How many times have you heard marketers talk about creating a distribution strategy?

If you’ve been in business long, you understand how crucial your billing cycle is to the overall health of your business.

Good business leaders understand that laying out a sound billing cycle process can drastically impact their ability to achieve desired business outcomes which can, ultimately, make a big difference on their overall financial position.

With that being said, here are a few insights I’ve picked up along that way that will hopefully help you bypass some of the headaches I’ve experienced in the past.

Let’s dig in.

What is a billing cycle?

Before we dig into the details, let’s start from the beginning.

Let’s face it…in theory, starting a business with no money might be possible but you’re much more likely to succeed if you can raise capital.

Back when I first applied to business school I was informed that we would be creating a business plan throughout the program and would have the opportunity to have it critiqued over and over again by some of the brightest business minds around.

Of course, as an entrepreneur, the light bulb flashed above my head; I would create a business plan for an Internet startup, have it perfected while in school, and then convince potential investors to give me money to launch the plan.

As some of you may already know, the first business I ever started was a local Tallahassee landscaping company.

In retrospect, while this particular type of business is great for helping a college kid learn and work themselves through college, it’s actually an incredibly difficult business to grow (as is with most local businesses).

With that being said, let’s take a second to look at exactly what my team did and how different growth strategies could impact your business growth plan.

Let’s dig in.

Why and I revealing my business growth plan?

By now you’re probably asking yourself why I’m willing to tell you all of this.

Whether you’re an aspiring author, musician, or first time business owner, this article is for you.

If you are trying to figure out how to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to recognize the changes that are happening around you and position yourself to capitalize on those trends.

Of course, often times, that’s easier said than done.

Here’s a step by step template on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Take it and customize it to your own unique situation.

Step #1: Recognize change

As I mentioned, if you want to be a successful entrepreneur the first step is to actually recognize what’s changing so that you can try to plan your next move.