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The 7 Stages of Entrepreneurship It is not easy to start your own venture.

By Naval Goel

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Entrepreneurship is not just about making money and creating a name for you – it is about helping the society by putting out such an idea into the work that it leaves behind an impression on everyone. It is not easy to start your own venture.

It does come with challenges. But sometimes, it is more than worth it. Here are a few things you should know if you are thinking of entering the world of entrepreneurship.

The question that arises is despite so many challenges entrepreneurs don't quit. This is because the joys of entrepreneurship surpass the challenges for them.

Stages of Entrepreneurship

Stage 1: The Birth of Your Start-Up: This is the beginning of the entrepreneurship cycle of an entrepreneur. It is filled with mixed emotions of excitement, thrill and fear all at the same time. It is time you are seeking independence in the business world and ready to create your own name in the market. You have had a million dollar idea for your startup, but you are not quite sure how to execute it at this stage. But you have a clear vision and a clear mission.

Stage 2: Surviving and Growing Your Business: This is the stage where you have successfully launched your new company, and now you are looking for strategies to survive in the industry. Some entrepreneurs look for investors who could fund their start-ups while some others chose to stay independent. Both have their pros and cons. While choosing to stay independent will give you more power and control over your start-up, it will put you in a tricky financial situation. The main aim of this stage is survival. You have to select what is best for you.

Stage 3: The Hyper Stage: When your company is seeing hyper growth suddenly, you will not be in control of the outcomes. At this stage, many start-ups go into trouble because entrepreneurs start getting over confident having seen success. They feel that there is nothing they could do wrong. Those who get cocky at this stage end up being blindsided. Some entrepreneurs start celebrating and enjoying in this stage and completely forget about their desired goals and missions. To survive this stage, you have to be stable. Your start-up has to be stable.

Stage 4: The Prime Stage: When your company has crossed the point of survival and stability that is when real success is reached. This is the more predictable growth phase. It is best to stay in his phase as long as you can. You realize that other businesses and companies can make you stronger because they themselves are strong enough. You start to explore partnerships with other companies. You form inter depended relations with other successful companies. This keeps your company in its prime and enhances your growth opportunities.

Stage 5: Aging and Early Decline: A situation might come up where one of the most significant faces of your company moves out or your partnerships with others dont work out. Someone else might have come up with a better idea in the market, and your idea might have become useless. This leads to your business and company being disrupted. At this stage, you can do one of two things: You can either restart your journey to unwind what you began, or you can disrupt your company.

Stage 6: Illness and Rapid Decline: This phase should be expected if you are too late in figuring out the early signs of decline. This happens when your team is no longer sure what they are supposed to do, or it is unable to fix the problems that come up. If you don't take action immediately, it will lead to fears, uncertainties and doubts setting in. The company is sure to fail and decline if no action is taken.

Stage 7: Death: There are times when no matter how hard we work to make a start-up work, it just fails. Sometimes you are so deep into the hole that has been created due to bankruptcy or restrained cash flow, that there is no way to dig yourself out. At times like these, the best option is to shut your business down because it is leading nowhere. Take it down before it takes you down with it.

It is better to be well informed and well researched before entering the world of entrepreneurships and start-ups. Know what you're doing and stay focused on your goals.

Naval Goel

CEO, PolicyX.com

Naval Goel is the CEO of PolicyX.com.
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