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Quickstart - Develop Alliances and Achieve More
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Quickstart
Grow a Profitable Consultancy and Still Have Time for a Life
In this issue
Note from Beverley - Civic duty and partnering up
One Step Further - Develop Alliances and Achieve More
Ideas Bank - Networking
Personal Reflections - Perceptions and Assumptions
Note from Beverley
I'm on jury service for 2 weeks, doing my civic duty and relishing the experience and it's on this that I reflect in Personal Reflections this week.
I also had some great conversations with potential clients. It's always a joy to open their eyes to a different way of doing things. I also had some interesting conversations with potential partners who I can perhaps create joint ventures with. You can often achieve more and learn more working with someone else than by yourself. See the One Step Further section for more on this.
Have a good week
Beverley
bev@onestepfurther.co.uk
+44 (0) 1344 625713
www.onestepfurther.co.uk
One Step Further
I've written before about the curse of the small business owner and consultant: the "Lone Ranger Syndrome". This affliction causes struggles and limits growth and opportunity simply because of a need to "go it alone".
So what can you do to rid yourself of this affliction? Well one way is to develop joint ventures or alliances and by that I mean...
"A partnership/partnerships that create or add value to the vision and goals of all parties that also adds or creates value for their current or potential customers. The value created would not have been possible if either party had solely operated on their own."
Wars have been won and lost by the strength of alliances. Communities have grown or perished through the collaboration of neighbourhoods. People have used the concept of many can offer more than one for a variety of different means for a long time. In today's business environment alliances of all shapes and sizes are everywhere.
In a report by Atos Origin in May of this year they said
"After years of transformation in consolidation, globalisation and outsourcing, companies who create, manufacture, distribute & retail consumer products need to unearth a new way to improve their businesses. ...new forms of collaboration between these companies can achieve greater product innovation and consumer intimacy, leading to competitive advantage for the future. ... collaboration across the value chain, from R&D through to manufacturing, distribution and information technology, as a path to top-line revenue growth and higher profit margins,..."
2 main reasons why you would consider an alliance of some kind are Leverage and Profit and there are 6 key areas where this can apply.
Talent - Businesses only succeed through their people. This applies equally whether you are a one person company or a global organisation. People make businesses what they are. Therefore to be able to leverage talent is critical.
Knowledge - Information is held within the brains of people and spread across companies in many shapes and forms. Documents, processes, research methods and online. If that information is to serve a valuable purpose it needs to be leveraged. It then becomes knowledge that is useful and applicable in many situations.
Capacity - This is an area that many SMEs struggle with when they are looking to grow. Capacity in many formats can be a limiter to growth and is therefore a key area for an alliance.
Access - Expansion into new markets using different channels giving access to new clients is one strategy for growth and partnering with someone to gain this access can be one way to leverage a partnership.
Resources - Access to money and equipment for expansion or development are another area where a partnership can be beneficial.
Future Fun - The value of simply getting together with a few people to share ideas, think through new opportunities and to exchange knowledge and experiences is often overlooked and yet can add real business and personal value especially if you work for your self - it can also be a sanity check!
So where can you see opportunities for leverage in your business?
And
Who could you be looking for to create a future alliance for future increased profit?
Ideas Bank
Networking has given me over 95% of my clients and alliances and created opportunities and learning that I would definitely not have received if I had not developed this art. This week’s Ideas Bank deposits are on this very topic. Are you networking for the future or “using” it for the short term? Read more at Networking for More.
For next week’s topic we’re looking for comments, ideas, tips and stories on
"How to get your first big client"
This is a question I am often asked and as I know many of you have been in business for many years you may have some wonderful memories and advice for our newbies.
I would also like your input on what you think really makes the difference in getting that first client. Is it targeting? Is it getting an introduction? Is it being brave and just turning up at their office? What have you tried that’s worked? What do you do differently now? What pearls of wisdom and great stories can you share?
Drop me an email at
bev@onestepfurther.co.uk
Click on Ideas Bank to gain access and then to access each of the topics click on the headings at the top of the Ideas Bank pages.
We all share, we all learn.
Personal Reflections
As I mentioned earlier, I am half way through my 2 week jury service and it's an interesting and fascinating experience. Obviously I can't talk about the case I'm involved with but I do have some thoughts on the process of being part of a jury.
Last week I was the foreman of our jury and that meant facilitating the discussion and making sure everyone could express their point of view and that we all agreed on our verdict.
During the course of our deliberations a number of things became apparent.
Many people have prejudices that they don't realise they have.
Many people assume their view of the world is the "right" view
Many people don't really understand the influence they have on other people - directly or indirectly.
It was quite scary how some individuals were convinced of the defendants guilt purely based on a perception of who they thought they were. Whole scenarios, stories and pictures were being created about what probably happened, what they probably did, said and behaved like and what "that type" of person is like.
When I pointed out that we must only base our decisions on the facts, as presented to us and the law, as directed by the judge, some people saw they were "making up" evidence based on their assumptions and perceptions but others got quite irritated and couldn't see that what they were basing their views on was pure speculation, assumption and prejudice.
This got me thinking that we all make assumptions at times, which are often only based on our view of the world. This is usually not done with mal intent or consciously but purely because we see the world in our own way based on our own experiences through life.
However, the danger in doing this is that it can prevent us being fair, just and seeing beyond our own experiences. We might therefore miss opportunities, be blind to different perspectives and not take a balanced view.
Have you ever assumed?
* Big companies only work with big consulting firms
* Price is the most important thing
* I have to take every piece of business
* It didn't work before therefore it won't work this time
* I don't have time for planning
* Customers only want one thing - a deal!
There are more I'm sure. And so I urge you this week to recheck your assumptions of your clients, your business and your everyday dealings with people. Are you being fair and just based on the facts and evidence presented or are you making it up?
Best Regards
Bev
bev@onestepfurther.co.uk
+44 (0) 1344 625713 |
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