Expand the Life of Your Business

Today I'm going to talk about the life cycle of a business and how to get the most out of each cycle while also extending the lifespan of your business.  At Springboard Consulting we use our Elevate Your Business consulting model, NewBizSpringboard & ElevateYourBiz e-learning platforms to identify key objectives necessary to springboard companies to the next level.

The five different stages of a business life cycle are:

1. Inception
2. Survival
3. Growth
4. Expansion
5. Mature

Let’s talk a little about what each of these cycle’s means and how they can each help expand your business’ lifespan.  At each level of maturity there are also eight factors that influence growth and the high gain objectives (Springboard's) in each of these change based on maturity. 

The eight Springboard's are:

• Owner Focus
• Strategic Direction
• Sales and Marketing
• Cash Flow Management
• Performance Management
• Processes and Systems
• Risk Management
• Business Funding

Inception

This is generally consider the ideation or "Expert’s" phase, which is the owner/entrepreneur. At this point, the relationship between the business and the owner is that of a parent and new baby. There is an impenetrable bond that is necessary to determine the path your business will follow.

The key is to know your business must grow in order to flourish. You cannot stay in this stage forever.

The key Springboard's to pay attention to include:

• Owner Focus
• Business Funding
• Cash Management
• Sales & Marketing
• Risk Management

Survival

In this stage you need to start bringing your support staff together to delegate to and allow growth to happen. The first line of defense is your technical expert person as they need to bring a certain level of technical experience. This cycle really belongs to the manager though. Many times this means a new relationship should be built that complements the entrepreneur's strengths and weaknesses in order to plan for the future.

The key Springboard's to pay attention to include:

• Owner Focus
• Cash Management
• Sales & Marketing
• Risk Management

Growth

There’s a point in every business when business explodes and becomes chaotic. This is referred to as growing pains. It’s a good problem to have, but a problem nonetheless. You are often faced with a number of choices:

• Avoid growth and stay small
• Go broke
• Push forward into the next cycle

The key Springboard's to pay attention to include:

• EACH AND EVERY ONE IS IMPORTANT AND THIS IS WHAT MAKES THIS STAGE SO EXCITING, YET FRUSTRATING.  THIS IS WHEN PEOPLE SEE TREMENDOUS VALUE IN WORKING WITH SPRINGBOARD CONSULTING’S TARGETED GROWTH PROGRAMS.

Expansion

It is in this phase, successful entrepreneurs and leaders start to understand the phrase – “You can’t get to where you want to go with the same thinking that got you here”.  This is often difficult to hear or accept and means change management and standard operating procedures are a must.

Key changes include:

• Flexibility and ad-hoc ways of doing business no longer work
• Processes and management must be taken seriously to protect margins
• The business starts to feel more corporate. 

The key Springboard's to pay attention to include:

• EACH AND EVERY ONE IS IMPORTANT AND THIS IS WHAT MAKES THIS STAGE SO EXCITING, YET FRUSTRATING.  THIS IS WHEN PEOPLE SEE TREMENDOUS VALUE IN WORKING WITH SPRINGBOARD CONSULTING’S TARGETED GROWTH PROGRAMS.

Maturity

The last cycle is maturity, though this doesn’t mean the end of your business. Your passion for growth must continue in order for your business to succeed. You need to keep an entrepreneurial perspective in order to push your business forward.  You must focus on continuous improvement and innovation to stay relevant and ward off competition.

You see how all of these cycles are connected and depend on a strong foundation?  do you see how important it is to know for your business to be and continue to be successful? People must also work together to work through these cycles if you want to have a high performance team or Culture.

The key Springboard's to pay attention to include:

• Strategic Direction
• Cash Management
• Sales & Marketing
• Performance Management
• Risk Management

If you’re having trouble putting together your business life cycles and figuring out which of the key roles you fit into, give us a shout and work with one of our amazing coaches.  Or you can click here to download our whitepaper '8 Factors that Influence Growth" here: 

Use our FREE test drive to get the business coaching you need to avoid feeling overwhelmed and defeated and running your business like a CHUMP.  Let us flip the switch so you can BE A CHAMP!

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Be A Champ!

Evan Sanchez