Starting a business can be an intensely personal endeavour. If your business is based on one of your life's passions, you probably want to keep a tight control on the operations. The problem is that running a business is rarely straightforward. It's a complex task where the rules change continuously. But help is available. Andrew Orr, ActionCOACH certified business coach, specializes in helping business owners realize their dreams by providing expert guidance throughout the stages of business growth and development - from the early days until they are ready to step away.

The relationship between an owner and their business is a complex dynamic that is constantly changing. There’s no single way to describe all businesses, but one common method is to break things into four stages. To view the concept from another angle, an analogy can be drawn between the stages of business and the operation of a ship.

Stage 1 - Start-up
You have your business plan, you’ve prepared your initial investment, you’re at the dock and it’s launch time. In the start-up stage, sales and cash are king. You’re determining whether you can actually provide your goods and/or services in a profitable way. You’re also finding out whether your market research was accurate - often the target market ends up being quite different once the ship is at sea.

Stage 2 - Foundation
This is the early stage of a business - the engine is stirring to life. You know this can work, and you’re the one in the engine room doing the work required to get the voyage underway. To build your business you need to start with a solid foundation. This means ensuring that you have the margins to feed growth. Establishing the core metrics - accurate, timely and useful financial reporting. Determining your initial Key Performance Indicators. Working the early-stage bugs out of your production, delivery, or distribution. You are putting in long hours, which is OK for now, but it is vital to monitor your time to ensure that you are spending it in the areas of most value and importance.

Stage 3 - Growth
The voyage is well underway and you’re running between the bridge and the engine room to make sure that you’re on course and everything is going smoothly. You know your business, where your opportunities are, what is profitable, and you have your core metrics and controls in place. You have also connected with some good people and are forming your core team.

To reach your intended destination, you need or want to grow. That could mean increasing volume in a single location, adding new locations, expanding geographically, or even franchising. To accomplish this your business needs to be scalable, which means having the systems, metrics, controls, and team members in place to execute your plan. Your financial reporting, data collection, and leading indicators must be providing reliable sales and cash flow forecasts. Your sales system has to be solid.

As these measures fall into place, your hours are reduced somewhat, but the biggest change is that the confidence you have in your team enables you to extend your focus beyond basic operations. You have the opportunity to assess your company’s direction, prioritize time and resource expenditures, plan marketing strategies, etc. You are leading your team to new shores, and they are keen to go with you.

Stage 4 - Exit Strategy
You’re on the bridge watching as the island gets closer. A new decision awaits you at the destination - will you take up residence in this tropical paradise or get back on the ship for the return journey? By now you have a solid, profitable business and are considering the possibility of stepping away from operations. There are a variety of exit strategies available to you:
- Retain ownership and hire a General Manager.
- Transfer ownership to an associate or family member.
- Sell the company to a new owner.
- Merge with another company.
- Liquidate all assets and cease operations.
- etc.

You don’t need to decide before you are ready, but it’s important to have options when the time comes.

At this point your established systems are keeping the business running smoothly. Your reporting and metrics are solidly in place. Your business runs from a “dashboard” where each team member understands their accountabilities and knows how to get results. Most of your earnings from the business are passive income.

You have done contingency and redundancy planning, your business has proven itself capable of running profitably when you are away for extended periods, and your successors have been trained and prepared for the future.

Finally, you have your “A” and “B” exit strategies and know that you can step away whenever the time is right.

Chart Your Course!
Running a business is a complex, often daunting, task. Since the playing field changes on a regular (and for some industries, daily) basis, it can be like navigating a ship through unfamiliar waters in unpredictable weather. The good news is... you don’t have to do it alone!

As an ActionCOACH certified business coach, Andrew Orr has a comprehensive working knowledge of the specific needs of each stage of business and is highly experienced in the process of transitioning smoothly from one stage to the next. Whether you’re just getting started, are preparing to expand, or are ready to pick a successor, Andrew Orr will be happy to step in beside you, make sure you’re on course, and keep you pointed in the right direction until you’re happily at your destination.