The Cycle
Posted on January 14th, 2010 by Shane Gill – No Comments
The small business cycle
Just when you thought you had it all, life punches you square in the jaw. The Cycle. Boom and bust. Growth and decay. Women know all about it. But ask a guy and he will tell you “The Dow’s going to 20,000 by 2009!”1
Small business goes through the boom and bust. Every small business. Shirlaws uses the model above to describe the small business cycle. In the beginning there is excitement - the prospect of a brave new world. A world without a boss or meetings that seem to drag on for days. So much freedom, it’s almost too good to be true.
“Oh criminy shucks, what have I got myself into?” It’s frantic. This is where the first wall pops up. Starting a business is not all that it was cracked up to be. There is still a desk for you in the corner of a plush prison corporate office. You still have a choice. Take the red pill and the wall disappears. There’s no going back now. Confidence.
It’s all parties on your yacht in Monaco from here. Unless you’re one of the 80% of businesses that fail. global-roam started making a profit. We got a new office, new chairs, new staff. We got upgraded from the closet to the business suite. Sweeeeeeeeeeet! But after every party comes the hangover.
So here we are, swearing we will never ever go into business again! (at least not until next week). We’re raving to our friends about how good last night was but the memory is a bit blurred. Hmm. Maybe we need some help.
In order to breach the second wall you need skills. The skills to turn your rusty lump of business into an all-signing all-dancing turnkey franchisable business. So Shirlaws is helping Paul transform from MD to CEO. To the credit of both Shirlaws and Paul, he has come a long way in a short amount of time. Woohoo! Party on!
Interesting tidbit: Shirlaws has a client who spent 15 years at the hangover stage without seeking help. Ouch.