Since 2018, BizKids Registered Charity has been running successful future-ready programs for children that taught entrepreneurship, financial literacy, public speaking, digital literacy, STEM and more, but something wasn’t adding up. While our impact was undeniable, our ability to scale was limited by time, money, and logistics. The question loomed: How could we grow without simply doubling our costs, doubling our time commitments, and doubling our headaches?

The solution came not from working harder but from thinking differently. Here’s the story of how we achieved 15x growth in just 15 months —and why it can inspire your charity or business to aim higher and do more by doing less.

The Challenge of Incremental Growth

For many organizations, growth goals are conservative. If your goal is to double your reach, you might instinctively double your budget, double your staff, and double your workload. But this approach is often unsustainable, and can unintentionally create greater problems and reduced impact in the long run.

For BizKids, the challenge wasn’t just scaling up but also making our programs accessible to more kids, especially those in underserved communities. Another consideration, that is a common one among charities, is funding. While doubling our budget sounds great, if we don’t have the donors lined up, then we need to get creative with our spending. Truly stretching every dollar, and every team members hour.

A 2x strategy wouldn’t address these broader goals—it would only magnify our existing limitations. We realized that to truly grow, we had to reimagine our strategy entirely; our operations, our team & partners and our entire approach to how we impact families and community. 

The Big Shift: Partnering for Impact

The turning point came when we embraced the idea of focusing on what we do best; innovating the most robust &  progressive future-ready programs & experiences for children & youth that cultivates a growth mindset and flexes critical soft skills that prepare them for thriving futures, while also reducing future mental health challenges currently plaguing youth. If we can just focus on this, and only this, then we can develop strategic partnerships  to fill in the gaps.

Instead of running every program ourselves, we built a Volunteer Community Partner Network across Canada. These individuals and organizations already had access to critical resources that, previously, would cost us tens of thousands of dollars to access, and hundreds of hours to coordinate. In addition, our Community Partners often had skills and experience in areas that we struggled to maintain consistency in, such as experience working with children with assorted learning abilities and being located in remote and rural communities across Canada. 

By empowering local community volunteers, schools, and community organizations to deliver our programs, we eliminated significant costs and logistical barriers that were draining the charity.

By focusing on what we do best:

1. Expanded Reach: With partners on the ground located in urban, rural and remote communities in provinces across Canada, we could bring BizKids to communities we had never reached before.
   
   
2. Cost Efficiency: Running everything in-house was expensive. By sharing responsibilities, we significantly reduced our overhead and logistics on fundamental components required for a successful, experiential program, such as venues, qualified facilitators, and general program materials, not to mention marketing and student registration.
   
   
3. Accessibility: Local partners had insights into their communities, allowing us to reach a more diverse group of children with facilitators who understood how to best support them as individuals.
   
   
4. A Triple Win Scenario: Our Community Partner are already seeking what we have, but traditionally for them to access anything like this would have had cost them thousands of dollars in licensing or the development of unproven, patched together, expensive or inconsistent programs and materials rarely designed for age groups as young as what BizKids supports.
   There is currently nothing as dynamic or robust as BizKids programs anywhere on the market, even to buy, and for our Community Partners, they gain year over year access to an entire library of curriculum at no cost to them, or the families and children they support.
   A Win for Us, a Win for our Community Partners, and a Win for the Kids.
   
   
5. Simplicity: Letting go of direct delivery meant we could focus on continuing to develop world-class resources, training, and support for our partners to ensure a turn-key execution and consistent, positive impact through each program run.

Why Bigger Goals Are Easier to Achieve

It may sound counterintuitive, but aiming higher often forces you to focus and simplify. When your goal is to grow 10x or more, you can’t just double down on what you’re already doing. You’re forced to identify what truly matters and shed everything else.

For BizKids, this meant:

• Clarifying Our Mission: We asked, “What is our ultimate purpose?” Answering this helped us prioritize accessibility, inclusion, reach and positive, measurable impact.
  
  
• Innovating Out of Necessity: Big goals demanded creative solutions, like our Volunteer Community Partner Network that was a Win/Win/Win for everyone.
  
  
• Streamlining Operations: Instead of managing every detail, we vetted, trained and trusted our partners and focused on supporting them effectively.

When you aim for incremental growth, you’re tempted to tweak what’s already in place. When you aim for transformational growth, you’re compelled to think differently.

Lessons for Your Organization

Whether you’re running a charity or a business, the principles of BizKids’ success can guide your own growth strategy:

1. Dream Big: Set goals that feel ambitious, even audacious. They will force you to rethink how you operate.
   
   
2. Simplify: Big goals help you see what’s truly essential. Focus only on the strategies that align with your mission.
   
   
3. Leverage Partnerships: Don’t do everything yourself. Collaboration can amplify your impact while reducing your workload.
   
   
4. Prioritize Inclusion: Growth isn’t just about numbers. Make sure your strategy expands access and opportunity for those who need it most.

Final Thoughts

BizKids didn’t just grow in the last 15 months—we transformed. By letting go of old strategies & thinking, and embracing bold goals, we reached more children and youth, expanded into new communities, and created a model that’s more efficient and impactful than ever.

If you’re feeling stuck in your growth strategy, consider aiming higher. Paradoxically, reaching for the stars might just help you lighten your load.