How do you keep track of your priorities as your enterprise grows? This guide outlines the different things to bear in mind as your venture goes from establishment to survival and eventual success.

Each business has its own style and structure in how it operates. It is shaped not only by the products or services it offers, but also the qualities of the people who run it.  

Depending on the expertise of your business and the amount of people working with you that you must account for, there will be various elements to consider as you handle the daily operations of your trade. 

For instance, a self-started food stall business might need to worry more about resources while a cleaning service provider’s focus could be on having staff who are always available. Despite these operational differences, like any other business, they would share the universal aspiration to grow. 

Hence, every enterprise would need to know what it takes to achieve that growth and how to anticipate the needs in each phase. The following are the phases of growth for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and the demands of each phase.  

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1. Existence after establishment 

In this early phase, the starting essentials have been set in place, like initial capital to keep things moving, a central database or software for bookkeeping and planning, perhaps a skeleton crew on hand — or it could even be you on your own as the sole founder, handling multiple moving parts. 

Survival is the name of the game in this part of the business lifespan, informed by two key questions: Do you have enough? And how can you get more? 

These two questions arise over the main consideration of your business survival: your customer base. Do you have enough customers at this point to support your sustained development? If not, how can you reach more people and expand your sales? 

Proper preparation is crucial here, as you will need to put in the work to secure your cash flow for the financial demands in this phase. 

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