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The Small Business Lifecycle
Learn which steps to take at the right time to grow your small business.
Here's the deal: small businesses - including microbusinesses - have a lifecycle that's different than the lifecycles of other kinds of businesses. If you're a small business owner, you probably started your business because there was some particular product you wanted to build or service you wanted to provide and you've probably figured out that having a successful small business takes more than having a great product or great service. Growing a small business requires knowing which steps to take at the right time; if you take those steps out of order and you can waste a lot of time, money, and momentum.
There are five stages to the small business lifecycle, each of which have different strengths, challenges, inconvenient truths, and ways forward. This guide shows you what each of those stages are and will show you where to focus your resources so you can grow your business.
If you've been thinking about starting your own business, it'll help you figure where to start and get a foothold in a market. While there are some differences in starting an online business versus starting a traditional small businesses, both of them share the same business lifecycle.
And if you've been in business for a while, you'll have a better gauge to evaluate where you are and what you need to do next. If you're growing fast and want to keep growing, it'll show you how to do it strategically. If you're stuck and don't know what to do, it'll show you what you have to get in place to get unstuck.
Here are some specific topics we'll cover:
Questions to ask before you start your own small business
How to get a foothold in the market and why you should be marketing fewer things to fewer audiences
Why some "successful" products and services will cause you to get stuck and lose momentum
Where your small businesses might get stuck and what four things must be in place to get it going and growing again
How not to break a successful, scalable small business once you've got it there
While this guide won't give you a specific business strategy, it'll show you what needs to be done so you can determine the right strategy for your business.
This guide is succinct and very accessible; you don't need another longer, hard-to-understand business book. No prior business education or experience is required to understand it, though prior education and experience will give you a deeper understanding of the insights in this book. You've got a business to grow, and this book is written to get you realigned, focused, and gaining momentum.
Here's the deal: small businesses - including microbusinesses - have a lifecycle that's different than the lifecycles of other kinds of businesses. If you're a small business owner, you probably started your business because there was some particular product you wanted to build or service you wanted to provide and you've probably figured out that having a successful small business takes more than having a great product or great service. Growing a small business requires knowing which steps to take at the right time; if you take those steps out of order and you can waste a lot of time, money, and momentum.
There are five stages to the small business lifecycle, each of which have different strengths, challenges, inconvenient truths, and ways forward. This guide shows you what each of those stages are and will show you where to focus your resources so you can grow your business.
If you've been thinking about starting your own business, it'll help you figure where to start and get a foothold in a market. While there are some differences in starting an online business versus starting a traditional small businesses, both of them share the same business lifecycle.
And if you've been in business for a while, you'll have a better gauge to evaluate where you are and what you need to do next. If you're growing fast and want to keep growing, it'll show you how to do it strategically. If you're stuck and don't know what to do, it'll show you what you have to get in place to get unstuck.
Here are some specific topics we'll cover:
Questions to ask before you start your own small business
How to get a foothold in the market and why you should be marketing fewer things to fewer audiences
Why some "successful" products and services will cause you to get stuck and lose momentum
Where your small businesses might get stuck and what four things must be in place to get it going and growing again
How not to break a successful, scalable small business once you've got it there
While this guide won't give you a specific business strategy, it'll show you what needs to be done so you can determine the right strategy for your business.
This guide is succinct and very accessible; you don't need another longer, hard-to-understand business book. No prior business education or experience is required to understand it, though prior education and experience will give you a deeper understanding of the insights in this book. You've got a business to grow, and this book is written to get you realigned, focused, and gaining momentum.
- GenresBusinessNonfiction
86 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 28, 2013
28 people are currently reading
159 people want to read
About the author
Charlie Gilkey
29 books112 followersCharlie Gilkey helps people start finishing the stuff that matters. He's the founder of Productive Flourishing, author of the forthcoming Start Finishing and The Small Business Lifecycle, and host of the Productive Flourishing podcast. Prior to starting Productive Flourishing, Charlie was a Joint Force Military Logistics Coordinator while simultaneously pursuing a PhD in Philosophy. He lives with his wife, Angela, in Portland, Oregon.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 1, 2020
Watch my full YouTube video review here: https://youtu.be/MC9sr5iwVpk
The July book reviews are books that discuss the nuts and bolts of building a business. I also share some of the mentors I have chosen as I grow my own small business. Some of the books are from other business founders. Also check out the final Monday of every month when I share books from female business founders.
I bought this book when I wanted to learn about the different stages of a small business, and how to effectively move from one to the next. This book walks through five simple stages in small business. I share some of the ways this book helped me navigate these challenges in 2018 and 2019 when I kept chasing my tail fixing new problems and feeling like I was not making traction. This book also helped me to understand how to transition from riding a rocket ship solo to managing a team and creating for long term stability.
The July book reviews are books that discuss the nuts and bolts of building a business. I also share some of the mentors I have chosen as I grow my own small business. Some of the books are from other business founders. Also check out the final Monday of every month when I share books from female business founders.
I bought this book when I wanted to learn about the different stages of a small business, and how to effectively move from one to the next. This book walks through five simple stages in small business. I share some of the ways this book helped me navigate these challenges in 2018 and 2019 when I kept chasing my tail fixing new problems and feeling like I was not making traction. This book also helped me to understand how to transition from riding a rocket ship solo to managing a team and creating for long term stability.
October 28, 2013
Clarified a lot of things going on in my business and made me feel like I wasn't losing control.
December 26, 2024
This just felt like a summary of other literature about a few problems that arise in small businesses. The author did not provide any real world solutions. It was a bit odd that they mention 6 and 7 figure businesses at one point.. those CEOs are not reading this book and the fact that everything else is written towards an amateur business owner just felt odd. The impression I got from this book was to ignore the appropriate policies and procedures needed to run an effective business, pick something you are interested in, fail a bunch of times, figure out what works, and then do that lol There are significantly better books on business strategy out there.
April 7, 2022
Mistakes are welcomed
“Fail, and fail often.” That was refreshing to read. Found my own permission to keep exploring options and figuring out what works.
“Fail, and fail often.” That was refreshing to read. Found my own permission to keep exploring options and figuring out what works.
June 9, 2014
The thing about this book that is remarkable is that it provides you with a nuanced vocabulary to describe the reality of having had a business that either grows or doesn't grow.
Having a very well defined and precisely thought out rubric of 'what stage' something is in is the big contribution here. It's a short book and any business owner will find resolve to run things correctly.
Charlie Gilkey is a former Army Logistics guy, and he draws on the precision he had to help describe how business is working.
Reading this book can give almost any business a tactical roadmap to success.
Having a very well defined and precisely thought out rubric of 'what stage' something is in is the big contribution here. It's a short book and any business owner will find resolve to run things correctly.
Charlie Gilkey is a former Army Logistics guy, and he draws on the precision he had to help describe how business is working.
Reading this book can give almost any business a tactical roadmap to success.
February 3, 2016
This is a quick read, a high level overview of predictable patterns in the growth of a successful business with a focus on what the dangers are at each stage and how to move to the next stage. A good preview for anyone thinking of starting a business.
April 15, 2013
Good book. List out the various stages a small business goes through and how to navigate through them. If your just starting or thinking of starting a small business this is the book for you
August 18, 2016
Very handy quick reference for understanding what problems your clients might actually be dealing with.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews