How These SMBs Scaled Without Adding Headcount — and How To Copy Them

Many leaders of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) felt that 2025 brought waves of volatility — economic, political, and technological. And with more uncertainty on the horizon, the pressure isn’t easing up.

Some SMBs met these challenges by following a plan that is tried and true for large companies: hunker down and brace for impact.

But when you don’t have the resources of a large company, hunkering down carries its own risks. Many SMBs found success in 2025 on a different tack: They paddled out, rode the waves, and gained momentum.

The five businesses we highlight in this article chose that second path. They show it's possible to grow, adapt, and accelerate without adding full-time headcount. Even during unpredictable times.

CoreStory: Scaling speed without fixed teams

CoreStory is an AI platform helping enterprises modernize massive legacy codebases. In their space, speed is survival.

“When you’re working on AI, the landscape shifts weekly,” said Cory Hymel, VP of Product and Research. “We need to run experiments, publish, and adapt faster than traditional hiring allows.”

That’s why CoreStory maintains a lean internal team and brings in specialized freelancers on a project basis to fill skill gaps.

Their needs change rapidly, so CoreStory maintains momentum as Business Plus members, giving their team access to the top 1% of talent on Upwork so they can find quality professionals faster. And when they need to move extra quickly, Upwork talent specialists deliver hand-vetted short lists in as little as two days.

That speed became critical during a joint study with Microsoft and GitHub. CoreStory needed 300 senior developers with a specific background. Traditional hiring would’ve taken a year. Through Upwork, they filled the roles within eight weeks.

"The idea of a fixed team working on the same project for years — that model is breaking down,” said Cory. “We’re surgically bringing in the right people for the right problems, and that’s how we stay ahead.”

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PTS Group: Scaling innovation without sacrificing control

The PTS Group, a healthcare M&A firm specializing in dental and wellness practices, built its reputation on guiding clients through deeply personal business transitions.

When the team decided to develop a proprietary AI platform that improved buyer-seller matching, they turned to Upwork.

The project was central to their competitive edge, and outsourcing it required a deep level of trust. “We were most concerned with finding an AI expert who had both the technical ability and a deep understanding of our business model to create a truly industry-defining tool,” said COO Rebecca Kilibarda.

Through Upwork, they found Julia Komissarchik, an AI specialist with a background in patents and IP protection. She built a deep-learning engine that soon delivered results. Early on, the platform improved deal closure rates by 15%, reduced time-to-close, and gave PTS brokers more time to focus on clients.

“AI is evolving so fast that having access to specialized expertise on demand means we can keep innovating without waiting for internal bandwidth,” Rebecca explained. “It’s a combination that keeps us agile and ahead of the curve.”

Omic OS: Scaling expertise without geographic limits

Omic OS is a biotech startup using AI to help scientists develop life-saving drugs faster. With a 15-person team and a mission to transform drug discovery, founder and CEO Gabriel Richman knew traditional hiring couldn’t keep up.

The team needed unique expertise, like a computational biologist who understands transformer architectures, or an engineer to build pipelines for multi-omics data. “We couldn’t find this level of expertise locally. And if we could, we wouldn’t be able to afford their wages,” noted Gabe.

Omic solved both issues through Upwork. “By hiring globally, we get world-class expertise for competitive wages that fit our budget,” Gabe said.

Speed matters as much as skill. “Traditional hiring often took months. But every month spent recruiting was a month away from working on new therapies, platform improvements, or fresh ideas,” Gabe explained. As a Business Plus member, Omic often finds the right match in days.

Upwork’s built-in protections make working with and paying global freelancers simple. While that’s important, Gabe points out, “The safety features are nice, but what really builds our confidence is how we consistently find experts who deliver on highly technical, complex projects.”

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Liquid Screen Design: Scaling reliability without losing flexibility

Liquid Screen Design creates standout swag campaigns that help brands connect with their audiences. As demand grew, founder Bryan Goltzman needed to scale creative output without the cost or rigidity of a full-time team. Upwork became the solution.

He started with design freelancers. When that worked well, he brought in flexible professionals for sales, support, and analytics. “Using Upwork is such a no-brainer in terms of the cost and the work we can accomplish,” Bryan said. “Why limit your search to candidates who can commute to your office when you can work with the best person for a project from anywhere in the world?”

Finding the right skills is important, but Bryan also wanted reliability. “Great teams don’t have to share an office,” Bryan said. “And they don’t have to be employees.” But they do need to feel like part of the team and that their work matters. So he invites them to team-building events and company meetings, and sends branded swag to help them feel connected.

The result? A dependable, high-performing freelance team — some of whom have been with the company since 2018. With this model, the business increased productivity by 20% year over year, all without adding full-time overhead.

Huntr: Scaling results without rigid roles

Huntr’s AI-powered resume tools help people find jobs faster. To expand their reach, the team wanted to scale SEO content, but didn’t have the budget for a full-time hire.

“We’re small and everyone wears multiple hats. Time spent hiring is time away from production,” said Sam Wright, Head of Operations and Partnerships. So he used Upwork to quickly find Ashliana Spence, a freelance marketer based in Jamaica.

Initially hired to write blog content, Ashliana soon proved capable of much more. She brought AI fluency, process improvements, and fresh thinking to every project. “She brings fresh ideas, improves ROI, and helps us get more value out of every campaign,” Sam said.

By giving her space to apply her skills beyond blog writing, Huntr saw major results: a 3x increase in Google impressions, blog visits rising from zero to 140,000, and steady double-digit growth in monthly content views.

“We align on the goal and we trust Ashliana to take it from there,” Sam added. “That level of trust is incredibly valuable because it gives me space to focus on other priorities.”

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Scaling confidently without doing it alone

The waves of volatility that 2025 brought are likely to continue through 2026. But the heading that these SMBs have shown isn’t to brace for impact; it’s to move with the current and gain momentum.

And they’re successful because they don’t ride the waves alone. By bringing in freelance professionals when and where it matters, you can stay light, move fast, and move ahead while employees focus on what they do best.

What’s more, you can find your ideal freelancers fast with Upwork Business Plus. As a member, you get:

• Faster shortlisting. Uma Recruiter surfaces top matches 5x faster.
• Curated talent. Get hand-vetted short lists from talent specialists in 2 days.
• Team-friendly tools. Share notes and make hiring decisions together.
• Flexible billing. Qualified clients can hire now, pay up to 30 days later.

No upfront fees. No monthly subscriptions. Just a simpler, less risky way to scale with the right support at the right time. Explore Business Plus.

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