PPB October 2017

STAGE 1: Market Validation • Market Validation. You make your first sale. Market validation is exhilarating. It is when your crazy idea or your bold new risk is rewarded by someone’s belief in what you are selling. It’s proof that you have found a market. • The challenges: One common challenge at this stage is your network. Typically, most entrepreneurs will leverage their existing network to sell to; the challenge is that this network is soon exhausted. Know that you have a limited audience at this stage and that you should be looking ahead at the next stage in your journey. • The opportunities: Advocacy. This is the time to develop your fanatical fans. Ensure that every customer has a positive experience. And share your journey with your customers; involve them in your story. Word of mouth is gold at this stage. Most people want you to win, and if they have a positive experience they will tell everyone they know. But be sure to remind them to refer a friend, as referrals are the lifeblood of a business. STAGE 2: Repetitive Proof • Repetitive Proof. Customers are coming back to buy again and repeat business is beginning to provide a steady source of revenue. • The challenges: This is the season when you begin to build your internal team. You want to replicate the same TLC that you provided (consistency is key!), and you can’t be too careful at this stage to get the right people on your team. In fact, Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, wrote: “A company should limit its growth based on its ability to attract enough of the right people.” For help with this, check out our Guide to Growing Your Team, found at https://community. commonsku.com/the-guide- to-growing-your-team. • The opportunities: Square power. Yes, the principle of math is handy here. Apprenticeship is an outdated word, but, in reality, it’s still the method employed by most people who train employees. In an apprenticeship, someone works closely with you to learn the business and adopt your ways of providing the same service (with the same skill and passion that you do). The opportunity here is to make sure you hire the right people and invest conscientiously in your team. If you concentrate on proper training, each new hire can help train additional people who come aboard and, in this sense, you are able to multiply your efforts through the simple act of apprenticeship. Another opportunity at this stage is to begin rewarding word of mouth referrals. Never forget those early clients who believed in you; they are still your biggest brand champions. STAGE 3: Investment • Investment. Envision an anvil. An anvil is a block of steel that you use to shape metals. The anvil is the base for building the tools you will need to achieve larger success. In this season, you have enough volume to start to invest in systems and processes that will provide a strong foundation to duplicate success and scale your business. • The challenges: This season is often called the “trough of sorrow” because of the tension due to imbalance. You often invest in people and support infrastructure at this stage before you have the profit to cover it. It’s a delicate balance, one that requires a keen eye on the financials and a close watch over proper team development. • The opportunity: This is one of the most critical stages for future sustainability. Systems and procedures are your core assets, so your opportunity here is to invest wisely. Michael Gerber in The E-Myth Revisited , wrote that “the entrepreneurial model has less to do with what’s done in a business and more to do with how it’s done. The commodity isn’t what’s important—the way it’s delivered is.” STAGE 4: Scaling • Scaling. You are making money again. It’s payoff time, and the blood, sweat and tears are worth it. Investments begin to pay off as you watch the hard work of team building, infrastructure creation and customer satisfaction grow. • The challenges: Typically, this is where you begin to increase management oversight. The challenge is structuring the right balance of key personnel to help provide more And just like a distance runner who paces her run towin, entrepreneurs must also carefully plot their decisions for long-termsuccess and approach their runwith a similar outlook. | OCTOBER 2017 | 59 GROW