Stages of Business are Like Stages of Flight in an Airplane
Flying an airplane can be likened to running a business. At some points in the life of a business, during the startup and initial growth for example, it is necessary to ?hand fly? the business – you as an entrepreneur (pilot) must ?control? the business directly and make large changes to its direction. In an airplane this is during takeoff and climbout and only lasts a few minutes. In business, it may last a few years. Airplanes are amazing pieces of machinery. During some portions of flight, it is required that a pilot make large changes and major corrections to the path of the aircraft. Takeoff and landing are obvious places where this comes to mind. This is called ?hand flying? an airplane. Other times, however, it is unnecessary to ?hand fly? the plane – during straight and level ?cruise? flight for bass guitar lessons instance. During this phase of a flight, the pilot will use what?s called ?trim? to make very slight corrections to the flight path of the airplane. If it is descending slightly, the pilot will use ?nose up trim? to stop the descent. If climbing slightly, ?nose down trim? will be used. Some aircraft have trim for rolling (aileron trim) and turning (rudder trim) as well. I am not talking about any kind of ?auto-pilot;? this is just a way to more carefully and precisely control the plane once it is in ?cruise? flight and flying at a constant altitude and in a constant direction for some length of time. In business, startup and initial growth are not the only times when a company must be “hand flown.” If you plan on selling or in some other way ?exiting? the business, you will also need to ?hand fly? for awhile.