Hello, everyone.

Writing to you from outside London, in Sevenoaks, Kent.  I’m staying in an apartment with a sweet back yard full of flowers, apples, and plums, lush, green, and about 20 F degrees colder than Georgia, USA!  Change of scenery, change of pace, Mars in Cancer still working its way through my life.  How about yours?

In recent weeks we’ve looked at long-term influences correlated to the slower-moving planets with an eye to understanding current and future conditions that will have a bearing on our business plans for 2010.  We’re getting there!  We’ve looked at Pluto in Capricorn, Neptune in Aquarius, Saturn in Virgo, and we’ve begun looking at Uranus. 

Before we examine Uranus in the sign of Pisces, I want to give an overview of the cycle of the zodiac and the standard business life cycle.  The progression through the zodiac is a map of the natural cycles of development and change that all life goes through, including the life cycle of a business. Over the next few posts, we’ll look at these natural cycles and how they are also reflected in business life cycles.

Aries

Business Life Cycle

In Aries, a fire sign ruled by Mars, the spark of life is new.  In business, this is the pre-start up phase, when the idea has just formed.  This is a highly entrepreneurial* time, when the owner is evaluating his or her personal reasons for going into business, making the decision to begin operating a business, and deciding what type of business he or she will begin.  This is also referred to as the “seed stage” in the business life cycle and the focus is on perceiving the business opportunities at hand and matching them with the owner’s skills, experience, and passions.  *(Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to the type of personality who is willing to [begin] a new venture or enterprise and accepts full responsibility for the outcome. Source:Wikipedia)

Whether a new product, or an established product or service in a new location or market, this is the initiatory phase, the spark has ignited but it has not burst into form yet.  At this stage the Aries traits of courage, independence, and enthusiasm are apparent.

Taurus

This is the stage of business development when the spark of Aries begins to take a form.  Taurus is an earth sign ruled by Venus, and as such, is concerned with manifesting an idea in the physical world. At this stage the business owner chooses and registers the name and opens a bank account in the business name. There may be research and product development, obtaining financing, and setting up the legal structure for the business.

This is the phase when products or services begin to be in production, and when there begins to be a customer base and market presence.  Hopefully at this phase the business begins to create cash flow.  The Taurus traits of practicality, persistence, and patience are needed at this stage.

Gemini

Gemini, an air sign ruled by Mercury, brings to the business sales and marketing efforts, signing procurement contracts, setting up the bookkeeping, and obtaining the necessary licensing.  In this phase advisors such as accountants and lawyers are chosen and usually the form of the business, whether incorporated, limited, or sole proprietorship is chosen and legally established.  Producing sales and services to generate cash flow becomes a major focus for the business.

The Gemini traits of versatility, rationality, and communications ability are important to the developing business at this stage.

These are the signs that correspond to the start-up phase of a business life cycle.  Once these initial steps have been taken, more complexities come into play, as we’ll examine in the next few posts.

Mercury Retrograde Stories

Any Mercury retrograde stories?  I’ve got one.  My daughter-in-law Natasha went to the train station today to buy a monthly commuter ticket for her job that starts tomorrow in London.  The very nice man at the ticket counter said that the computerized ticketing system had been down all day and they were trying not to sell tickets today because they would have to process them manually.  She had to patiently wait (she’s a Taurus) as the man repeated himself eight times that he was trying not to sell her a ticket.  Her Taurus persistence won out and she finally bought the ticket, although we’re hoping it is in the system by tomorrow morning at 6:30 when she has to catch the train.

Tags: Aries, astrology, business, Business Life Cycle, Business planning, cycles, Gemini, Taurus, Zodiac