The answer is C) 5 years
Most companies start as small start-ups with little in funding. In the early years of a business, the founders would be most involved in only 2 things, either selling or manufacturing/development.
The early years of a business is linked to survival and growth. It is natural for the founders to not be able to focus on operational excellence.
However, as the company starts to make a profit, the founders are able to work on developing new processes to streamline everything and make it more manageable.
It can take up to 5 years before a company can reach organizational excellence.