Growth is essential to any business’s success. For most entrepreneurs, growth is gradual and a little slow at first. But with the right tools and techniques, some can make their sales skyrocket quickly and sustainably.

This was the case for Bill Reilly, a Milwaukee-based entrepreneur and co-founder of auto repair facility Hands-on Garage. Reilly was one of 12 local business owners to participate in the first Scalerator, a program sponsored by Scale Up Milwaukee. The multiyear project is supported by the state of Wisconsin, Milwaukee’s mayor, American Express OPEN and private-sector leaders, and aims to drive entrepreneurial and economic growth in the city.

“The goal of Scalerator is to help existing businesses like ours get the tools and techniques to scale up quickly,” Reilly said. “Our participation helped us achieve an additional 15 percent increase in revenues in the last two months of 2013.”

To help ambitious businesses accelerate their growth, Reilly shared five lessons he learned from his Scalerator experience: