subject: The Excitement of Small Business Growth [print this page] The Excitement of Small Business Growth The Excitement of Small Business Growth
The Excitement of Business Growth
In my perspective, a business goes through two stages. Initially, it has the survival stage. Although the name may allude to a rapid pace, the survival phase is not always quick (especially in the economy which we just had). Then, once the survival mode is through and the small business failure rate odds are beat, the business finds itself with extra capital. From here, the owner can begin one of two strategies. First, he or she could keep the business as is, not have to go through the hassle of hiring and training new people and, essentially be content with a future revenue stream for the years to come. Obviously, the amount of profit the business owner will bring in yearly will be contingent upon economic fluctuations. Though, this is true of just about any business. The exception would be if you were in what are most commonly referred to as the six most economic proof industries existing today. These include healthcare, education, environmental, internal business, security and energy.
However, if you are younger and decide to go the stagnant route, be very careful. There is a big risk in staying stagnant as businesses which do not grow end up slowly running out of capital and they eventually go out of business. So, we have examined the route in which I would not recommend. Now, by default, we will discuss the growth path. The growth phase is where things begin to get fun. Let's face it, if you don't grow you die, but if you do grow, you take on more risk. I, as well as many others, would rather take on the risk - less chance of dying.
Therefore, if you have to do something (or by calculated odds you should), why not make it fun and creative. That is the best thing about running a small business. You can look at all of your employees, gauge their strengths and use those positive attributes to better the firm. Also, during a growth phase, I don't recommend you worrying about expenses too much. Expenses are part of growth and growth is part of survival. By following this logic, one could gather that taking on more business expenses is necessary to the survival of a business.
Moreover, think of the growth stage as preparation for going to battle or a NFL team's preparation for a big football game. Before the players even step on the field to meet their opposition, they have practiced, put in defensive and offensive analysis time and, as a team, prepared mentally. Before an American Air force pilot even steps in the cockpit of a fighter jet, you can be assured that the plane which he is about to fly has technology that is far more advanced than our enemy's
After the preparation phase comes the attack phase. During the preparation phase, you should have put the proper marketing techniques intact, hired the proper employees and formulated a plan to beat your competition. Here is my take on competition and why you should be relentless (although I am actually quite a nice person) towards your business competition - they would take the money from you in a heartbeat and bad manners should make you angry. Now, once these phases are done, it is time to repeat the process all over again or you could sell the business, but then you would still start at phase one, It would just be in a different industry.
