In Growth Stage 1 you are testing your product and brand proposition with feedback from both your buyers and your consumers. It involves setting your business up for scale, establishing your brand strategy, setting your commercial strategy and beginning to win your first accounts.

In Growth Stage 2 you have validated your product and brand in market and are starting to build traction. Stage 2 is focused on distribution gains in multi-site operators and establishing a scalable model. It is common for the Stage 1 bootstrapping to begin to show cracks in the form of unexpected costs and supply chain failures. The founder can no longer do everything.

In Growth Stage 3 the drive for distribution gains in Stage 2 has won you some larger accounts. The focus now splits into optimising and managing those accounts while also winning new ones. New channels are tested and international is explored. Working capital becomes more constrained and the team and corporate affairs take up more time.

In Growth Stage 4 you are constantly hiring but generally departments are stable. You are in most major target customers and all attention is on seeking distribution and range gains. The international business takes shape and becomes a material driver of revenue. Big supply chain and product projects drive margin gains. The leadership team stabilises and growth capital comes in.

In Growth Stage 5 you are focused on omni channel strategy at this stage - driving online sales, expanding into new routes to market and going deeper into key international markets. Revenue is the primary driver - new categories are explored and range expansion is planned. The business formalises core processes and often early employees leave at this point.

In Growth Stage 6 your product range is expanding and moving cross-category and cross-occasion to create more purchase occasions. Your brand is close to a household name in the UK and all focus is on driving revenue and scale. Nationwide distribution exists in at least 1 additional market.

In Growth Stage 7, as you talk more about the value of the business and its eventual sale, you are focused on demonstrating a story of global scalability and replicability. Growth, revenue and EBITDA become the core measures of success.