Expand the Life of Your Business

Let’s look at the life cycle of a business and how to get the most out of each cycle while also extending the lifespan of your business.

The four different stages of a business life cycle are:

• Infancy
• Adolescence
• Growing Pains
• Maturity

Let’s talk a little about what each of these cycles means and how they can help expand your business’s lifespan.

Infancy
The owner generally considers this the technician’s phase. At this point, the relationship between the business and the owner is that of a parent and a 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 to flourish. You cannot stay in this stage forever.

Adolescence

Adolescence: A time to bring your support team together. Delegate effectively, nurture technical excellence, and strengthen managerial bonds to secure a prosperous future.

In this stage, you need to start bringing your support staff together to delegate to and allow growth to happen.

The first line of defence is your technical person as they need to bring a certain level of technical experience.

This cycle belongs to the manager though. The entrepreneur should build a strong relationship to plan for the future.

Growing Pains
There’s a point in every business when the 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 several choices:

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

Maturity
The last cycle is maturity, though this doesn’t mean the end of your business.

Your passion for growth must continue if you want your business to succeed. Additionally, you need to keep an entrepreneurial perspective so you can push your business forward.