Five Stages Your Small Business Will Go Through

When you decide to venture out into the adventure of having your own small business, be prepared for a challenging job. You’ll have to adapt your business strategy from time to time, and occasional ups and downs are inevitable.

Still, it doesn't mean that one should start a business without a clear plan. It would be smart to be aware of the five stages of every small business and how to deal with challenges each one of them brings.

1. Existence

This very first step is actually the forming of the idea of having your own business. Before the actual business is even set up, there are things for you to consider - am I really up for it? Is this business profitable? Am I ready for the difficult stages?

The important part is to collect as many pieces of advice as you can, whether it's from your family, friends, colleagues or experts. You have to be prepared as much as you can.

In the end, the success of your business won't depend just on your abilities, but on the market that you want to enter and your financial possibilities.

 2. Startup and survival

When your business has been tested, and you feel you're well-prepared, the official startup begins. For some people, this is the riskiest stage of all because many believe that usual missteps made at this point are the ones that will take years for the business to recover from. These mistakes are the reason why a quarter of small businesses don't manage to get to their fifth birthday.

The crucial thing to do during this stage is to be adaptable. It means changing and adjusting your services or products when the first customers start giving you their feedback. For all of these changes you'll have to make, it may seem chaotic in the beginning, but just be persistent and force your way through it. After a while, things will get clear and the period of stability will start.

3. Development and growth

This stage is a more stable one, as you will have a consistent income and customers. The revenues will help you cover all obligatory expenses, and you will be glad to see your profit slowly growing.

However, this is not the time to be passive. You will have to fulfill new demands, such as attending to your customers, dealing with the inevitable competition, continuing working on the growth of the revenue, managing your staff, etc.

Regarding the staff, it is necessary to be involved in hiring new people because you have to look for skillful and sharp people to help you develop the business as much as possible.

Another aspect of this stage is you, taking your position as the head of the company. In the beginning, all the responsibilities were yours, but now you have formed your skillful staff and they will be taking some of that responsibility. Your role will be to establish order and control, overseeing the work of your employees.

4. Expansion

This stage is a pretty stable one - your staff is well-coordinated, most of the work has become a routine, income is regular and steady.

However, this is not the time to rest on your laurels. In business, you either go forward or you go backward. You would rather go forward, right? So, this could be the ideal time to consider expanding the business. Offering new services or expanding the offer of your products is very desirable, but also risky, so consider the expenses and the level of changes and novelties it will bring to the company. You don't want to push too much by biting off more than you can chew. Of course, the expansion also includes the working space. Some self storage Melbourne based companies recommend finding bigger space or expanding the existing one at this stage when the income is steady.

5. Maturity or selling

The final phase is the most stable one, where there are only two choices - whether to take on new challenges (of course, only if it's financially doable and safe) or to consider selling the company. If there are other possibilities on the market for expansion, you can bring a seasoned CEO if you feel you're not up to it. A partial or full sale could also mean a completely different journey, depending on your aspirations.

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