Expand the Life of Your Business
Posted on April 09, 2025 by Michael Shew, LIFA, MBA, CFBA, One of Thousands of ADD ADHD Coaches on Noomii.
Today, we will explore the life cycle of a business and how to get the most out of each cycle while extending your business's lifespan.
The four different stages of a business life cycle are:
Infancy
Adolescence
Growing Pains
Maturity
We’ll examine these cycles and consider how each can help you expand your business’s lifespan.
Infancy
This stage is generally considered the technician’s phase, the owners’. At this point, the relationship between the business and the owner is that of a new baby and a parent. There is a necessary, impenetrable bond that will determine the path your business will follow. Never drop your baby.
The key is recognizing that your business must grow to flourish. You cannot stay in this stage forever.
Adolescence
In adolescence, you must start delegating to your support staff and allow growth to happen. The first line of defense is your technical person, who must bring a particular technical expertise. However, this cycle belongs to the manager. The planning stage must commence, and a relationship should be built with the entrepreneur to plan for the future.
Growing Pains
There’s a point in almost every business when the business explodes and becomes chaotic. This is referred to as growing pains. It’s a good problem to have, a problem nonetheless. You are often faced with the following choices:
1. Avoid growth and stay small;
2. Go broke;
3. 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 for your business to succeed, and you need to maintain an entrepreneurial perspective for your business to continue moving forward.
It is unmistakable that all four of these cycles are connected and require a strong foundation for your business’s continued success. The three key roles (technician, manager, and entrepreneur) highlighted in my previous post must also work together to navigate these cycles successfully.
#entrepreneurs #businessowners #businessowner #ceo #coo #cfo
