Scaling Smart: Lessons and Insights from Women Entrepreneurs Who've Navigated Growth
Growing a business beyond its initial success is a journey that tests even the most dedicated entrepreneurs. For women entrepreneurs particularly—who encounter systematic biases and barriers—scaling presents unique opportunities for innovation and resilience, requiring determination, resourcefulness, and a strong support network to thrive.
We're sharing the journeys of three inspiring women entrepreneurs who are navigating the complexities of scaling their businesses. Each brings a unique perspective from different industries and stages of growth, offering valuable insights for fellow entrepreneurs contemplating their next phase of expansion.
Meet the Entrepreneurs
Tessa McLoughlin, Founder of KWENCH: An inclusive co-working club that fuses hospitality, workspace, and culture under one roof. Tessa opened her current location in Victoria, B.C., in 2020 and is looking to expand to Vancouver and other markets.
Kate Suh, Co-Founder of Wunderkids: A premium children's products company importing high-quality items from South Korea that Kate and her husband have grown organically for eight years, reaching $1 million in sales last year.
Ravy Mehroke, Founder of Bombay Brow Bar: A beauty services and product company that opened its first location in 2010 and scaled to four locations within five years, while also launching a product line and expanding services.
Recognizing the Right Time to Scale
Knowing when your business is ready to expand is a critical first step in any scaling journey. For these entrepreneurs, the signals came in different forms.
For Kate Suh of Wunderkids, consistent customer demand from the U.S. market was a clear indicator. "We were getting encouragement from U.S. customers, who were saying, 'Can you please ship your items here?' People were actually doing extra work to get our product," she explains. "That was one extension we did about three or four years ago. Now we have warehouses in the U.S."
Kate also identified another key signal: stability in her numbers. "Over the last year or two, I saw that numbers were stable. Whenever I tried to do something new, it always had stable results. It gave me more confidence and told me there was consistent demand for what we were offering.”
For Ravy Mehroke of Bombay Brow Bar, expansion made sense when she recognized both strong demand and a solid business foundation. "We realized it was the right time to scale when we recognized that we had a strong demand for our products and services. We also had a strong business model that could support our growth goals."
For Tessa McLoughlin of KWENCH, the vision for multiple locations was always part of the plan. "We have people coming from Vancouver, New York, and San Francisco, commenting, 'Oh my God, I wish there was one of these in my city,'" she shares. Her goal was always to create "a network of clubs that members could access."
Navigating Funding Pathways
Perhaps the most universal hurdle for the entrepreneurs we spoke with was securing the capital needed to grow—and they’re not alone!
A 2023 report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) revealed that 22% of financing applications from women-only owned businesses were rejected outright, compared to the average of 15% for all businesses.
Women-owned businesses tend to receive less funding than their male counterparts. Specifically, the average amount of financing for men-owned businesses is about 150% higher than that for women-owned businesses.
Despite the availability of federal programs like the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund, only up to 3% of women entrepreneurs reported using these resources, indicating potential gaps in awareness or accessibility.
Tessa's journey to fund her business was particularly daunting. "It was incredibly, incredibly difficult. I don't come from a rich family. I was a newly single mom with two little kids. The banks said 'Hell no.'"
So instead, Tessa pieced together funding through "little drips of investors" until an unexpected encounter changed everything. "This guy came into my original space and said, 'I love this place. If you ever need help, let me know.’ I joked, 'Do you have 1.3 million dollars?' and he said, 'No, but I work for a bank.'" Against all odds, he secured the financing she needed. "It goes to show that you really need someone to go to bat for you," Tessa reflects.
Kate Suh's approach to funding has been cautious and self-reliant. "I don't like to borrow money from other people, especially from the bank. It's scary even to think about touching somebody else's money," she explains. Starting with a $5,000 loan from her mother (with 5% interest), Kate's business has grown organically, funding new inventory through sales. "When we sell more, then we buy more inventory."
Ravy had more success with traditional financing, and "was able to secure funding with banks and partners like BDC.”
All three entrepreneurs noted a gender disparity in access to funding. As Tessa pointedly observes, "I think men are encouraged to scale faster than women. They’re encouraged to take those risks and believe in their vision." She recounts how she and other women entrepreneurs in her network struggled to secure investment during the pandemic while they witnessed young men quickly receiving funding, and then shortly after, go bankrupt.
Tessa’s observations reflect a reality showcased in research, that shows that men are more likely to have a higher risk tolerance that makes them more likely to aggressively pursue expansion. This can lead to high reward, but also bankruptcy. As a 2022 study from KSA Group shows, male-owned businesses were over 40% more likely to go into insolvency than women-owned businesses.
Assembling High-Performance Teams
As these entrepreneurs grew their businesses, creating effective teams became an exciting opportunity to shape their company culture—though not without its learning curves.
Tessa identifies hiring as one of her biggest and most unexpected hurdles: "Employees are definitely one of the things that I don't think I realized would be such a challenge." She also notes the difficult transition that comes with growth: "You get to a stage where you realize you have to start looking for a different type of employee that you needed previously. That jump can be really hard."
For Kate, building a team has been an "ongoing battle.” She started with interns and freelancers, and has gradually learned "for some areas of work, it makes sense to hire internal people, while others are better suited to hiring freelancers or outsourcing agencies."
Ravy emphasizes the importance of intentionally maintaining company culture during team expansion: "We recruit, hire, train, and develop based on our company culture and values. Keeping these at the forefront in our people strategy and recruitment was incredibly important. We needed to make sure that we were hiring the right people for the right jobs at the right time for our company as we grew."
She also notes, "It was important to have a strong leadership team that supported this rapid growth."
Growth Surprises and Adaptations
Scaling a business inevitably brings surprises, and each entrepreneur encountered unique challenges.
For Kate, logistics and supply chain issues created some of the biggest headaches. She shares one particularly dramatic example: "On Black Friday, our forwarder declared our country of origin as North Korea." This error held up her container during the biggest sale of the year. In another instance, "We got a message from the border that containers with our product were accidentally dropped into the ocean. These things are very challenging, and the loss can end up being very big."
Tessa struggles with removing herself from day-to-day operations. "I didn't realize how much I would have to be removed from this in order to expand it," she explains. "I've been working in our cafe for the last two months running it. I wake up at five o'clock, and I'm here baking at a quarter to six. That's not my skill set. It’s not where I should be, but it’s where I need to be right now."
Ravy identified system maintenance as her biggest unexpected barrier: "Trying to keep our systems updated as we grew, evolved, and changed has been difficult." This highlights how operational infrastructure also needs to evolve to support a scaling business.
The Importance of Community Support
All three entrepreneurs credited community support—particularly from other women entrepreneurs and organizations like The Forum—as crucial to their success.
"I freaking love The Forum," Tessa says enthusiastically. "Every event I go to with The Forum, I'm so incredibly impressed at the tone that is set of inclusivity, support, and lifting each other up. I don't see anything that's competitive and it’s so refreshing."
Understanding the deep importance of community, Tessa even created "The Wolfpack," a tight-knit community of women entrepreneurs who exchange wisdom and support. "It's so amazing to be around women who just want to lift each other up," she shares.
Kate attributes much of her growth to finding the right mentor through The Forum. "Five years ago, I contacted The Forum and met my mentor. As soon as I saw her profile, I was like, ‘this is it. She's the one.’" That mentor wrote Kate "a whole blueprint" of what she needed to do, which Kate followed for years.
Ravy similarly emphasizes, "It was huge! Mentorship and community support has been very important to me in my scaling journey. I'm incredibly grateful for all the support that I received from my business mentor and my business community, especially The Forum."
Advice for Fellow Entrepreneurs
Looking ahead to their future growth and reflecting on their journeys, these entrepreneurs offer valuable advice for others preparing to scale.
Kate recommends finding community support: "Having advice, or a place that you go for support whenever you're stuck, really helps to scale up. Entrepreneurship almost feels like you're swimming in the ocean. You don't know where to go, but if there are some kind of milestones, you can say, 'Okay, that way.'"
Ravy emphasizes the importance of a solid foundation: "Ensure that you have a sustainable business model. It’s so important to understand what makes your business work—the numbers, the people, the marketing, all of it. Be clear on your business model and systems so that you can scale effectively."
Tessa, still working toward her expansion, shares what she's learned from others: "A lot of what I get told is 'Slow it down.'" She's also realized that scaling doesn't necessarily make things easier: "You think that things will ease up as you hire people. That's not the case. You open up another location, but you're now manager for it. You've got to oversee everything and ensure it fits your vision. That’s a lot of pressure."
What Support Do They Still Need?
Despite their success, these entrepreneurs continue to seek support as they grow.
Kate values the motivation and connection she gets from The Forum community: "Sometimes I feel very lonely—like I’m just all by myself trying to figure out what’s next, but when I get an email from The Forum or get an invite to join a group of people who have similar challenges as me, I feel motivated."
Apart from funding, Tessa seeks expertise in financial strategy: "How do you get that financial advice and a team around you? I want to make sure I’ve got those really key people around me, like the right lawyers and the person who's helping to run the business while I’m scaling."
Ravy is focused on her next phase of growth: "We are currently focused on scaling our products so support in product strategy and marketing would be amazing!"
Scaling a business is never simple, but these entrepreneurs demonstrate that with persistence, community support, and strategic thinking, it's possible to navigate barriers and create sustainable growth.
As Tessa aptly puts it, "Women have so much power is collaboration and community, and we get that with The Forum. We all want to make each other better and see each other better."