The 5 Life Cycle Stages of Business

We all have heard of “the circle of life” and business experts know that there is “a circle of business life”, as well. We are aware of it because we know that once the business is alive and creating services or products certain steps repeat for all those. It’s a circle – a cycle – that keeps going on as we move from inception to maturity with our businesses and those of our clients. The idea of creating a “legacy business” speaks to many entrepreneurs’ desires. This knowledge puts forth these questions:

- How do we as experts help entrepreneurs set their business on the right path to sustainability and maturity?

- How do we as entrepreneurs understand the circle of life for our business and can we somehow use that theoretical knowledge to create a legacy business – one that does not face bankruptcy in the first 5 years, as so many small businesses do?

- How, then, do we as business experts then assist entrepreneurs on this journey effectively and objectively?

First, we need to understand the theory of the “circle of business life”. It means that there is a starting point and an ending point to business. That path is layered with stages and action steps, where every action step requires completion before moving on to another stage and once all action steps are completed and all stages have been mastered you arrive at the end of the business life. This may mean at the end of the business as is and you have a choice:

1. You are at the maturity and can retire – or exit.

2. You may add a new product or service at this point. In the latter you now need to repeat the “circle/cycle of business life” for the new product.

By following this step-by-step path, you are applying the theory of life cycles stages for your business as it outlines 5 main business life cycles - each with internal steps and actions - to create that envisioned business. When we understand that theory and apply that theory, we actually map out the path from inception to maturity/legacy.

To apply the theory as outlined above, we first need to know where a business is – what stage is it at. How?

It’s almost like a quick assessment; you take a quiz that is adaptive and responds to your knowledge level so that you can clearly see what you know and what you don’t know. Based on that learning process and the score you can now take action to modify your path of learning - -and thereby of entrepreneurship – to ensure you take all the action steps necessary to fill the areas in which you are weak.

That said, as an expert I do apply that adaptive, responsive, and objective assessment to myself, my potential clients, and my clients putting the theory into action so that I can deliver on the promise to guide them to their dreams without the danger of failure along the road or years after the business has been established. Isn’t that what we as experts dream of?

About Dr. Natalie Forest CEO, Bilingual International Executive Strategist, Corporate Leadership and Teamwork Trainer, Transformational Growth Mentor, International Best-Selling Author, Keynote Speaker, and Mentor.