When you start a business, you’ll likely experience several growth phases. These include development, start-up, and survival. At each stage, your business will need to adapt to changes in its environment and make strategic decisions about how to grow to continue operating successfully over time. Here’s a brief look at each one:
Development
Business growth is essential. It’s not linear but a series of peaks and valleys that can be measured and planned for. Businesses have to start somewhere—and it’s good to know where you’re starting from so you can plan your next steps forward appropriately.
Start-up
In the start-up phase of your business, you’ll need to be creative and innovative. You’ll also need to be resourceful, flexible, and adaptable. Your ability to take risks is crucial here because failure is part of the game in this stage of development.
As you grow your business, there will come a point when things get difficult—and that’s when you can use all these skills!
Survival
If your business is stable, it can be profitable enough to cover its costs and make a good cash flow. It may only see growth for some time, but this is still a critical stage of development for you as the company owner.
Growth
When a business reaches a certain level of success, you’ll likely see this in your financial statements. If revenue growth is positive and cash flow is positive, then the business has achieved an appropriate level of success for the stage that it’s at.
Expansion
Expansion is the most common stage of business growth. The company has a strong brand and brand recognition, it’s profitable, and it’s expanding into new markets.
A strong management team with financial backing from investors or banks can help you quickly through this stage. If your competitors are growing faster, they’ll have an advantage over you because they have greater access to capital than yours.
They also might have more experience managing their expansion plans and budgets for marketing expenses like advertising campaigns or internal training programs for employees working across multiple locations (such as salespeople). As you budget, remember to file your returns.Â
Maturity
You’re now ready to grow your business. It’s the stage that most companies reach at some point in their lifecycle, but it isn’t the end of your journey—it’s just another beginning. Here are some things to look out for at this stage:
Self Sustainability
The business can maintain itself without outside help. You can afford to hire employees and pay them properly, which means they’re willing to stay with your company as long as they feel valued and treated fairly (and if not, then we’ll talk about how you can improve).
GrowthÂ
Your company has grown enough, so it no longer needs external funding for support or growth; instead, internal resources will be enough for now (but remember about hiring an accountant!). They will help when in it comes to explaining what 1096 forms are and other details you may not know. Click here for more information.Â
Customer Satisfaction
Customers are satisfied with their experience with the product/service offered by your organization. It includes good reviews on social media platforms such as Yelp or Facebook groups/pages where users share recommendations based on personal experience rather than relying on third-party sources.
Know Your Business
There is no wrong way to grow your business. Every stage has its own set of challenges and opportunities. The key is knowing what kind of growth you want, your target audience, how much money you need to reach your goals, etc.Â
