Nov-2017

16 17 (takes its first steps) you celebrate, but you do not let go.You are still there, firmly hold- ing on. In this stage, you must pay particular attention to the values you are instilling in your employees.The standards which will form the basis of how teammembers will represent your company and treat your customers.As time passes, little by little, you can begin to let go of small responsibilities. Passing them to capable employees,while supporting and encouraging those employ- ees to take the next steps on their own. STAGE TWO –MOVING TOWARD AUTONOMY At this point, your employees are begin- ning to workmore independently.Theymay even be surviving on their own, but they are not quite in a phase where they can thrive on their own.You need to continue to watch closely and reinforce your values to avoid bad habits from developing. By this stage, your principles are in a solid place, and manifest themselves in howyour BY GARY MOTTERSHEAD PRESIDENT GCP PRODUCTS INC. W e often hear entrepreneurs refer to their business as their baby.I thinkamore accurate depiction is that businesses are like our children.Theymay start out as infants,but it is the leader’s responsibility to see their business successfullymove fromone stage to the next, all theway to full maturity (as we dowith our children). I define full maturity as the point where your business can operate day to day with- out your presence,while still maintaining the persona and values you instilled in it. However, achieving this goal does not mean your responsibilities are at an end.On the contrary, you yourself must progress to the next stage. Now that my business has reached full maturity,my time is spent planning and con- templating its future. I didn’t get to this point overnight. It tookmany years of hard work and three specific stages of growth to do so. Let me share with you those stages and how I guided my company through them. STAGE ONE – INFANCY: THE EARLY YEARS Much like an infant needs his or her parents to survive, so does your business.As the owner of a startup company, you do it all. Everything is entirely dependent on you. The business has no defined functions.The day your business reaches its first milestone NOV./DEC. 2017 Executive View HOW DO ENTREPRENEURS ACHIEVE FREEDOM? 3 STEPS TO RAISING A MATURE COMPANY