by Don Simkovich

Created on: June 25, 2009

Stress is associated with running a business at every phase of the business, or company, life cycle. The concerns start at inception when the idea for a business turns into reality.

1. Forming Stage: Legal Status

The individual proprietor, newly formed partnership, or S Corporation must ensure compliance with state regulations and federal tax codes. Stress occurs at this stage if the newly formed entity has to spend time away from the business plan to gain the specialized knowledge or spend money to hire someone with the knowledge.

2. Testing the Market

As the business swings into operation, the stress associated with running the operation can be determining if there really is a need in the market place, how to stand apart from the competition and how to attract and then retain customers.

3. Growth Stage: Expansion

New stress occurs when a business survives the first two years, gains regular customers and then begins to acquire new customers. The business owner must decide how to handle the expansion. For service businesses such as pest control companies that run a route, the choice means hiring personnel to drive additional routes or asking existing personnel to take on more. Established corporations must also make decisions to hire or ask existing employees to do more without an immediate increase in pay.

4. Maturity Stage: No Growth

Stress occurs when a company reaches a plateau after years of steady growth and running a business means being under pressure to create innovative strategies to reinvent a company or go back to the core strengths. The personal computing industry faced this when sales of desk top computers slowed and prices began to drop. Small companies can be hurt if their primary source of income is a large corporation that is downsizing and changing its business model.

The business owner, or senior management team, must continually assess how outside forces are impacting current and future operations.

5. Transition Stage: New Leadership

A hands-on visionary business owner who has successfully built a corporation will eventually have to face the stress of naming a successor and stepping aside from the entity he or she created. Sumner Redstone of Viacom is one such example. The associated stress can occur if the founder can't find what is perceived to be a trustworthy successor or if a power struggle ensues.

6. Foundational Stress: Regulations

Adhering to government regulations for businesses of all sizes, preventing employee or contractor lawsuits and disputes, and the quest to increase market share and grow revenue while controlling costs are continual stresses that come with running a business.

Each one of these challenges does not have to be debilitating. For the business owner who understands what to expect at each phase and how to handle the unique obstacles, the stress of running a business can be turned into a rewarding endeavor.

Learn more about this author, Don Simkovich.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.