don’t stop starting. Keep innovating so the cycle continues.

Scaling happens in seasons. You cannot skip a season. If you honor them in order, you’ll keep moving forward without burning out or falling behind. Start, stabilize, scale — those are your seasons of growth. Get them out of order and you stall. Get them right, and you multiply results without multiplying effort.