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CHAPTER 9 GROWING YOUR BUSINESS EMPIRE

Stage One: Startup & Survival Stage

The first stage your business
will have to go through is
the startup and survival
stage. Because your team
is usually small at this stage
(less than five people),
everybody works closely
like a family.

At this stage, there are usually no clear reporting structures
or business systems and procedures in place. The motto is,
‘Whoever is free will get the job done.’ Everybody lends a
hand to help everyone else. The goal is to survive and to
make enough money to break even.

Challenges:
The main challenges at this stage are getting in business (sales)
and making the product or delivering the service to meet the
demand. As the entrepreneur, your main focus is therefore
on sales and production/operations. Conflict in decision-
making and business direction may start to arise between
partners. Having enough cash is also important at this stage
to keep your business going before your profits and cash flow
stabilizes.

Management & leadership style:
Passion and hard work are the two key traits that you and
your team will need at this stage to survive. Again, because
the team is small and there are few customers, you will tend
to multitask and take a hands-on approach. You will be able
to pay attention to every detail in the business and supervise
everything directly.

272 SECRETS OF BUILDING MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR BUSINESSES