The Relationship Life Cycle

There are four specific and vital stages that a product will go through from beginning to end, thus, it is called the Product Life Cycle. The dating equivalent that I will discuss shall be named The Relationship Life Cycle. The decisions made during the different stages of the relationship, or the prospect of one, have a significant affect on the outcome of whether or not your investment of time is profitable. The four stages are as follows:

Introductory Stage
In the beginning, you’re either trying to be pursued or you’re in pursuit of a mate. So what do you do? Check out the social scene and test the market. There is no pressure for immediate profit, which means that if you’re out, there’s no need to break your neck to get or give the digits. Use this time to be observant. See how others respond to your energy. Are you positioning yourself to be approachable? How have you packaged yourself? The best advice is to not show off, or give up, all your goods. Yes, the immediate profit will be in abundance, but the long-term benefit…not so much.

Once you’ve found a potential “buyer,” the introductory phase should be the most easy-going stage of the process. There is little to no competition from outsiders because all the fun is in getting to know someone new. You’re intrigued by the unknown and look forward to learning about the other person. Thus, in an attempt to appeal to each other, you may possibly spend more time picking out or buying a new outfit, hairstyle, make-up and scent to establish a “brand.” What you both don’t realize is that the brand you are creating is setting a standard that may be hard for the two of you to uphold should you pass the introduction stage. In this stage and in the other three, consistency is important.

Growth Stage
At this point, the public is aware of the “product,” which has now joined forces, and people start to identify you and your mate as an item. The sales volume increases, where in the introductory stage the volume was low. In laymen’s terms, now that you’ve established yourself as a hot commodity, competition, whether new or from your past, will start to show up and show out because they acknowledge your new relationship as having some worth! Ever notice that when you weren’t attached, you couldn’t find a good guy and the moment you snagged one, all other guys wanted to enter the equation and put their best foot forward? It’s no coincidence, ladies. If you’ve grasped the attention of a man, sooner or later all others will want to get a piece of the pie as well.

Fortunately, at this point, you are both comfortable with one another, but you must be advised, this is the most intense stage in the development of a lasting relationship.

Mature Stage
If you’ve made it to the mature stage of your relationship, you should be congratulated! In this day, and at our age, it’s rare. Reaching this stage means that you’ve successfully differentiated yourself from the others. However, any significant moves are likely to be mimicked by competitors to see if they can persuade you or your “consumer” to buy elsewhere. It would be wise to increase “competitive offerings” so that things don’t get predictable and thus, boring. Should this happen, the profit could drop significantly due to a lack of interest. Depending on the desired outcome of both parties involved, the joint venture could be very advantageous.

Decline or Stability Stage
Great care has to be taken to manage the product if you two have reached this final stage. It may be time to resolve the joint venture, yet, depending on if the relationship can remain stable and prosperous, through a mutually committed effort; the company may choose to continue to produce the product.

There is no time limit on each stage, and in some instances, you may skip from the Introduction Stage straight to the Decline Stage. No two relationships are the same, therefore, The Relationship Life Cycle should be used as a blueprint for some, but the creation, development and end result rest solely on the decisions that the two parties involved have made.