Today I'm going to talk about the life cycle of a business and how to get the most out of each cycle while also extending the lifespan of your business.  At Springboard Consulting we use our Elevate Your Business consulting model, NewBizSpringboard & ElevateYourBiz e-learning platforms to identify key objectives necessary to springboard companies to the next level.

The five different stages of a business life cycle are:

1. Inception
2. Survival
3. Growth
4. Expansion
5. Mature

Let’s talk a little about what each of these cycle’s means and how they can each help expand your business’ lifespan.  At each level of maturity there are also eight factors that influence growth and the high gain objectives (Springboard's) in each of these change based on maturity. 

The eight Springboard's are:

• Owner Focus
• Strategic Direction
• Sales and Marketing
• Cash Flow Management
• Performance Management
• Processes and Systems
• Risk Management
• Business Funding

Inception

This is generally consider the i...