Right from when you decide to make your entrepreneurial dreams a reality; you become a part of the business life cycle. The business life cycle is nothing but an enterprise’s progression in stages over the years. The most important phases being its launch, expansion, shake-out, maturity, and finally, decline. Each of these stages presents its unique challenges and roadblocks. So, as an entrepreneur, you need to have a flexible mindset and the power to adapt your strategies over time.
5 stages in the business life cycle:
According to reports, nearly 90% of startups which have failed have been because of self-destruction. To avoid this, it is important to understand at which stage of the business life cycle you are currently in, and take necessary precautions to stay ahead of others.
- Seed and Development: This can be considered as the first stage even before the business has been officially launched. Here, you have an idea for a startup and you assess whether it is viable or not. It makes sense to get advice from different sources like industry experts, colleagues, friends, and family members. Your business’s success will eventually depend on your skills, market preparedness, and finances in hand. This stage is one of soul-searching where you examine how feasible the business idea is. Once you are confident and the idea has been well-tested, you can go ahead with the launch. This stage is the riskiest because all mistakes made at this time will impact your business’s future down the line. If you are not sure about starting anything on your own, automation technology might help you. For example, people getting into Bitcoin trade can automate their trade using bots such as the News Spy which doesn’t require your manual intervention and time. It is one of the best bitcoin bots that has potential to earn you millions of dollars within a limited time. Beware of speculations about the bot outside and test it on your own. Visit https://coincierge.de/news-spy/ to learn more about the bot and register for a trading account.
- Growth: This stage is one where your business has started producing revenues and accepting new customers. The cash flow should ideally improve and recurring revenues ensure that you can cover your expenses smoothly. However, the biggest challenge here is splitting time between many new demands that now come to the fore. These include ways to manage growing competition, handling increasing amount of revenues, taking care of customers, etc. You need to recruit people with quality skill-sets to exploit the company’s true potential. You can generate even more revenue by trading stocks. Trading stocks is now a breeze with the availability of various stock apps which allow you to trade stocks from anywhere at any time, even on the go. Try visiting https://www.aktienboard.com/aktien-apps/ to choose the best stock market app for your trading requirements.
- Expansion: This is all about running the business smoothly. Once the staff is ready and doing its work, you have more free time to broaden your horizons. So, you make an attempt to move into newer territories and expand your services. During this stage of the business life cycle, enterprises witness tremendous growth both in terms of cash flow and revenues.
- Maturity/Exit: As the business steadily expands, sales start dipping slowly and profit margins grow thinner. With the enterprise entering the stage of maturity, big capital spending takes place behind the business. This means cash generation is more than profits. Some enterprises can successfully extend their business cycles at this stage by revamping themselves. They start investing in new technologies and markets. Some bring in a new CEO to navigate the new challenges and lead the company.
- Decline: This is the ultimate stage in the business life cycle when sales, profits, and cash flow start to come down. At this stage, companies should realize their failure to expand by making suitable changes to cope with the dynamic business environment. They lose their competitive edge and decide to step away from the market.
While these are the 5key stages, not every business goes through all stages. Some can experience an incredible growth right after launch. But awareness about these stages helps you stay on track and anticipate what is likely to happen.
