Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Key Takeaways Scaling during downturns lowers costs, unlocks talent, and captures market share Companies that keep investing while others cut back gain long-term advantages Crises shift customers and investors toward bold, efficient and growth-focused businesses Growth investors invested $425 billion into over 24,000 private companies, and that’s 30% more compared to the year before. But there’s a point: nearly 60% of that amount of money went to a group of 629 companies. While most of the market is panic-cutting budgets and freezing their hiring, a few proactive founders gain the benefit of picking up market share. Scaling in a downturn is simply about taking the opportunities your competitors are too afraid to get. In this article, I will share 5 reasons to scale while competitors are stuck in fear of the crisis. Customer acquisition cost drops When the economy gets tight, the first thing most companies do is cut marketing costs.…