Growing your business can be anything but linear at times.

You can be forgiven for thinking that success looks like a perfect line graph that sees you growing and succeeding month after month after month.

In reality, running a business has major highs and deeper lows. Unsuccessful launches, winning new clients and all the other days in between.

Peaks, troughs, rollercoasters, going back on yourself, changing X, Y and Z, trial and error and so on…

Having said this, even though your journey is never a straight road, there are still different phases of your business development that can easily be defined and there are ways to measure these phases so you can establish where you are in your business development and take the necessary steps to progress.

Let’s take a look at these phases in more detail. See if you can identify yourself along the way.

Startup Phase

This is the first stage in your business development. It’s temporary and transitional but it’s also exciting and should be setting your soul on fire.

During this phase, you need to figure out exactly what you’re doing and who your target audience is. You’ll need to design an attractive product suite that addresses your client’s pain points and build a solid content strategy to market it.

This phase will take a lot of trial and error but by the end of it, you’ll have your systems set up, have SOPs and workflows (maybe even some automation) in place and will have figured out how to run your business smoothly.

Development Phase

During the development phase, your business relies heavily (or entirely) on your skillset, knowledge and expertise.

This is usually where you’ll see a lot of growth in your business. You might pick up some new skills or knowledge along the way which could lead to increased visibility in your niche.

You’ll begin to get feedback from clients and tailor your product/services accordingly. You’ll start to be seen as more of an authority and you might consider investing at this time to help you skyrocket your growth and move up to the next tier.

Maturity Phase

By this stage, you’ve developed good business awareness and have all the knowledge and skills needed to run your business effectively and efficiently. You’ve developed a solid authority in your niche and likely have a solid stream of regular clients that help to keep your business afloat.

This is the point in your business where you might be able to take a step back, especially if you have a solid team behind you who knows how to run your business.

At this stage, your cash flow should be pretty high allowing you to reinvest as necessary to help continue growth, though at this point growth should be at a more sustainable and steady rate.

Maintenance Phase

This is probably one of the most important phases as it can be a bit of a sink or swim moment. When it comes to maintenance, many businesses can lose that drive that they had in the earlier stages which can cause them to stagnate.

But this doesn’t have to be the case.

The focus here is on your company, your processes and how you can still generate sales and keep profit margins high. Investing in experts during the maintenance phase is a great way to help your business stay afloat because it gives a breath of fresh air into the business operations. You never know, an outsider could have some killer business ideas up their sleeve for you.

Also, be open to change, businesses should be dynamic and you can alter or progress your services to match the market and your ideal client.

Finally, as always, focus on your why. It’ll help you to reconnect with the reasons for getting started in the first place and hopefully give you a newfound passion for your business.

Struggling with Progression?

Hopefully, the above has helped you to identify which stage of your business you’re currently in and you can recognize some of the

However, that’s only half the job.

Progression through each of these steps can be a challenge, you’ll be presented with obstacles that can sometimes leave you in a bit of a rut; especially if you’re lacking a framework or strategy to help you scale.

Systems are key to your sustainability and expansion.

Sometimes you need a pair of outside eyes that can look at your business subjectively and better equip you to move forward.

If you’re ready to get you unstuck and moving forwards again- contact me today