"I thought it would get
easier but, it got harder!"
Are you an owner or manager of a small business that has grown beyond the
initial core team and is now focused on long-term value rather than day-to-day survival? If so, there's a
great chance that the title of this page resonates with you. We hear it from pretty much every "Stage
2" business leader we meet.
Stage 2 is Exponentially More Difficult
As tough as it is to get past start-up,
the number of potential interdependencies between components of your business absolutely skyrockets as you
grow, making your business MUCH more complicated:
Most management information and assistance is either focused on start-ups or large
corporations, and neither fits you very well - it either sends you down a wasteful, expensive path or requires too
much extrapolation and interpretation. As an introduction to our products and services, we are offering a free
teleseminar series covering business critical topics for your Stage 2 company, delivered efficiently and with a laser
focus on your specific challenges.
In the series, you'll learn how to:
Grow Your Business:
How to turn 30 minutes per week into $1 million
How to double your results with half your marketing effort
The sales strategies you need to generate more value for your customers and capture more of that value
for yourselves
5 levers for making your Stage 2 productivity skyrocket
The current trends impacting small business and how to apply them to your strategy
Grow Your Leadership:
7 key differences between Stage 1 and Stage 2 you need to know to unlock the power of your business
The job description you need to have to be top performing Stage 2 leaders
A proven, powerful model to get your staff to embrace change
The blindspot you have that's holding you back
Grow Your Team:
The talent management approach required to engage and unlock the potential of your staff
11 steps of effective hiring
The compensation system that connects pay to performance
9 keys to turning your innovations into business success
Who I Am and Why I Can Help You
Learn the Secrets to Stage 2?
Dave Haviland
My name is Dave Haviland, and I’ve dedicated the past 15 years of my life to helping
Stage 2 leaders navigate the big shifts they must understand to achieve further growth. Along the way, I
help them change the dynamic so that their personal situation gets better too, which is what they expected from
growth in the first place.
Even while we've been saddled with this difficult economy, I’ve been responsible
directly or indirectly for strategies that have generated over $50 million in new revenues, $10 million in new
profits, and $15 million in new investment for the small number of consulting clients I can handle
personally.
I'm also co-author of the Stage 2 Owner's Manual, a multimedia guide to making the transition
from entrepreneurship to enterprise. It's packed with tools and tips to help Stage 2 companies overcome
their growing pains. With over 200 printed pages and online access to videos, slide presentations, assessments,
cheat sheets and templates, the Stage 2 Owner's Manual serves as:
Reference Guide covering 12 topics of critical importance to explain the
"whys" and "hows" of unique Stage 2 challenges.
Training Manual with video presentations and annotated slides to improve the
capabilities of Stage 2 management teams.
Business Improvement Playbook with frameworks, assessments and templates to
help Stage 2 companies improve the value they create for, and capture from, their customers.
Here’s what some of our clients and colleagues say about us:
Impressive
"As a CFO for
several small and mid-size companies, I am impressed with Phimation’s knowledge of the challenges facing
Stage 2 companies. The hurdles Phimation highlights are exactly what I see at my clients every day, but
often my clients don’t know where to start. Phimation explains the deeper strategies that make companies
more profitable, and the strategic models that leaders need to take the right steps.”
-Sheri Pawlik, B2B CFO
We May Have Been Able to Avoid So Many Avalanches
"Hi Dave. I have read the chapters and I am going through the videos
now...and I have to say...have you just been watching us? Honestly, we have been experiencing everything
you describe...and certainly this month has been quite a pivotal time in our business where I can see if we had
some strategies in place we may have been able to avoid so many avalanches."
- Visionary & Co-Founder, Internet Marketing Firm
The Best Source of Knowledge and Wisdom
“When your company moves from startup to second stage growth, you don’t have the
luxury of being an amateur manager. You’re a professional CEO and you need to learn from the
best.
Phimation offers tremendous resources. Based on my experience going from $1M to
$6M, they may be the single best source of knowledge and even wisdom that you’ll need to become the
professional CEO your company needs you to be.
Their Stage 2 Owner’s Manual is like a cheat sheet on how to keep your
company on track and growing through that tough time that every business hits AFTER you survive
startup.”
-Don Hicks, President & CEO, LLamasoft, Inc.
I Wish You Would Have Offered Me the Book 4 Years Ago
"Hi David. I wish you would have offered me the book 4 years ago when we
began the whole transition discussion and process. I say this because it suggests some things we could/should
have done to minimize the issues we are having.
It occurs to me that it might be well for the entire company to read/have a course
in/or in some way have a clear understanding of what a Stage 1 to Stage 2 transformation
requires."
-Founder & Chairman, Plastics Engineering Company
Invaluable
"As the former owner of a Stage 2 business, and the director of a program for
start-up entrepreneurs, Phimation's thinking on how to make the jump from start-up to Stage 2 is
invaluable. Sure, many entrepreneurs eventually figure things out - but not without a lot of mistakes and
learning. With Phimation's strategic insights, Stage 2 companies accelerate their results and avoid
some major mistakes that many leaders make." -Diane Durance. Executive
Director, Great Lakes Entrepreneur Quest; Former Owner, Lexicon Publishing
I’m also regularly featured in publications such as Inc., The Street, The American
Management Association, B2Buzz, and locally in Southeast Michigan where I live, Crain's Detroit Business, WJR and
WDET.
I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging, but I don't know anyone who has
focused on the unique nuances of Stage 2 as closely as I have. And frankly, I don't need to provide these
teleseminars. I have a very busy and successful consulting practice. But this is my contribution to our
economic revival. I can help you, help our economy, and expand my impact all at the same time. It's
win-win-win. REGISTER
As the Principal of Strategic Change Advisors, Randy is an expert
in what it takes to initiate and implement change. He's also extremely talented when it comes to
capturing consulting experience in useful packages. You wouldn’t be reading this now if it
weren’t for him. I'd still be totally focused on individual consulting projects.
Randy will be teaching the teleseminars with me. His 25 years of business
experience - as a founder and CEO of start-ups, as a Stage 2 business executive, and as a consultant to both
small and large corporations - adds an invaluable perspective on where Stage 2 companies are coming from and
where they're tying to go. REGISTER
Randy Albert
Stage 2 Secrets Outlines the SHIFT™
You Need to Achieve Further Success
The vast majority of Stage 2 companies are led by the founder or subsequent generations of
the founder's family. While you and your team may not be "professional" managers, you are VERY
successful business people. It's an extraordinary accomplishment to get a business past start-up, and as
leaders who have done it, you are rightfully confident in your abilities.
But that confidence is an Achilles' heel for most Stage 2 leaders. What made you
successful in Stage 0/1 no longer works in Stage 2. You must SHIFTTM your thinking:
S
- Strategies appropriate to Stage 2
H
- Honesty about your blindspots and your need for help
I
- Insight that changes the way you look at problems
F
- Frameworks that simplify and clarify your path forward
T
- Tools that work in Stage 2
Take 3 minutes to watch this video for a detailed overview of the big shifts you need to
understand:
Comments From Session Evaluations
“Very informative. Used many examples to articulate information. Allowed a lot of
communication and interaction with the group"
“Dave and Randy were excellent and hit a lot of points very appropriate for the timing of the market
and where our company is now”
"I registered to understand better why I am the way I am, to understand where I am now, and to view
from a different perspective exactly where I need to go. You have provided a picture and a
map."
“Welll laid out, objectives established at the beginning, and follow through was
excellent."
“Validated some of our priorities. Reminded me of a lot we are not doing.”
“Concise - hit the points to think about how you function best and can improve.”
“I thought Dave and Randy provided a lot of insight on Stage 2 - and differences between Stage
1.”
“It really made me think of how to grow business.”
“Some really good 'hands on' ideas.”
Register Now
The live teleseminars are held on the 3rd Friday of every month from 12:30 -1:30pm Eastern
time, and replays will be made available for any sessions you miss. Fill out the form below so we can provide
details about how to connect and know who to expect.
We respect your email privacy and will never rent or sell your contact information.
Looking forward to speaking with you,
Dave Haviland
PS - We know your time is precious, so we won't waste it. There is
no more efficient way to learn more about how to grow your Stage 2 small businesses. Register for our free teleseminar series now.
Phimation Strategy Group
201 S. Main, Ste. 808 ● Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734 622-0808
"As a CFO for
several small and mid-size companies, I am impressed with Phimation’s knowledge of the challenges facing
Stage 2 companies. The hurdles Phimation highlights are exactly what I see at my clients every day, but
often my clients don’t know where to start. Phimation explains the deeper strategies that make companies
more profitable, and the strategic models that leaders need to take the right steps.” 
“When your company moves from startup to second stage growth, you don’t have the
luxury of being an amateur manager. You’re a professional CEO and you need to learn from the
best.
"As the former owner of a Stage 2 business, and the director of a program for
start-up entrepreneurs, Phimation's thinking on how to make the jump from start-up to Stage 2 is
invaluable. Sure, many entrepreneurs eventually figure things out - but not without a lot of mistakes and
learning. With Phimation's strategic insights, Stage 2 companies accelerate their results and avoid
some major mistakes that many leaders make." 
