In the business life cycle, which stage comes after Establishment?

• A. Growth
• B. Post-Maturity
• C. Maturity
• D. Decline

Answer: (A)

After starting up, a business typically moves into the growth phase. In this stage, demand expands and sales rise as more customers learn about the product and the business scales to meet that demand. The focus shifts to increasing capacity, improving distribution, and investing in marketing to capture a larger market share. Operations become more efficient as the business learns what works well, and profits often rise as revenue grows faster than costs. This growth period is followed by maturity, where growth slows, and then possibly decline if the business doesn’t adapt. Post-maturity isn’t the standard label for the stage right after establishment, so it fits less well than growth.