The Small Business Lifecycle

Small businesses have their own unique growth patterns. Each of the five stages of the small business life cycle has its own strengths, challenges, inconvenient truths, ways forward, and catalytic moments.

Small businesses have much different growth patterns than large corporations. Small business owners who look to large corporations for insight and guidance on how to grow their own businesses often feel overwhelmed and demotivated. "The Small Business Life Cycle" lays out the five stages of small business growth and explains how you can navigate each stage in your business. To be successful, you have to take the right steps at the right time. Each stage has different challenges, strengths, inconvenient truths, and ways forward. This guide shows you where to focus your resources in each stage so you can grow your business efficiently. Whether you're thinking about starting a small business or you've been in business for a while, "The Small Business Life Cycle" will give you 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, this book will show you how to do it strategically. And if you're stuck and don't know what to do, you can determine what stage your business is in now and figure out what you need to do next to get unstuck. This guide will specifically help you work through: 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 What four things must be in place to grow your business How not to break a successful, scalable small business once you've got it there This no-fluff guide will lay out the foundation upon which you can grow your small business. The only question left to answer is: what's your next action?

Avoid legal pitfalls for your business from day one A common characteristic of entrepreneurs is the attitude: “I’m not going to do that until I absolutely have to.” And it’s understandable why: with limited time and resources it seems logical to focus on tasks like product development, production, marketing, and delivery—the ones that get your product or service out into the marketplace. The last thing you want to do is spend money and effort on legal issues, which is why they often drop to the bottom of the pile. But this can be a costly mistake—and Go Legal Yourself is here to make sure it’s one you avoid. Attorney, inventor, and businesswoman—named Top Woman Entrepreneur by LA Dreams Magazine in 2017—Kelly Bagla knows about doing business from both the entrepreneurial and legal sides of the fence. And in Go Legal Yourself, she guides you through the four key legal lifecycle phases every business experiences—and sets you up for worry-free success from day one. Establish yourself as the correct legal entity Gather and complete the relevant documentation Protect your brand Identify and avoid common (and expensive) pitfalls Plan and manage growth, enter new markets, and keep a sharp competitive edge Wherever you are with your business, this book is your guarantee you have all your legal ducks in a row—and that no nasty legal surprises stand between you and your target: success.

Have you ever wondered why some small businesses survive while others don't? Or why some businesses grow and become large companies while others remain small forever? There are four major stages of a business life cycle (the start-up stage, the growth stage, the mature stage, and the decline stage). Unfortunately, many small businesses fail in the start-up stage of the business life cycle; that is, within the first to fifth year of operation. Additionally, many small businesses stay small and never really become large companies. But then, every large company today was once a small company when they started, such as Amazon, Facebook, and Apple. What makes some companies grow and move to the next phase, while others don't? The answer is in this book. After reading various business school case studies about the rise and fall of businesses and a review of 75 successful publicly traded companies in five industries, I have found that companies that survive to the next stage all have certain things in common. 1.They have a business strategy.2.They are aware of the unique problems facing each stage of a business life cycle.3.They take process innovation and customer responsiveness very seriously.4.They are aware of the external environment that affects their business operations.5.They understand and take seriously the story their financial statements tell.6.They follow their customers wherever they are globally. After all, 95% of the world population lives outside of the United States.7.They are aware of the basic business technology needed for small business operation. This book will show you how to start, grow and successfully expand your small business globally.

This book is a look into the world of the small business owner through their eyes – how the five different "tribes" of business perceive the world around them, how they run their businesses, their motivations and goals. It’s not another "how to" book or an academic treatise. Everyone’s needs and hopes are different; however, by using cutting-edge social scientific research techniques, we break the business community into five groups (or tribes): The Seekers, Whatnows, Drifters, Satisficers and Digitals. Each tribe has its own set of issues. And there are also some things which cut across all the tribes – the consistent elements in small business owners’ DNA. Understanding which tribe you belong to could make the difference in growing your business – or help you better advise businesses to achieve their goals. Small Business Exposed will bridge the gap between the frontiers of small business research and the popular business book market. As such, it will become an essential text not only for the small businessperson, but also enter the libraries of advisors, accountants, bankers and anyone else with a vested interest in the business economy.

This book is for business leaders looking to build software that creates better business outcomes by delivering effective product experiences. Over the last decade one of the biggest trends in technology has been a growing appreciation for the User Experience (UX). UX Lifecycle provides a UX methodology framework for implementing continuous improvement within organizations. It will help to address the basics such as defining what UX is; the importance of research; how UX is a process and not a job title; and where business value comes from improving efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction. At the heart of the UX process is the most important stakeholder - the user. This book will help you create the business case, education, processes, skills, tools, and the philosophy to deliver effective and enjoyable user experiences. These in turn will drive success in the modern software-enabled organization. FEATURES: Demonstrates a flexible 3-stage methodology that can be applied to organizations of all sizes to implement an end-to-end, iterative UX process Includes two case studies, one for a medium-sized organization and another for a large enterprise that outlines the story for each, from identifying the UX need, through creating a business case, to implementation of the UX Lifecycle, and successful outcomes Discusses key considerations for readers looking to create a business case for UX within their organization and engaging senior business roles around the necessary business changes required Each chapter includes key take-aways that summarize actionable and easy to reference insights

This book provides insight into the Life Cycle Management (LCM) concept and the progress in its implementation. LCM is a management concept applied in industrial and service sectors to improve products and services, while enhancing the overall sustainability performance of business and its value chains. In this regard, LCM is an opportunity to differentiate through sustainability performance on the market place, working with all departments of a company such as research and development, procurement and marketing, and to enhance the collaboration with stakeholders along a company’s value chain. LCM is used beyond short-term business success and aims at long-term achievements by minimizing environmental and socio-economic burden, while maximizing economic and social value.