The 5 Stages of Business Growth: From Hustle to High-Performance

Most entrepreneurs underestimate how predictable growth really is. Sure, every founder thinks their business is “unique.” And it is—until payroll hits. Then suddenly, your struggles look an awful lot like everyone else’s.

Researchers like Neil C. Churchill and Virginia L. Lewis mapped this out decades ago in their classic Harvard Business Review piece on small business growth. Larry Greiner showed us how every phase of growth brings a crisis. Michael Gerber, Eric Ries, and Steve Blank all warned: stop working in your business, validate before you scale, and build systems before your systems break you.

In other words, the struggle you’re facing? It’s not a personal flaw. It’s a stage of growth.

Here’s how the journey usually unfolds.

Stage 1: Solopreneur / Existence

This is the garage, laptop, late-night-coffee stage. Eric Ries calls it validated learning. Steve Blank calls it customer discovery. Churchill and Lewis call it Existence.

At this point, you are the business. You sell, you market, you deliver, you invoice. The challenge is simple: can you get customers to consistently pay you money before your bank account goes dry?

Humour break: You’ll know you’re here if QuickBooks sends you passive-aggressive reminders about overdue invoices—and you argue back.

Stage 2: Early Team / Survival

Your first hires arrive. Suddenly you’re responsible for someone else’s mortgage. This is the “please, God, make payroll” stage.

Processes are informal, usually trapped inside the founder’s head. Michael Gerber’s E-Myth becomes painfully relevant: you must stop being the technician and start being the manager.

Cash is still tight. The team looks to you for every answer. And honestly, you’re making them up as you go.

Greiner calls this the Crisis of Leadership. You either learn to manage—or you capsize.

Stage 3: Systems & Delegation / Success

Here’s where structure enters the chat. Repeatable sales channels. Standardized delivery. Your first layer of management.

Gino Wickman’s Traction (EOS) shines here. So does Verne Harnish’s Scaling Up. Without systems, you’ll stay stuck in chaos. With them, you create consistency.

The founder must shift from “doer” to “manager.” This is often the hardest personal transition.

Remember Gerber’s warning: work on the business, not just in it. The company must be able to function without you in every meeting.

This is where many entrepreneurs stall out. But if you can let go of control, the business gains momentum.

Stage 4: Scaling / Takeoff

Now you’re running a real organization. Middle managers appear. Departments form. Culture strains as the “family feel” evolves into a more professional environment.

Cash demands spike. Growth eats cash before generating it. Professional systems—HR, IT, accounting—are no longer optional.

Adizes calls this the Go-Go phase. It’s exciting, but also dangerous. Greiner says you’ll face a Crisis of Autonomy—middle managers want freedom, and the founder must let go even more.

Jim Collins reminds us in Good to Great: discipline is the only path forward. Without disciplined people, thought, and action, this stage collapses under its own weight.

Stage 5: Maturity / Established Company

The company now has repeatable systems. Leadership extends well beyond the founder. Culture is formalized. Strategy turns outward: new markets, acquisitions, diversification.

The challenge? Bureaucracy. As Henry Mintzberg would say, the structure risks becoming a machine. The founder must fully step into the CEO role: vision, financing, culture.

Shannon Susko’s Metronomics and Dan Sullivan’s Strategic Coach frameworks help leaders here. Because the founder’s mindset needs to shift again—from scrappy entrepreneur to steady, values-driven leader.

The irony: at this stage, the business looks less like a start-up and more like the very companies you once said you’d never become. Your task is to stay human, values-driven, and resilient.

The Throughline: Responsibility & Values

Every stage has one constant: responsibility. You can dodge it, or you can own it. My book The Responsibility Ethic was written for exactly this reason. Growth isn’t just about systems and cash—it’s about taking responsibility for your fear, your team, your culture, and your vision.
And values? They’re your compass. Growth is messy. Without values, you’ll chase every opportunity and burn out. With values, you’ll steer through each stage with integrity 

Final Word

The five stages aren’t theory. They’re a lived reality for anyone who has scaled a business. The only question is: will you recognize the stage you’re in and rise to its challenge—or will you stall out?

Growth is predictable. Success isn’t.

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Adam Kreek is on a mission to positively impact organizational cultures and leaders who make things happen.

Kreek is an Executive Business Coach who lives in Victoria, BC, near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and Seattle, Washington, USA, in the Pacific Northwest. He works with clients globally, often travelling to California in the San Francisco Bay Area, Atlanta, Georgia, Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec. He is an Olympic Gold Medalist, a storied adventurer and a father.

He authored the bestselling business book, The Responsibility Ethic: 12 Strategies Exceptional People Use to Do the Work and Make Success Happen. 

Discover our thoughts on Values here.

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