Stage RightMake smarter management decisions by knowing what stage your company's in.

For Darlene Pinkowski, all the business world's a stage.When she's mulling over strategies for Actoras Consulting GroupInc., the 20-person Schaumburg, Illinois, management consultingfirm she co-founded, a key question is: What stage of growth isthis business in?

At the start-up stage in 1993, Actoras consisted of twoemployees and an idea. At that point, Pinkowski's goal was togive the company a reason for existence. "The first importantstage was picking our strategy," she says, "who we are,where we want to be, how we are going to get there."