Small business can be compared to snowflakes that fall when it is winter time: no two are exactly alike. But what small businesses have in common are the stages that the small businesses are in. These stages of business help determine where the business is actually in, helping the owner to decide on the next steps in order for the business to grow.
To help you decide your next step of the business, you should know what stage it is on today. Here are the stages of a small business growth to help you out.
THE EXISTENCE STAGE
The first stage in the life of a small business is the existence stage. For those newly opened businesses, the first part is always the hard part. The existence stage is the stage where a business will need to find customers and where it needs to solidify itself in other people’s minds as if to say: “Yep. I’m here, pay attention to me.”
The first few months and even years, of a newly opened business is hard. This is also the reason why the first stage is the hardest of all stages to conquer as this stage will often eat up new businesses that are not ready to actually exist and make their owners give up without ever getting to the next stage: Surviving.
THE SURVIVING STAGE
How do you know when you’re past the first stage? When your business starts to generate solid and continuous cash flow and are able to deliver your products or services. This is the stage where you will be able to actually reach a break even point for your business.
The surviving stage is also the stage where a business needs to focus on communication with their employees or team, their customers, and even prospective investors. Communication here is key, for the reason that as the business heads unto the next stage, which is the success stage.
THE SUCCESS STAGE
While it may seem like this is the end of the line, trust us, this is not the last stage. The success stage is actually where you as a business owner will get to decide whether you would want to grow the business or simply continue on and enjoy the profits that you are already gaining from it?
Further growth is a high-risk yet high-reward option as you will have to reinvest everything into another company which can go either way: your small business will soar to great lengths, or lead it to bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, enjoying the profits of your business will allow you to focus on other ventures that you may want to pursue, while maintaining the profits that come from your small business.
THE TAKE-OFF STAGE
If for example you did choose for the growth of your business option and you invested your money back into the business, and then it worked, then the next stage would be the take off stage.
This is the stage where your business where there is a rapid growth in your business because of your newest investment in it. Most owners will feel both excitement and fear in this stage as suddenly, there are new things to do again and learn again, but at the same time, the amount of time and effort in doing it can be overwhelming.
THE MATURITY STAGE
And finally here we are. The business maturity stage. This is the final stage that every small business owner achieves to dream. This is where your business will have great financial freedom and market control. It will be up to you and your trusted employees to decide what to do next, and when to do it next.
The most important part of this stage is never losing track of things. While reaching this stage is already a success, it will only continue to do so with constant effort put into the small business.
