Different Stages Of Business Development

culled from:developyourbusiness.org

Only a true businessman knows that every business undergoes certain stages that may greatly affect its course later on. It is true that each business goes through four phases - establishment stage, development stage, maturity stage and decline stage. Whatever kind of business you may have, the time will always come wherein your business will fall in any of the said stages. You can never avoid any of these stages but you have the power to manipulate the development of your business. There are a lot of things that you can do in order to make your business stable and competitive.
The first stage or the establishment stage is the start of any promising business. This is where all the planning and conceptualizing happen. The most important thing in setting up your business is a huge capital. From there, you can now spend time determining the products and services you want to cater, your target market, the number of employees to get and how to manage the business itself. The planning itself is very hard since you really need to commit yourself to your business and exert effort so as to organize everything before you open your business to potential customers.
The growth of your business happens in the second stage. This is where you can finally decide to expand and enhance your products and services. You can witness how your business evolved, from scratch and becoming a top contender in your chosen industry. People will start to take notice of your business and with an increase in demand you need to double your products and services as well. In order to give in to the requests of your customers, you need to invest more money in order to increase production.
As for the third stage, you'll see that your business has become established already. Your monthly income becomes stable and you already have a good number of loyal customers. Once your business has matured, you can now relax a bit because you are confident that customers will keep coming for your high quality products and commendable services. There's no need to promote your business anymore because it has become a primary fixture in the business world. People recognize your brand name, which gives you faithful customers. You can still expand your business if you want and give your customers new features and variety of products. This can be also a good marketing strategy for your business.
The last stage is what most businessmen try to avoid. It's really hard to see your business fall after all the time, money and effort you've given just to make it grow for lots of years. However, the decline stage will always be a part of the business. There will be times that your business will be challenged financially and there will be growth of competitors. These are just some of the factors that can ruin your investment. Some businesses do not survive this stage but there are other businesses that can live for a few more years.