3. Scaling social impact

This chapter examines the complexities of scaling social impact in high-growth firms. We distinguish between scaling a firm's growth and scaling its social impact, recognising potential tensions between these objectives. We then analyse three social impact scaling modes: scaling up, scaling out, and scaling deep, and discuss challenges specific to social enterprises and traditional enterprises. We conclude with consideration of mechanisms for enterprises to create, capture and distribute social value as part of efforts to scale social impact.