Survival Stage of Small Business Growth: Going Beyond Breaking Even

Wherever your corner is in the world, you will find small businesses that have been there for a really long time; they are already synonymous with your city. You have your usual greasy spoons, bookstores, automotive repair shops– basically your typical mom-and-pop stores that have been around, serving the community, long before you were even born.

You would think that because they have been in existence for generations, that they are the most stable businesses ever. While some of them truly are as stable and successful as a family business can be, you’d be surprised to find out that a lot of these small businesses are still struggling through the Survival Stage of small business growth.

Meanwhile, there are also new small businesses that spring up every now and then with new, avant-garde products to sell, and innovative services to offer. These businesses are promising but these are tough times we live in, so breaking even in business can pose a lot of difficulties. In these trying times, it is important for small business owners to know what to do in the Survival Stage of small business growth.

The Survival Stage of Small Business Growth

What really is the Survival Stage of small business growth?

In this stage of business growth, the business has established that it has viable and profitable products or service offerings. Its focus now has gone from introducing their products to the people and making their existence known, to retaining customers and building quality products, or providing the same quality service consistently.

Being in the Survival Stage of small business growth implies that the business is still largely defined by its owner. Even when there is support staff that assist in the accomplishment of day-to-day operations, the decisions on how things are to be done and on the direction that the business must take are still made by the owner.

When it comes to the creation of systems within the business operations in the Survival Stage of small business growth, you will find that this is still lacking. As breaking even in business still comes with a lot of difficulties, it is understandable that developing a system for your business operations is not prioritized as much.

Within this stage of business growth, company owners must gauge their capacity to generate enough revenue to remain in operation until they can achieve ROI, and enough revenue to cover repair or replacement of capital assets as they begin to wear.

This can be daunting as we are talking about an indefinite period of time. As a small business owner in the Survival Stage of small business growth, you can never tell when you’ll have a return on investment, or when you can expand and finally step back because your business can now be self-sufficient. This is why in this stage, small business owners endeavor to go beyond just breaking even in business, that is not the way to generate ROI.

Businesses in the Survival Stage are still vulnerable, and there is no telling how long they can stay in this stage, that is why some of those greasy spoons, bookstores, and various other mom-and-pop stores in your community may still be in the Survival Stage, even if they’ve already been existing for generations- sustained only by the passion and dedication for the family business that are inherited by the family’s next successor.

So how do we know what to do in the Survival Stage of small business growth? How exactly can small business owners survive this stage of small business growth? We’ve compiled some tips for you below!

Tips for Small Business Owners

Here’s what to do in the Survival Stage of small business growth:

Tip #1 Implement Inbound Strategies

The number one problem faced by small business owners who are struggling through the Survival Stage of small business growth is obtaining more customers in order to generate revenue and then eventually, have a return of investment. More customers mean higher revenue.

The challenges faced by small businesses in this aspect include customer service, maintaining product/service quality, and more importantly, attracting customers. Guess what, all that can be solved with a solid Inbound Strategy. Learn more about that: (Link to article)

Tip #2 Create Simple Systems for the Most Simple Tasks

When the goal is simple, we must dare to keep the systems we have in place to meet these goals as simple, too.

Order placing systems and delivery systems should be easy. This way, your customers would want to do business with you again. At the same time, fulfilling orders won’t be that hard for you either, being the one running the business.

Tip #3 Innovate to Lessen Expense

Remember when nobody knew what a take out order was? People thought owning a restaurant meant having to purchase tables and chairs; however, in every business, traditional or start-up, there is always room for innovation, and the good kind of innovation helps you save up a lot of cash!

So in your own business, figure out in what aspect you can innovate in a way that allows you to spend less!

Final Take: Going Beyond Just Breaking Even

During the Survival Stage, your focus must be to grow your business. This means that you have to aim higher than just breaking even in business. Getting enough cash flow so you can finance the desired growth can be hard. When times are tough, it is easy to let go of our lofty aspirations- the ones that inspired you to put up your small business in the first place.

The Survival Stage requires a lot of struggle, but to get past this stage means that you aim a little higher than just breaking even.