Within start-up incubators and accelerators across the world, aspirations are constantly high. Internet start-ups always begin tiny, but come armed with future plans of global success. For many, an international presence is only a few years along on the roadmap.

Incredibly, this is often a plausible target: the likes of Airbnb and Uber have proven as much, and have given entrepreneurs solid justification for dreaming big. Never before have opportunities to grow a global business from nothing seemed so plentiful.

The goal for most of these start-ups is the pursuit of an economy of scale; growing the business to a point where it is so large it can offer products or services at a rate that simply cannot be matched by smaller competitors.

The 21st century has been defined by the opportunities and possibilities opened up by technology, particularly the internet, producing businesses capable of growing swiftly to sizes that would have been impossible in the past.

While this new rate of growth has created unique challenges, the rewards for successfully overcoming these barriers are too great to ignore. The opportunity for a start-up to take on the world has changed the way companies are formed.