The six stages of business - and why they matter

Photo by Lili Popper on Unsplash

The start of my business came with very serendipitous timing.

I had long held a dream of having my own thing. I’d dabbled in hobby businesses and side hustles for as long as I can remember.

So when the company I was working for announced a restructure during my maternity leave with my second son, the opportunity to take the leap, along with some financial backup, seemed too good to be true.

At the time, I had an artisan granola business that was doing well, but wasn’t really fitting with the lifestyle I wanted. Alongside that I was dabbling in starting up a coaching practice after certifying the year before.

This turn of events felt like the sign I’d been looking to go all in.

So I did.

I launched a podcast, set up a mailing list, nabbed social media handles on every platform and made myself visible in all the places.

In addition, I signed up for workshops, read books, listened to other podcasts and took part on challenges designed to get my business moving.

Safe to say, I threw myself in 110%.

Which is why I couldn’t quite understand why I wasn’t swamped by clients.

As the weeks and then months went by, I could feel my new found confidence draining, self doubt creeping in and my willingness to ‘put myself out there’ shrinking.

I was pretty sure I was failing miserably.

Until I came across this article by Caroline Leon.

Up until that point, I’d been following a lot of other online coaches who flaunted the “six figures in six weeks” style approach.

I couldn’t understand why this wasn’t working for me (I didn’t actually expect six figures in six weeks, but you get the gist). Why the overnight success still hadn’t come.

Caroline’s article gave me a healthy reality check and has laid the foundation for the perspective that I am now firmly rooted in, which is that if you want to build a business that is based on meaningful, authentic, honest relationships then it takes time.

It takes time to get to know yourself as a business owner. To know what your strengths and limitations are. To know what your biggest obstacles are, what their root is and how to navigate your way through them.

And just like any form of growth that we see in nature, there are stages.

Each stage has its highs and lows. As I continue to move through them, it has becoming increasingly important to me to honour each one and embrace it for what it is - rather than wishing it away in favour of getting to the end point as quickly as possible. I’ve found that they are there, not just to support the practical growth of my business, but also to support the slow expansion of my nervous system and my capacity to hold all of the things that come along with navigating a heart-led business in a complex world.

Here is my own take on the stages of business, named in honour of the stages of nature that they represent to me:

Stage 1: Planting the Seed

I’ve found that most businesses start with ‘a moment’. All of my clients are able to tell me a story about why they started their business and what it means to them. And within this story there is often a single lightbulb style moment when it hits you that this could actually be a business idea. And that’s where it stays for now. This seed of an idea that exists inside of you, before you’ve taken any action. This stage is full of daydreams and infinite possibility — there’s not yet any restrictions or practicalities to think of and so nothing has to be off the table just yet!

Stage 2: Starting to Sprout

You start taking some tentative steps in putting things out there into the world. This can be simply telling someone else about your wild and crazy idea. Or bagging that Instagram handle, or googling whether the domain name you want is free. It’s where the dreams of what you really want vs the practicalities of getting there can easily collide in an overwhelming tangle of thoughts and emotions and too many ideas. But on the other hand, it’s exciting and you haven’t yet made the commitment to move beyond.

Stage 3: Taking Root

This is when your business actually becomes a business — on the outside at least! I know so many of us who struggle to call our business a business at this stage, because at this point you are likely not making any notable income. But to the outside world, you have something to offer and a way for people to buy that. You are experimenting and iterating, often anticipating things will work and then they don’t and vice versa. It can be exciting and fun, with some depth in there too. I also think that this can be one of the hardest stages. We feel a pressure to have it ‘all sorted’ when on a day to day basis it feels far from that. Add in there the fear of judgement and the societal pressure to be busy and you get yourself a bit of a whirlwind.

Stage 4: Developing a Stem

This is when you’ve made those first sales. You know you’re onto something and you get to relish in this moment. All that you have hoped and dreamed is finally coming true, maybe just slower than you would hope for. Maybe you put a lot of pressure on yourself because it still feels like an effort to get every client and it might be hard to envisage the day when your business feels both financially and practically sustainable.

Stage 5: Budding

This is when you break out of that feast or famine cycle of income and have what you need on a month by month basis to cover your basic needs. You get to switch things up and try new things every so often, but all the while knowing that you’ve got the basics covered. Sometimes you miss the wild and care free days of old!!

Stage 6: Blossoming

This is when your initial idea is well and truly established and it’s time to start with something else. Maybe that’s a different element to your work, mentoring business owners earlier on their path, or building up your team.

By sharing these six stages of business as I see it, I wonder if it helps give a label to where you’re at in your own business journey just now. I’d love to know your thoughts. Do you recognise yourself in one of these stages?

If you want some support in taking action as you move through each of these then head over here and download your free Starter Kit, designed to support you in moving from sporadic action to sustainable results.