The Five Stages of Small Business Growth. Categorizing the problems and growth patterns of small businesses in a systematic way that is useful to entrepreneurs seems at first glance a hopeless task. Small businesses vary widely in size and capacity for growth. They are characterized by independence of action, differing organizational structures, and varied management styles. Yet on closer scrutiny, it becomes apparent that they experience common problems arising at similar stages in their development. These points of similarity can be organized into a framework that increases our understanding of the nature, characteristics, and problems of businesses ranging from a corner dry cleaning establishment with two or three minimum-wage employees to a $20-million-a-year computer software company experiencing a 40% annual rate of growth. The framework also provides a basis for evaluating the impact of present and proposed governmental regulations and policies on one’s business.
Developing a Small Business Framework Stage I: Existence 1. 6 Strategies for Managing a Fast Growing Company. Paul Graham once said that, "A startup is a company designed to grow fast. " In fact, Graham goes on to say that "if you get growth, everything else tends to fall into place. " Of course, that sounds much easier said than done. If you've been part of a startup that has experienced rapid growth, then you'll understand both sides of the table. On one hand, you have an increase in sales and are starting to make a name for yourself. Regardless of how beneficial or detrimental acceleration has been, you have to be able to sustain these challenging changes. 1. When planning out your business, you’ve probably created plenty of short-term and long-term goals, but have you planned out any medium-term goals? A long-term vision and mission - the future state you want your career to be and how you achieve it, based on your professional values.A series of medium-term objectives in support of that vision.
Hsu adds that your long-term vision and mission are actually a series of medium-term objectives. Challenges of business growth. Growth adjustment can be a most difficult challenge. It is likely to add a layer of complexity to the organisation. Growing too quickly can bring a business down, so be very sure you plan ahead and be ready for any potential upsurge. An increase in production generally moves you another step away from the general day to day running of a business. Management staff are usually employed to cover you while you report to financial investors, increase general staff and design new internal processes and procedures.
Be prepared to let go and have the utmost confidence in your management team. Your role is likely to become more strategic; to maintain the same company culture. Keeping control One thing is obvious It is impossible to run an enlarged company in the same way the business started out. Find a business mentor, even if you have to pay them. Changing the way you do business Growth may or may not bring with it the need to incorporate (i.e. become a limited company). 9 Reasons Why Your Business Growth Has Plateaued -- and How to Fix That. Many entrepreneurs complain that their businesses are not growing as fast as they'd hoped. They may have a wonderful product, superior customer service and a steady flow of customers -- yet their business growth has stalled. What they don't realize is that they themselves might be the ones holding their business back and causing its growth to flat line long before it's time to die. I read that there are 28 million small businesses in the U.S., according to the U.S.
Small Business Administration -- 99.7 percent of U.S. employer firms. Related: Reinventing Your Company: 3 Aspects of Change That Are Essential for Growth What should you do when you see a growth plateau? 1. Before you started your business, when you created your plans, you may have had an idea of how you wanted things to work. Quick fix: Perhaps it's time to re-assess your whole plan and see if it’s relevant to today. 2. Quick fix: A better strategy than lowering prices is instead to add value to what you do. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Discuss why firms grow in size. Most firms seek to become bigger – increasing sales and market share. Firms can grow through internal expansion, external growth (merger) or diversification into related industries. The motives for increasing in size can include: Greater sales lead to greater profit, making the firm more attractive to shareholdersSuccessful, growing firms are likely to increase salaries / pay bonuses to managers.Increasing output enables economies of scale, greater efficiency and lower average costs.Increased prestige for managers seeing the firm become more influential and powerful.Greater risk diversification, e.g. when growth comes from product diversification.Growing in size enables growth in market share and monopoly power, enabling even greater profitability.Owners having a passion for their product and wanting to see it do well.Globalisation has enabled firms to sell product in global market.
Reasons for firms growing Profit motive Motivations of managers and workers Economies of scale Related. Patents vs. Trade Secrets – Giving Your Business the Competitive Edge | Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP. When your business develops or acquires information that is not known to your competitors, you may have more than one option for protecting it. Although federal patent law is the primary source of protection for inventors, an inventor may elect to forego patent protection and instead rely on the protection of state laws prohibiting the misappropriation of trade secrets.
The decision whether to patent or keep a trade secret is an important one, and should not be made lightly. What is a Trade Secret? The Uniform Trade Secrets Act has been adopted by the majority of states, including Arizona. Trade secrets generally fall into two categories. What is a Patent? Advantages of Trade Secrets:In at least two situations, trade secret protection is the clear winner.
Another advantage of trade secrets is that trade secret protection is not limited in time. View the entire publication in PDF format here. What is the difference between a patent, a trademark and a copyright? | Dunlap Codding. Considering how complex intellectual property law can be, it is understandable that many people – including authors, journalists, biz and tech bloggers, tweeple, etc. – confuse the terms and oftentimes speak/write of “patenting a book” or “copywriting a new gadget”.
I also receive a large number of requests asking for advice on how to “copyright an idea” – so, I thought it would be helpful to lay out a short and concise explanation of each area of intellectual property law. First, what do I mean by the term “intellectual property”? According to Tech Terms Online: “Intellectual property refers to the ownership of intangible and non-physical goods. … Since intellectual property is intangible, it is more difficult to protect than other types of property.”
While this is a fairly reasonable definition, I prefer to use a more shorthand version: “Intellectual property is something that is created by the mind.” Thus, it is the design of the rocket that is patented, not the idea of a rocket. 10 Ways to Protect Your Intellectual Property. How important is intellectual property protection to your startup? Not too long ago, defensible IP was one of the top things venture capitalists wanted to see in a startup.
But the success of several high-profile tech startups, such as Twitter and Facebook, that are relatively weak on patentable intellectual property, has caused many to rethink that assumption. After all, creating and maintaining a robust IP portfolio is expensive. Patents don’t determine whether a startup will be able to scale. But every startup – lean or not – needs to plan for success. So what should startups do to protect their IP assets? Patent what is important to others, not just youMake time to get smart on intellectual property. As President Lincoln once remarked, the patent system adds "the fuel of interest to the fire of genius. " How To Protect Your IP When You Are A Startup | ContentVia Marketing Agency. Disclaimer: This is in no way legal advice for intellectual property. I am not an attorney nor is this legal direction for your business. Consult an attorney regarding any questions about your specific intellectual property.
This article is meant to help you understand how you can talk about your business without exposing trade secrets. Every entrepreneur remembers a time when they thought their idea was so great that they needed to protect the idea. Quickly you learn that asking for an NDA from everyone exposes your inexperience. But we know the feeling. “Tell us WHAT your business will do, but not HOW your business will do it.” This is the “What not How” approach. The validation process requires that you are able to share your idea with prospective customers. Ideas are worth $0. . . and validated ideas are probably worth $0 unless you have a track record of success. Here are a two examples of how the ”What not How” approach could be applied to startups:
Why you need to protect your Intellectual Property - The British Library. Top Signs Your Brand Strategy Is Losing Focus. August 26,2016 By Claire Holland, agencyEA As a company’s marketing strategies adapt to changes in the marketplace, there’s always the possibility that its established brand will suffer. By its very nature, a brand must balance legacy — what it stands for today and what it’s stood for in the past — with vitality — how it can be revived and refreshed as new conditions demand.
Under such circumstances, it’s not hard to lose focus on a brand’s core identity. How can you tell when this is happening and what can be done to remedy the situation? Here are warning signs: 1. Communicating your company’s values and vision, a useful tool for attracting new customers and talented new hires Providing employees with a forceful vision to motivate them in their work Enabling industry influencers to promote your message with their followers Commanding greater fees for product and services 2.
The result, in many cases, is a confused customer base and a dilution of the brand’s key message points. 3. 4. The Difference Between Sales and Business Development. Almost daily, I run into the misconception that the function of sales and business development are interchangeable, from co-workers to industry peers. This stems primarily, I believe, from the shift in titles of salespeople to business development -- which has been done in an effort to avoid the negative connotation that surrounds it. In reality, the two are very different. Hence, this tweet.
But 140 characters just isn't enough to explain of the subtleties, so here we are. When you think about the function of business development, it should be thought of as a marketing function. If you were to think about it on a sliding scale between a pure function of sales or marketing, it would wind up somewhere around here. The reason behind this, is that typical goals of business development include brand placement, market expansion, new user acquisition, and awareness -- all of which are shared goals of marketing.
Which is where we get into the meat of it. That last part is key. P.S. Forbes Welcome. The 7 Steps of the Sales Process | The Steady Sales Group. The BEST way to get to know me. 1. Product Knowledge This step is fairly straight forward, but it is also the great undoing of many a technical expert turned sales person. When one is extremely well versed in a particular product especially a technical one, it is easy to get caught up in a monologue of all the great features it provides. The technical expert turned sales person is so eager to explain how the product works or why it’s unique that the benefits to the customer are left out of the discussion.
Never assume that a prospect will easily link a feature to a benefit. That relationship must be stated clearly (something done in the presentation step 4, after the needs assessment step 5). 2. In the broadest sense, prospecting is an ongoing process that everyone in the company (particularly the sales force) should be involved in. 3. Their product is a seminar, about which they presumably have sufficient knowledge. 4. 5. 6.
In large part, closing is about discovering obstacles. 7. Creating a Sales Process: The Ultimate Guide | HubSpot. What Is a Sales Process? Everything You Need To Know What Is a Sales Process? Part 1 Building a repeatable, scalable sales process is tough. If you're looking for more comprehensive information, take this free on-demand sales training course or download this sales process cheat sheet. “Sales process” most often refers to a repeatable set of steps your sales team takes with a prospect to move them from early stage to a closed customer. Prospect The process of sourcing new early stage leads to begin a sales process with. Connect Initiating contact with those early stage leads to gather information and judge their worthiness for moving forward.
Research Learning more about a prospect and their company as they progress through the sales process can help sales reps offer a more tailored experience, and improve the likelihood a deal will close. Present A typical stage of many sales processes is to run a formal presentation or demonstration of what is being sold. Close Sales Process Vs. Solution Selling. Debt Financing - Small Business Encyclopedia. Definition: A method of financing in which a company receives a loan and gives its promise to repay the loan . Debt financing includes both secured and unsecured loans.
Security involves a form of collateral as an assurance the loan will be repaid. If the debtor defaults on the loan, that collateral is forfeited to satisfy payment of the debt. Most lenders will ask for some sort of security on a loan. Few, if any, will lend you money based on your name or idea alone. Here are some types of security you can offer a lender: You can also try to acquire debt financing through an unsecured loan. Most outside lenders are very conservative and are unlikely to provide an unsecured loan unless you've done a tremendous amount of business with them in the past and have performed above expectations.
In addition to secured or unsecured loans, most debt will be subject to a repayment period. One of the most popular avenues of obtaining startup capital is credit cards. Equity Crowdfunding Could Be Dangerous for Investors and Entrepreneurs. In the very near future, equity crowdfunding will no longer be reserved for the ultra-wealthy. That’s thanks to the Securities and Exchange Commission passage of Title III JOBS Act, which goes into effect May 16. It’s a turning point for entrepreneurs and investors alike. Before that date, only accredited investors — individuals with a net worth of more than $1 million or annual income of more than $200,000 — could take an equity stake in a private company via crowdfunding. After May 16, anyone can participate. Exciting, right?
Not so fast. Let’s start from the investor’s side. The SEC has long been criticized for its glacial pace — it took more than three years to pass Title III — but the agency had a difficult task in democratizing equity crowdfunding while still protecting investors from undue risk. The act ostensibly benefits both parties. Related: Venture Capital Is Facing an Impending Health-Care ‘Avalanche’ Sophisticated investors are familiar with this strategy. 1. 2. 3. 4. Equity Financing - Small Business Encyclopedia. Bootstrapped Vs Funded Ventures: Which Startups The Best? 12 pros and cons of raising money vs. bootstrapping. How to Know If Your Business Should Have an S-Corp Strategy.
What Are Four Primary Forecasting Techniques? How to Write the Financial Section of a Business Plan. Preparing Financial Statements. Financial Statements for Business Plans and Startup. Founders’ Agreements – Startup. Importance of Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility. Choose Your Business Structure. Choosing Your Startup Team Wisely. The Importance of Ethics in Organizations. “Competitive Intelligence” Shouldn’t Just Be About Your Competitors. Problems of declining industries. BUSINESS PLAN METHODOLOGY | VP of Strategy. Marsdd. How to Conduct and Prepare a Competitive Analysis - Edward Lowe Foundation. Planning key to growth beyond first business years | BiS | Business in Savannah News.
Steve Blank: The Customer Development Process | Stanford eCorner. Tips from SCORE: Business planning - News - capecodtimes.com - Hyannis, MA. Lean Startup and Design Thinking: Getting the Best Out of Both. What should everyone know about the Business Model Canvas? - Quora. What is customer development? What the Olympics Can Teach Us About Small Businesses. Dare to Be Different -- or Watch Your Business Derail. Why You Should Follow Your Instincts to Do Something Different. Target Market Analysis: How To Define Your Target Market And Sell More Products Easily. How to Research Your Market for Business Startup. Untitled. Derek Sivers: How to start a movement. Problem Solving, Investigating Ideas and Solutions. What Makes A Great Business Opportunity Vs. A Great Meeting. 'A business idea may or may not be a business opportunity'
8 Successful Entrepreneurs Give Their Younger Selves Lessons They Wish They'd Known Then. What Inspired 10 Successful Entrepreneurs to Become Entrepreneurs. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg says the most successful entrepreneurs share 3 traits. 33 Entrepreneurs Share Their Biggest Lessons Learned from Failure. Why do people become entrepreneurs? Startup Grind | Educating, Inspiring, and Connecting Entrepreneurs. 5 Smart Ways to Integrate Cross-Promotion With Online Marketing.
25 Common Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. The One Mind Shift Entrepreneurs Need to Make to Be Successful. Meet Spark Entrepreneurs who lead their societies into prosperitySpark.