Managing the Stages of Business Growth / Download diagnostic chart

Anticipating the next stage of business growth and planning for it, can help to minimise the surprises your business will face.

Some surprises in life are great, but in business, they can mean ‘make or break’. Anticipating what lies ahead is no easy task, and the best laid plans need to be flexible to reflect what is happening in the real world. That’s why clever companies treat planning as a ‘work in progress’ keeping them on track while freeing them up to spot opportunities (or risks) around the corner.

The challenge for growing companies is to keep a step ahead of changing market conditions and other important variables such as new technologies. How individual companies react to future conditions often depends on which stage in the business life cycle they are in.

In today’s technology driven world business lifecycles have accelerated, but good management principles still – and always will - apply. The diagnostic chart that follows is designed to help any growing company to identify its stage of business development then map out a plan to circumnavigate potential pitfalls in moving from one stage of growth to the next.

“Any business can benefit from understanding where they are along the growth curve so they can appropriately manage where they are going to next”

“Avoiding unpleasant surprises is what it is all about. By understanding this, you can recognise potential problems in advance and plan for them.”

Summary:

• This simple diagnostic chart can help you locate your company on the growth curve so you can identify and then address potential business pitfalls that may be lurking just ahead.
• The chart will direct your attention to issues such as cash management, asset management, marketing, organisational behaviour, management reporting and information systems / internet solutions.

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