After a steady rise, Birchbox may be feeling some growing pains.

The five-year-old subscription beauty service cut its staff by 15 percent, effective Jan. 29, in a move that some financial observers said was prompted by its ambition to do too much, too soon. It will also shutter it’s Canada business.

In addition to its online subscription and retail business, the company has created two exclusive brands — namely Arrow and LOC [Love of Color] — and ventured offline with two stores. Plans call for more doors, but Birchbox has yet to share its store-count goals. The company’s flagship store is located in New York’s Soho neighborhood and there’s another housed in Rent the Runway’s store in Georgetown in Washington, D.C.

One financial source said the company’s success at raising a lot of capital early on may have prompted it to spend too much on customer acquisition for its deluxe sample service, which arrives monthly in a box to subscribers. Birchbox’s pivot to stores may show the limitations of the model, suggested the financial observer.

Birchbox cofounder and Chief Executive Officer Katia Beauchamp, stated about the layoffs, “In five years, we have built an immensely successful business and achieved rapid growth — and these people helped create Birchbox as we know it. They are our friends and we will always be grateful for their invaluable contributions. But we have learned a tremendous amount about what we need to do to win in the beauty category. The cuts made today will allow us to reinvest in our biggest opportunities and grow even more quickly in the future. We have a clear understanding of how we can streamline our efforts and operate more efficiently.” She continued, “Our vision for Birchbox has always been to build a standalone company, and today’s market demands that we reach profitability this year. We’re laser-focused on our customer experience and continuing our mission to change the way people discover and shop for beauty. We are hitting all of our growth goals and expect to nearly double our shop sales, while still experiencing significant growth in subscriptions in 2016. We will do this as a leaner, stronger and more resolved company.”

A company spokeswoman said the layoffs happened across the board, and were not specific to certain divisions or positions.

As part of the cost-cutting measures, Birchbox will shutter its business in Canada on April 30. A message on the company’s Canadian Web site told subscribers, “We are so sad to let you know that we have made the difficult decision to put our Canada operations on hold. We love our Canadian customers, but with the current exchange rate and high shipping costs, we can’t create the Birchbox experience at a price that is fair to you. We will do what we can to make that a possibility; until then, please know that we sincerely appreciate your support and enthusiasm for Birchbox, and we plan to take good care of our Canadian subscribers as we wind down in this market.”