Which of the four stages is your business stuck in?

All through my 20s, when people asked how I was doing, my only answer was, "I'm busy." For some reason, that was not only true, it also made me feel more important. They would ask, "How's business?" and I would say, "Oh, it's so busy." I took pride in that statement like it was a badge of honor.

As I ran into peers who were real estate agents, electricians, insurance guys, handymen, and everything else, their story was the same as mine. They could never quite get caught up. They were always running after the next thing, trying to stay organized while also trying to build the business. When the business was growing, they'd go back to trying to catch up on organization.

I began to wonder if this is what the next 40 years of my life would look like. Then someone put language to something I was only vaguely aware of: there are four stages of business growth.

Stage 1: Launch

The first stage is launch, and the associated emotion, of course, is excitement. We're starting something new.

If we successfully get the business up and running, with some revenue coming in, and we're effective at lead generation, we quickly move into the second stage.

Stage 2: Perseverance

Perseverance is the stage where we are all things to all people. We are generally in most of the roles on the accountability chart:

1.) CEO

2.) Marketing director

3.) Sales director

4.) Operations director

5.) Finance director

Not to mention the lead salesperson, the lead administrator, the coffee maker, the facilities manager, and the supply orderer.

We are running out to do the technician part of the job. For the plumber, that's fixing plumbing. For the HVAC contractor, that's doing HVAC work. For the real estate agent, that's meeting with buyers and sellers. Then we're back at the office trying to market the business, bring in more leads, and service the ones we already generated.

The perseverance phase feels like a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. Unfortunately, for the majority of startups, that stage represents the entire business cycle of the owner's career. Most small business owners never get out of perseverance. Even the ones who grow to multiple employees often haven't figured out how to get out of the role I call "genius with a thousand helpers," where every question goes through them and they are still working evenings and weekends.

Graduating from perseverance

My mentor shared with me that in order to graduate from the perseverance phase, a few things needed to be true.

First, I needed to stop giving my time for money and start investing my money and influence to buy my time back. It's a different way of thinking, and I describe it in another post, The Three Assets.

Additionally, we need the right people in the right seats. We need an extremely clear vision that's cascaded through the organization, so people know where we're going and how we're going to get there. That way, all the questions don't have to go through the founder. You can find that story in The Two Boats.

With these things in place, we can move securely into fewer roles on the accountability chart, allowing others to step into marketing, sales, operations, and finance. We can move into the visionary or integrator roles, sometimes called the CEO roles. There, our job is to lead, manage, and hold our executive team accountable to the vision and mission of the organization, using:

1.) Data and scorecards

2.) A clear process

3.) A meeting rhythm that allows us to solve issues effectively on a weekly basis

Stage 3: Viability

If we've done this, we may graduate to viability. Viability is a sweet spot where we are truly in a leadership position, out of the technician role and out of the management role, empowering others to get results. We can find ourselves getting paid well and experiencing a fulfilling 30- to 40-hour workweek, if we choose.

Stage 4: Scale

The next stage of the business is scale. Only about 4% of businesses move out of viability and on to scale and do it effectively. But that’s a conversation for another time. For now, I have a question for you:

Where are you right now?

If you're reading this and "I'm busy" is still your answer every time someone asks how you're doing, I'm just challenging you to consider which of these four stages your business is in, and what would need to be true for you to graduate to the next one.

I spent my 20s in that "I'm busy" season, and I've shared more of my journey in my story. If you feel stuck there, I'd love to talk it through with you. You can book an Unstuck Call anytime.

Thank you!

-Dave Hooke.