3 Stages of Business and 4 Phases of Profitability

<p>What's all the hype about business phases and stages now? I listened to a podcast where the host was describing the 8 phases of business.  As she rambled on I was thinking 'this is way to complicated and unnecessary.' </p><p>There are only 3 stages of business that any business owner or entrepreneur needs to be concerned with - </p><ol><li>startup</li><li>growth</li><li>empire</li></ol><p>and within each one is a range of characteristics that you can expect to happen and with the right tools and training, can deal with.</p><p>Then there is profitability which is not the same as sales or revenues. If you have a business coach who is talking about profits, sales, and revenues, and using them to talk about the same thing - please find another business coach.</p><p>First, let's cover the profitability formula which any accounting 101 student has to learn:</p><p>Profits = Revenues - Expenses (that's profits equals revenues minus expenses)</p><p>You make a profit when your business makes more money than it spends.</p><p>Profitability depends on sales and on cash flow - again, two different topics.</p><p>Sales is the process of generating revenue and cashflow is the stream of money into and out of the business - it is one of your most important business metrics. If you do not have consistent cashflow them you have a zigzag revenue model, where you have money coming in one month and maybe no money for the next month or two. It's  a very frustrating and unprofitable way to run a business.</p><p>In this week's Goals Profit and Soul podcast you'll learn about the 3 stages of business and the 4 phases of profitability so you can apply these models to your business and know where you are in your business lifecycle and your profitability cycle so you can put your efforts towards building a sustainable, profitable business that you enjoy and that meets your wealth needs. </p><p>That's why we focus on these basics at the GPS Business Academy, your source of "expert business advice, resources, and training" utilizing our integ