Congratulations! Your business is in Stage 1, the Start-Up Stage. As the leader of a Stage 1 business, you’ve got a lot of demands on your time and attention. Where do you focus? How do you prioritize?
What research has shown us is that each Stage has its own rules and guidelines. The more you understand the rules, the better you can navigate growth. In other words, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel and figure everything out on your own. Instead, you can benefit from what hundreds of other business owners have learned.
Following is a brief overview of what those rules look like for a Stage 1 business. If you’d like to go deeper, keep reading and explore the resources linked below.
A Quick Overview of Stage 1
Your team is small, which makes every member critically important. You want to build a cohesive, cooperative group of high performers who can roll with the punches. Chaos is the norm for a start-up business, so don’t waste your energy trying to fight it. Embrace the chaos and invest energy into developing process only where necessary.
Identify three revenue groups and work on selling the two or three products or services that have the best margins. Focus on profit and become an expert at generating, tracking, and preserving cash. Start tracking customers with a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
Meet with your employees individually every few weeks so you’re hearing directly from them on a regular basis. Be a decisive leader who doesn’t shy away from a challenge, cast a vision that will energize your team through uncertain times, and develop the potential you see in your employees.
Go Deeper
Stage 1 Guidebook
The 60-minute Guide to Growth for businesses with between 1-10 employees is a must-have for every owner of a Stage 1 business. The Guidebook explains the primary dimensions of a Stage 1 business, including Leadership Style, Modality, Classic Challenges, and Transition Zones. Each chapter includes illustrations that bring the concepts to life along with practical application questions you can apply to your business. Get your copy today!
Stage Card
The two-sided Stage Card is an easy way to keep the rules that are most beneficial for your Stage 1 business close at hand. Print a copy and keep it on your desk. Share it with your team. The better you understand the rules, the more focus and clarity you will provide as a leader. Get your free copy now!
Assessments
There are a variety of assessments you can access on our website. Each one addresses a specific area of business, such as leadership, finance, and workplace community. They only take about two minutes to submit, and you’ll receive a valuable download that explains how the rules in that particular area apply to a business of your size. Best of all, these assessments are free! Click the button to start exploring.
The 11 Elements of an Exceptional Business
In this new series—Organizational ReWilding: Elements of an Exceptional Business—we explore each element individually. Each book takes on a different element, explaining the underlying principles and illustrating what the application of those principles looks like in a business. At the end of each chapter, you’ll find a list of application questions designed to help you think through the concepts and apply them to your own situation.
Online Video Series
For those who prefer learning by video, the Stages of Growth Online Series is an excellent resource. Through a series of ten videos, you will learn about the key dimensions, or areas, that make up a business. For every dimension, there is an illustrative story, followed by the principles underlying that dimension, a quiz, and activities to help you apply the knowledge directly to your business.
“You start a business because you’re good at something, not because you’re good at running a business. You have a craft or a trade. Most people don’t get past the one-man band because they don’t have a system to get past that early stage.”
Find out what other business owners are saying about The ReWild Group.
Visit our Testimonials page to hear first-hand accounts of what other business owners have experienced with Organizational ReWilding®. You’ll find short videos, quotes, and case studies that illustrate the power of the methodology. Check back often for updates! The stories are growing rapidly. (Who knows? Yours might be next …)