The Start-up Phase This stage of the business life-cycle typically lasts around 3-5 years, depending on the size of the initial investment, available resources, industry, market etc. This is the time to conduct feasibility studies, produce business plans, develop products/services, prepare systems and documentation. This is also the time that most businesses fail due to issues caused by insufficient cash-flow and/or planning. Only when your organisation has been established for a number of years is it considered to be a viable business by banks and other financial institutions. The start-up phase requires enormous passion, commitment, time and energy on behalf of the owners. Getting a business off the ground is not an easy thing to do. You need to develop a sales pipeline that will constantly drip feed your business customers when they are required. You may have to employ people to produce and/or deliver your products/services. You have to identify and negotiate with suppliers to provide your raw materials etc. Above all, the start-up business requires planning. Whether your business has already commenced operations or is about to, it is essential to have produced a full business plan that incorporates your strategy, market research, competitor analysis, your marketing, sales & operational plans, budgets, forecasts and key performance indicators, milestones and specific actions. As they say; failure to plan is a plan to fail! During the start-up phase, it is critical to constantly review your business plan to make sure that you are doing all the things you identified as being necessary when you started it. One of the deadliest traps business owners fall into is getting so involved in the daily issues that they neglect to do some of the high level tasks that are not necessarily pressing on a daily basis. Things like doing cash-flow forecasts, documenting processes, monitoring the market etc sometimes are left as daily issues absorb the time of the busy owner. Don’t forget also, that your business plan can change, after all, it was just a prediction of what you thought was going to happen in the future. The best plans are subject to minor changes as a result of unexpected events such as a new player entering the market or a shift in consumer preferences. The need to review your plan for relevance is just as important as producing it in the first instance. You also need to review your progress against your business plan and its components. You need to make sure you are on track to hit those milestones that you identified as well as track your performance in those critical areas through key performance indicators. Good businesses produce a 1 page scorecard with quantifiable KPI’s that can be measured and graphed. Where you have identified specific actions, track your progress through an action plan with a timeline. To receive free templates for a 1 page scorecard and action plan contact us and type in the keywords KPI Scorecard or action plan template and we'll email it to you. | 
