Where is your business on this curve? At different times, you will have different business needs. Let’s take a look at each of these points in the cycle.

Start-up Businesses

Prior to Start-up, the focus of the Business Owner should be to prepare a Business Plan. A detailed plan will ensure that the owner will understand the risks of their new venture and have strategies to manage them to make sure that their business has a flying start.

Once the business has commenced operations, the owner has two big areas of concern:

• Survival
• How to get more Customers

Particularly at this stage, the most dangerous issue for small business owners is that they don’t know what they don’t know.

From the owner's perspective the best chance of survival is by bringing in more customers. While this is essentially true, it is too often short-sighted, and keeps the owner in a state of perpetual ‘re-action,’ instead of being ‘pro-active.’ What you really need are low cost programs that produce quick results, utilising smart marketing strategies, requiring only a minimal outlay of funds. While a start-up business owner usually has little in the way of funds, if they can get good advice at a low cost, it will quickly pay for itself many times over. And it could prevent a train wreck waiting to happen.

Young Businesses

Businesses enter this phase when the owner no longer needs to look over their shoulder all the time. The business isn’t just surviving it is growing. They know the business of basics that no degree will prepare you for.

But now they are impatient. The owners ask:

• How can I accelerate my sales growth?
• How can I make my business more efficient?
• How can I make my sales more predictable?

At this stage of a business' life, the owner understands not everyone can be their customer. And even more importantly, they don't want everyone to be their customer!

But, how to choose? The answer is to have a Marketing System - NOT just ads that (might) get the phone to ring. And they are now starting to look at how they can improve the operational aspects of their business. In the past this was not an issue, as they weren't that busy with customers. But it is an issue now!

The business is growing quickly, even if somewhat erratically. Year on year, business is good, although there seem little consistency and predictability of profit. Marketing efforts produce good results, but are volatile. What is missing is a systematic approach to producing and managing sales.

At this critical phase of the life of a business, the right advice can quickly change what is a roller coaster ride into a ride where the owner has control (rather than gravity).

Businesses with Growing Pains

All businesses reach a stage where they are victims of their success. They don't want any more customers. They are struggling to handle the customers they have. Until this time, inefficiencies in their business could be handled because they had spare capacity. But now they are operating flat out. The owner is working extra hours just to cover the gaps. Customer service is starting to suffer. They are making a lot of money, but not that much profit.

At this time growth slows. The focus now is on business systems that will allow the owner to take back control of their business. They need to be able to delegate to others or outsource non-core parts of their business. Without business systems, they would be unable to do this and maintain quality.

At this point, business owners now know what they don’t know. They know they need to learn. Their choice is between the apparently low cost school of experience, or seeking advice. Some believe education and advice is expensive, but it’s certainly worth asking, - what is the cost is of ignorance?

While business owners at this stage may seek advice, they really don’t know how to choose an advisor. Could their accountant help? They might, if they actually provided an educational program and specialised in coaching, rather than simply saving you money on tax.

The best alternative for these owners is to seek a low cost, low risk trial of coaching. This will enable them to judge for themselves the suitability of an advisor.

Business Maturity

Maturity is a very dangerous time for a business. This is the point at which the owner is comfortable with their achievements. Their business is running smoothly. While sales have started to plateau, their profits may still be increasing, because they are getting better at doing what they do.

The owner has decided that their business is at the right size, they don't want it to grow larger. The owner is in their comfort zone. They see opportunities to increase their profits incrementally, but they see no need to make significant changes in their business.

The reason this is a dangerous time is that the owner has taken their foot off the accelerator, and is starting to coast. You can never coast in business. You can only coast when you are going downhill! The success of your business is dependent on constant renewal.

This involves developing new products and services, new customers, and new ways of delivering your service. If you don't invest in constantly rejuvenating your business, your business will be in decline. At first it might still appear to grow (from the momentum of earlier efforts). But after a time, the sales start to plateau. You start to lose some of your older customers. It becomes more difficult to get new customers.

However, in your sector, some seem to survive and prosper. What have they done? They have made a commitment to take make their business survive. This does not necessarily mean to grow. But if they do nothing they would decline. They are looking at ways of keeping their business fresh and replenishing their assets.

Business Decay

Businesses start to decay while they appear to be on plateau. However, at some point, significant and consistent falls in sales start to occur due to the owner ceasing to invest in the renewal of their business. At some point the business starts to lay off staff and reduce their services, until they only have a few customers and staff remaining.

They may even continue for some time while making losses, out of habit, and perhaps, pride. The owner may start to look for someone to buy his or her business, but there is nothing to sell. They ARE their business.

They start to blame the economy, the government, imports, staff, even customers. Turnaround at this point is rare, although not impossible. Business Coaching can help, but the type of changes necessary are radical, and can be costly. Such changes require a commitment that most owners at this stage no longer have.

After all, if you believe someone else is to blame, you also believe that it’s up to someone else to do something, not you. So all their efforts are focused on the impossible task of making everyone else change, rather than the simpler (if not easy) task of changing themselves.

A business coaching trial may be the best opportunity to see whether they are able to make the changes themselves.

The Moment of Truth

Once a business has overcome its Growing Pains, and started to implement systems that take out some of the stress, the business owner reaches a zone of comfort. Their business is running smoothly, and is generating reasonable profit.

They have reached the cusp of their comfort zone, and a Moment of Truth. They can continue as they are ("My business is just the right size for me, I don't want it to grow any larger"), or they may choose, after consolidating their business, to take their business to the next level in size and profitability.

If they choose to "keep things as they are", they move into the so-called Maturity phase of their business, which has its own risks.

When seeking a Second Youth for their business, significant changes in strategy are required. Although they have achieved much just in reaching this stage, the business has started to plateau and different approaches and skills become necessary. What has worked in the past, will only deliver more of the same, at best.

At this stage, the owner is looking for advice in driving their business forward. The plateau has become a ceiling.

The areas of our focus for owners at the Moment of Truth are:

• The development of a new marketing strategy that will refocus their business, and
• Management systems that enable the business to run without the owner, an essential step for an exit strategy.

At the Moment of Truth, Business Coaching for skill development in all aspects of business, but with a particular focus on business strategy and management systems provides the right solution. The owner understands the business fundamentals at this stage and wants to learn what businesses they admire have already learnt.

At the Moment of Truth, business strategy is more important than at any other time of a business' life, apart from business start-up.

Few business owners understand strategy. Its not taught at school, only in advanced business courses at university. And even then, you don’t get good at it, unless you have personally used it in business yourself.

Getting access to the right level of advice is critical for a business seeking to go to the next level. And it can be expensive, although there are alternatives, particularly if you are unsure of the value of such advice.

Second Youth

For business owners who have decided to continue to grow and acted to obtain the knowledge to break through the ceiling, their business achieves a Second Youth. This is an exciting time for any business. Profits start to soar. But the owner is now playing in a whole new league.

Major industry players will start to notice the emergence of a new competitor, and start to take appropriate market action. The investment is now at a higher level, and there are more stakeholders in the business. The owner in this phase is also aware the business cycle will repeat itself as the Second Youth gives way to new Growing Pains and approaches a higher Moment of Truth.

Owners in their Second Youth don't claim to know everything, but they now know what they don't know. And they know the importance of advice. From mentoring to specialist advice as their business expands into new areas. As the value of your business grows, so does what is at stake. The need to protect this investment becomes critical.

These business owners recognise the need and the value of Premier Advice.