Growth is a process—a journey. The best way to grow a small business is to keep executing on your original mission and vision in spite of market conditions. There are pitfalls you'll encounter along the way, but there are also opportunities for success
The first and most important thing to note is that you don't have to follow the same path as other businesses. Every business is unique, and so are their sales funnels. Your job as a small business owner (or agency owner) is to understand your own funnel and figure out where you need to focus your efforts.
In this article, we'll look at the five stages of growth that every business goes through.
Stage 1 : Existence
Most small businesses are started by a single person. Sometimes, a larger corporation or partnership helps start a small business as well. Regardless of whether it’s one person or multiple people, the first step in starting any business is bringing your idea into existence. If you have something to sell, like handmade crafts, then you need some sort of product to market to the public and make more sales.
There are three main challenges for a small business: obtaining customers, delivering the product, and maintaining adequate cash flow. First of all, you need to be able to effectively target potential customers on social media. You need to listen and respond to customer queries and complaints. You should never settle for poor quality or faulty products, or any other kind of scamming tactics that might compromise your reputation.
Stage 2 : Survival
At this stage of the business cycle, small business owners are often looking for an opportunity to expand because they have developed a viable product that is attracting customers. As the product starts to grow, it becomes necessary to establish larger systems and operations in order to maintain the success of the business.
Small businesses are often challenged to fight the battle between revenue and expenses. It's not uncommon to see a small business break even in one month and make a little revenue, only to struggle the following month.
Stage 3: Success
A new business has a lot of potential. At this stage, the business has succeeded in generating an acceptable level of profit that gives the owner the opportunity to invest cash back into the business. As a result, it can expand to a size and scale that allows it to sustain itself indefinitely while still generating acceptable profits.The owner will now have two options: 1. scale up growth efforts (i.e., expanding distribution channels, product lines, etc.); or 2. allow the business to function independently and recapture time for other endeavors.
Stage 4 : Takeoff
Stage 3 is the most critical phase of your small business's growth. If you choose to grow your small business rather than take a step back in Stage 3, it can grow into the takeoff stage. This stage involves rapid growth and expansion, which, if successful, will take your business from small to big.
Stage 5 : Resource Maturity
Business success is often measured by the business's infancy, growth, and maturity. In a nutshell, it is the period during which a business goes from an early stage to becoming an established player in different markets.