11 Aug The Business Lifecycle
There are five stages of the business lifecycle. This article highlights the stages and a few essential steps to help you through each stage.
Development Stage: Starting a business can be challenging if a solid foundation with clearly stated goals isn’t set. If you have taken the bold step to start a company, establishing a clear business plan to guide you should be your first point of action.
The Business plan details the goals, operational planning, marketing objectives, the company’s position in the industry and financial projections.
Your business plan is unique to you as it lays out a roadmap specifically created for your goals.
Start-Up Stage: At this stage, your roadmap is clear, and a few of your plans are in motion. Evaluate your business idea and focus on actions that work at this stage.
It is necessary to reassess your business strategies at this stage to avoid wasting valuable time and talent on processes that aren’t producing results.
Growth Stage: At this stage, you should have noticed your company’s strong points, what products/services bring in the most profits and how your competitors perform in the industry.
Depending on your business goals, growth might mean a few things to your business, and the growth criteria should be in your business plan; as a solid growth-focused plan is required to know what your SMART goals are for the different stages of business growth, how to achieve these goals and what metrics to focus on when tracking.
P.S Tracking your business growth is essential as you should return to the drawing board and adjust your methods if required.
Expansion Stage: You should know your strengths at this stage and should have identified opportunities in the industry. There are a few growth strategies to adopt depending on its financial situation, the competition and other factors. From market expansion to diversification to acquisition, proper research is crucial to determine which strategy to adopt.
Maturity Stage: You now have a solid business, but this does not mean it’s time to relax! Getting your business to maturity stage is due to the efforts, dedication, and time put into the company over time, and this only means one thing- more consistency is required to avoid slipping into the decline stage.
Can you identify what stage of the business lifecycle your company currently falls under?
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