What are the 5 stages of small business growth?

One influential model of small business growth outlines five stages: existence, survival, success, take-off, and resource maturity. Each stage brings distinct challenges in strategy, structure, and leadership.

• The 5 stages:

• Existence: Winning initial customers and delivering the product or service. 

• Survival: Achieving enough revenue and cash flow to stay alive. 

• Success: Developing systems and professional management; the owner can step back somewhat. 

• Take-off: Rapid scaling with high demands on financing and leadership capability. 

• Resource maturity: Strong financial position and professionalized organization; focus on innovation and avoiding stagnation. 

• Small business leaders benefit from:

• Identifying their current stage and the next one they aim for.

• Adapting leadership style and organizational design as they move through stages.

Kindred Consulting Group:

• Helps small and mid-sized businesses understand their stage and design the next-level structure, roles, and rhythms needed to progress. 

• This stage-aware approach keeps growth ambitions grounded in organizational reality.

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