Book excerpt: Companies that have survived the perils of startup face an entirely new and different set of challenges as the firm prospers and grows. For owners, executives, managers, and employees alike, the evolution of an enterprise from entrepreneurship to maturity is aruduous and requires a talent for managing constant change, both in the marketplace and in the company itself. Setting your company on a trajectory of profitable growth—and getting past that crucial break—even point—requires fundamentally different strategies, skills, and techniques from what worked in startup mode. Any forewarning puts entrepreneurial leaders ahead in coping with the obstacles over the next hill. Leading Your Business to the Next Level provides that forewarning and offers practical management approaches that will make the growth journey less hazardous and more rewarding. Drawing from the authors' combined 70+ years of experience working in and consulting to high-growth organizations, the book provides a toolkit for navigating the transition from the chaos, intensity, and informality of the startup to the relative order of the more established firm. Through illustrative case examples and interactive elements, including checklists and diagnostics, they demonstrate how mastery of six core disciplines is the key to achieving and sustaining profitable growth: * enhancing customer loyalty; * dynamic planning and budgeting; * executing the business plan; * maximizing leadership effectiveness; * changing the emphasis from sales/revenue to margin/profit; * positioning human resource management as a strategic asset. In an environment where over 50% of small businesses fail in the first year and 95% within five years, Leading Your Businesss to the Next Level will help you and your organization make the critical transition from startup to mature and growing business.