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H
ere are the six steps on the journey of The Entrepreneurial Ladder: Rung 0 Ð Employee This is where most business owners start. Being an employee is a great thing – it’s where you get to learn and serve your apprenticeship. Rung 1 Ð Self-employed You decide you are tired of working long hours to make someone else rich so you take the plunge, resign and go on your own. This is the first stage of business ownership and quite frankly the hardest. You get stuck on a hamster wheel wondering what happened to all the extra money and time you dreamt of! At this stage of the ladder you do not own a business, but rather a job. Rung 2 Ð Manager You have started to employ some staff, acquired some assets, grown your business and are taking your marketing seriously. You are still working very hard and spend the majority of your time working “in” the business as opposed to working “on” it. You could start experiencing problems with staff who may not be as committed as you or may let you down when you least expect it. Why is this? Probably because you are still learning how to BE a leader and manager. Rung 3 Ð Owner Business owners who reach this stage have realised that businesses are run by systems, and systems are run by people. Not the other way around! When you have documented systems in place, you have a lot more consistency in your business and are on the way to building
ABOVE: ActionCOACH Ignite team Chenal Brummer, Darryn Le Grange, Deborah Coskey and Natasha Swartz.
The entrepreneurial
LADDER
THIS CONCEPT PLOTS THE JOURNEY FROM BEING AN EMPLOYEE, WHERE MOST PEOPLE START OUT, RIGHT UP TO BEING A TRUE ENTREPRENEUR – A STAGE THAT NOT EVERYONE REACHES – AND ALL THE STEPS IN BETWEEN, WRITES DARRYN LE GRANGE
a saleable asset that can work without you. You are now able to spend more time working ON the business – planning, strategising, marketing, etc. Rung 4 Ð Investor Your business is now starting to generate good profits, has a great team in place, a great leader in place (you), documented systems and is running like a well-oiled machine. You now need to decide where you want to invest your profits to grow your wealth and build financial freedom. Rung 5 Ð Entrepreneur The final rung is the entrepreneurial stage which is about exponential growth:
POWER HOUR A no obligation discussion about your business, its challenges and opportunities. Contact Darryn Le Grange on darrynlegrange@actioncoach. com or 083 703 5235 to schedule your complimentary session.
where you franchise your business, or sell licence agreements, or create agencies or award distribution rights, etc. Not all business models will lend themselves to this and
A U G - S E P T
2 0 2 0
so the investor stage may be the top of the ladder for some business owners. So, where are you on this ladder? How far are you towards creating a business that is a commercial, profitable enterprise that works without you? At ActionCOACH, we have a proven system and methodology to help you climb this ladder and build your dream business which is the vehicle to achieve your goals and dreams.
www.actioncoachignite.co.za W ActionCOACHIgnite
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