Achieving business milestones with expert help
You’ll likely recognise your own entrepreneurial experiences in the journey below: milestones you’ve reached, challenges you’ve faced, and even brick walls that you’ve hit.
It’s rare that an entrepreneur successfully navigates their journey without expert guidance and support — and that’s where thexton armstrong comes in.
In this phase (non-visual), you think about what you want to do next. You will find out if you believe in a business idea, are passionate about it and committed to it to the extent that it is essential for success. Will you decide to put your business idea into action and start your own business or perhaps buy an existing business?
This is the stage where you really go for your business idea, pouring your heart, soul, time and money into getting it off the ground. The main aim? Setting a clear strategy for your product or service, market validation and positioning.
Creativity and energy levels are high — but your company’s vulnerability is, too. It’s a chaotic and often messy time. Vital investments lead to negative cash flow, and overworking means your personal life pays a price.
Your situation is precarious, and you may have serious doubts about whether your venture will succeed. To survive, complete commitment is key — no matter what.
You’ve proven that your idea works! Deals roll in and your market validation is unquestionable. Your cash flow is on the up. You feel almost invincible — and ready to seize any opportunity. Success now feels like a logical outcome, instead of a dream scenario.
Focus shifts from your product to your market. Sales become priority #1. Turnover is up, but your margins probably aren’t. Within your business, communication and accountability are patchy at best. There’s energy but focus and consistency are harder to pin down.
For your and your business’ longevity, you need to tread carefully. Communication becomes more challenging, and decision making can stall due to a lack of processes. You’ll reach the point where you simply can’t put in any more hours, so you’ll have to hire more staff. Choose the best people for the job, not those closest to you. In this phase, you are your company’s greatest asset — but also its greatest risk.
Now, you need to outgrow the phase where you were responsible for everything, all the time. Choose your focus and define your new role. Delegate everything else.
At thexton armstrong, we specialise in supporting entrepreneurs in this phase. With our expert guidance, you’ll craft the right foundations and structure to see your business grow.
This is the toughest step in your journey. To see your business thrive, your vision and core values now no longer cut it. By this point, any growth barriers need to be solved. You need a solid, trusted Management Team as well, so you can officially decentralise decision-making.
Clarity on who makes decisions, about what and when is key. There need to be rules and goals that are lived, breathed and respected within your business. Be sure to value creativity and innovation, without letting it waste resources.
Welcome to your ideal stage. You have the right management team, staff and policies in place. Your company is healthy and growing, and your overriding goal is to keep it that way.
For a select few companies, the flow phase never ends. But it’s incredibly difficult to maintain, and most entrepreneurs eventually see their business shift from flow to a plateau where structure overtakes innovation, to ageing.
To stay in the flow phase, you and your team need to avoid complacency and keep your innovative streak strong.
It’s been quite a journey, but now it’s time to step away from this venture. Of course, you can choose to sell at any time — and you might receive a generous offer early on your journey but more often it is unexpected.
It’s wise to have an exit plan in place as early as you can. That’s the best way to ensure it takes care of you as an individual, as well as the team around you and the business you’ve built.
At thexton armstrong, we make sure you’re in the driving seat when it comes to your exit plan — no matter when you choose to sell.
Our network of mentors support SME founders when they need it most: the acceleration phase. Many entrepreneurs find this the hardest stage in their business journey, as they juggle roles and choices that distance them from the beating heart of the business. Time and again, we’ve seen founders benefit from expert guidance to navigate — and survive — these growing pains.
Are you ready to partner with us on your journey?
You are as important to us as the company. After all, you are the entrepreneur. That is at the heart of everything we do to help you improve, grow, recover and sell your business. This is at the center of everything we can help you with when it comes to business growth, restructuring and transfer. We always start with a Profit Leakage scan.
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