Why Scaleups Hit a Growth Plateau, and How to Know Which Stage You’re Really In on Your Scaleup Journey
- Laura Derbyshire
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
There’s a moment in most scaleups’ lives when growth starts to feel a bit heavier.
Revenue is still coming in, teams are busy, dashboards look fine, but performance marketing is less efficient than it used to be. Founders and CEOs start noticing that CAC is creeping up, sales cycles start to stretch, and leadership meetings become reactive rather than directional.
This is usually the point at which someone says, “We need to change agency.”Or: “We should hire a Head of Growth.”Or: “Maybe it’s time to invest more in brand.”
Sometimes those decisions are right, but often, they’re made without clarity on a more fundamental question:
What stage of the scaleup growth journey are we actually in?
The real reason scaleups plateau
Most scaleups don’t plateau because they stop trying or lose ambition; they plateau because growth decisions are made out of sequence.
What worked at £3m behaves very differently at £15m. What drove results at Series A often breaks at Series B. What felt like “brand building” early on becomes commercially essential later, but only if it’s done with strategic discipline.
Without a shared growth model, teams end up:
Over-rotating on performance
Hiring senior roles too early or too late
Treating brand as a campaign rather than a growth system
Chasing short-term efficiency while starving long-term demand
This is not an execution problem; it's a stage awareness problem.
The Scaleup Growth Journey
At OSER, we use a simple but powerful framework to help leadership teams diagnose where they are and what matters most next: the Scaleup Growth Journey.
It maps how growth dynamics change as businesses move from early traction through £10m–£50m+ and towards IPO.
Stage 1: Early Proof (£1m–£3m)
Growth is founder-led, opportunistic and channel-driven. Performance marketing works quickly, and messaging is often inconsistent.
Key risk: letting early traction harden into accidental positioning.
Brand strategy should already be forming here, not in execution, but in clarity.
Stage 2: Repeatable Growth (£3m–£10m)
Channels scale, teams specialise, performance still drives most acquisition, but efficiency starts to matter. This is where questions around positioning, category, and differentiation become unavoidable.
Key risk: optimising what works today without building demand for tomorrow.
Stage 3: Scale & Plateau Tension (£10m–£50m+)
This is where most scaleups struggle, and where we see the most confusion.
Performance efficiency declines, CAC rises, attribution becomes noisy, and sales cycles lengthen. Teams are busy, but confidence drops.
Only around 5% of your market is in-market at any one time. The other 95% will decide later - based on what they remember about you now.
This is where brand strategy, category entry points, and reach become commercial necessities, not creative indulgences.
Key risk: pushing harder on the same levers instead of changing the system.
Stage 4: Enduring Growth (£50m+ to IPO)
Growth becomes about optionality: expansion, reputation, valuation, and long-term demand creation. Brand, product, operations and investment strategy are no longer separate conversations.
Key risk: investing in brand without strategic alignment or leadership clarity.
Brand vs performance is the wrong question
One of the most common questions we hear is:
“Should we be focusing on brand or performance right now?”
It’s the wrong framing. The real question is when and how each lever should dominate.
Performance captures existing demand but it is brand that creates future demand. If you invest only in performance, you eventually compete more fiercely for the same small pool of buyers. But, if you invest in brand without clarity, you amplify confusion. So, sustainable growth comes from sequencing these levers correctly - in line with your stage of growth.
Hiring mistakes that slow growth
Another common symptom of stage confusion shows up in hiring.
Scaleups often ask:
Do we need a Head of Growth?
Should we hire a CMO?
Is a fractional CMO enough?
Should we outsource to an agency?
The honest answer is: it depends on where you are in the journey. Hiring senior leadership without clarity on growth stage, priorities, and constraints often adds complexity rather than momentum.
Before hiring, leadership teams should be clear on:
What problem is this role solving now?
What does success look like in 12–24 months?
How does this role fit with our brand and performance strategy?
Otherwise, even great people will struggle to make any impact.
Why category entry points matter more at scale
As markets mature, differentiation shifts.
It’s no longer enough to be “better”. You need to be remembered in the moments that matter.
Category entry points - the situations, needs or triggers that make buyers think of you - are critical at £10m+ scale. They shape mental availability and long-term demand.
Without them, scaleups rely on constant performance spend just to stay visible.
With them, growth becomes lighter.
The role of strategy away days (when done properly)
Many leadership teams try to solve growth complexity with offsites and strategy days. We've all been there - some work, many don’t, and lots are all hot air and Haribo and forgotten within a week of getting back to the office.
The difference isn’t energy or facilitation, it's whether the conversation is grounded in a shared growth model.
Effective strategy away days:
Start with stage diagnosis
Focus on decisions, not brainstorming
Align leadership around what not to prioritise
Translate clarity into action
Without this, teams leave inspired, only to revert to old patterns within weeks.
So…where are you on the journey?
Growth rarely fails because teams stop trying; it fails when decisions are made out of sequence.
Understanding where you are on the Scaleup Growth Journey is often the fastest way to unlock momentum, confidence, and focus.
If growth feels harder than it should, that’s usually a signal you’ve moved into a new stage, whether you’ve acknowledged it or not.
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FAQs: Scaleup Growth, Brand & Strategy
What is the scaleup growth journey?
The scaleup growth journey describes how growth dynamics change as businesses move from early traction through £10m–£50m+ and towards IPO. At each stage, the balance between performance marketing, brand investment, team structure and strategic focus shifts. Understanding your stage helps leadership teams make better growth decisions.
Why do scaleups hit a growth plateau around £10m–£30m?
Most scaleups hit a plateau because performance-led growth becomes less efficient as markets saturate. CAC rises, sales cycles lengthen, and attribution becomes noisy. Without brand-driven demand creation and clear positioning, growth starts to feel heavier and harder to sustain.
When should a scaleup invest in brand strategy?
Earlier than most leaders expect. Brand strategy should begin once growth becomes repeatable, even if brand spend remains low. Clear positioning and category focus help build long-term demand before performance channels lose efficiency.
Brand vs performance marketing: which should scaleups prioritise?
This is a false choice. Performance marketing captures existing demand, while brand marketing creates future demand. Sustainable growth comes from sequencing both correctly for your growth stage, rather than choosing one over the other.
What are category entry points, and why do they matter for growth?
Category entry points are the situations or triggers that prompt customers to consider your brand. At scale, they are essential for building mental availability and long-term demand. Without them, growth relies heavily on paid acquisition and becomes increasingly expensive.
How do I know if we need a Head of Growth, Head of Marketing or a CMO?
The right hire depends on where you are in the scaleup growth journey. Hiring senior roles without clarity on growth priorities often increases complexity rather than momentum. Many scaleups benefit from strategic advisory or fractional CMO leadership before making permanent hires.
Why does performance marketing stop working as scaleups grow?
Performance marketing doesn’t stop working entirely, but its efficiency declines as addressable demand is exhausted. Without investment in brand reach and demand creation, scaleups end up competing harder for the same small pool of in-market buyers.
What happens in an effective strategy away day?
An effective strategy away day starts with clarity on growth stage and constraints. It focuses on prioritisation, alignment and decision-making (not brainstorming). The goal is to leave with fewer priorities, clearer ownership, and a shared view of what matters next.
How can boards and investors use the scaleup growth journey?
Boards and investors can use the framework to pressure-test growth plans, align expectations around ROI and time horizons, and spot risks early. It helps shift conversations from tactics to long-term value creation.
How does OSER help scaleups navigate this journey?
OSER works at board and leadership level to help scaleups diagnose their growth stage, clarify positioning, align brand and performance strategy, and make confident decisions around hiring and investment. The focus is on building sustainable growth systems, not short-term fixes.
