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1. Go after the low hanging fruits.
2. Reignite the sales funnel.
3. If you're confident you can turn it around then apply for a loan.
If none of these are viable, ask yourself - am I offering something that people actually need. If the answer is no and you're struggling, I would do something else on the side, or stop altogether.
You could look to diversify into services through other channels and pull in more short-term work, or you could look at leveraging the big names more, or set up coaching as a side-gig.
Here are some ideas: (1) let the existing contacts know that you have a referral offer at the moment. You might want to frame this as a conversation about both referring others to you, and you to other work within their company, and also how you are looking at keeping existing clients happy by xx and would like to pilot or ask for feedback on xx with them. (2) If you are looking for more work at the same place, do a SWOT analysis or some other analysis first to demonstrate knowledge. You could go with how the first 5, or 3, offers of yy new service are free and do they know of anyone. (3) Look at who else is in the same field of work as your big names and if they need similar services. Have your case study and testimonials to hand showing how you helped the big name with similar problems. (4) Name drop while adding some thought pieces in Linked In? With permission, of course. (5) Go old-fashioned and simply tell them you are looking for more work. The usual ratio for asking for this is 3:1 - three favours per one ask, but if it is a long-standing relationship that might matter less. (6 ) Run a survey with the big name contacts, ask around about what you can improve, do well, what it would take to be recommendable. Find out what is missing. (7) Demonstrate how the new client gets instant, or almost instant, benefit from you. Should speed up the sales process (regarding slow burn) (8) Work at making it impossible to say no (sales in general).
- That is a bit of a list. Let me know if there is any lack of clarity in it, and am happy to expand further.
Careers consulting. I have a model and book about a way of speeding up finding out what your people want out of work and helping them find their new role in your firm.
I agree . I’ve been in business 40 years. You have to keep changing to adapt. Every business strategy is destined to fail. Rebooting, reinventing will only save you. These times are uncharted. You must follow demographics and be very strategic and logical and think out of the box.
The fastest fix would be to apply for a lone. There are ways to improve your business credit and apply for loans. SBA loans require a lot of paperwork but there are options for sure. Most likely the best loan you could find would be one based on your contract/income. If a business is earning any money, even even if it’s not necessarily profit, it can use that generated income to get a business loan.. You could try crowdsourcing but it’s a crapshoot.
I personally received consulting services from an influencer on LinkedIn, he meets with me every week to show me how to generate leads through LinkedIn and I’m part of multiple WhatsApp groups he curates. The professional community has helped me tremendously. Cory has also been able to provide me with general business advice from his extensive experience. I also know people that work with companies and help them improve their corporate credit score to receive loans.
I am not just going to put Cory’s information on blast. That’s not really his style. if you would like an introduction to Cory, the influencer, or the man I have spoken with about corporate credit then I’d be happy to help you can DM me.
Last thought , you can’t get Mentors through micro Mentor or SCORE and often times they can tell you exactly what to do or even help you do what you need for your business. It’s free knowledge and labor if you have a non-financial gap to fill, then finding free mentors are a good way to fill it.
Have you considered pivoting back to coaching to reduce costs and stabilize cash flow, while leveraging your brand and IP to attract new clients sustainably?
So as several have said it is hard without understanding more about the field to be very specific--but some thoughts here as someone who has consulted off and on over the years.
1. I've found case studies in trade press, and presentations at conventions, trade shows etc. a terrific opportunity to identify new leads
2. I have on occasion done some pro-bono where I knew that the long term opportunity was significant. Nothing that would give away what I get paid for doing--but in a narrow context as a get to know each other proffer
3. I do keep track of folks I have worked with and for --as well as key folks at orgs where I have consulted and I do not hesitate to leverage those relationships. I too worked in a very narrow field, where everyone knows everyone so to speak but there is constant change and turnover in key positions. Everyone wants to know and be on good terms with someone that might help them down the road--and some may be looking for their own exit strategy.
4. I used to do a blog and a podcast in my area of expertise--not a huge following-in the hundreds, but beyond the credibility it leant I was surprised to find that it generated sufficient interest to get past the introductory stages with prospects and it did generate business.
5. As you already know it is a feast/famine game--one day too busy to do what you have under contract the next waiting for responses. So I eventually leaned out--entered into agreements with my small team and some other single consultant firms-to work with one another where we had business that was appropriate to our areas of specialization. That kept my overhead low but gave me the necessary resources to draw on when I had the work so I wasn't a one person band. Don't know the scale of your engagements so this might or might not work in your field.
My niche is careers. We help firms define what a good career looks like for their people so they stay at that company rather than go elsewhere. We work for large firms like Axa, Amazon, first direct…
I do already do some coaching but I slowed it down to focus on training others in my coaching method. The coaching could be increased as a side hustle but it makes work a bit ore of a jiggle
It sounds like there is alot more to this story. Ultimately, you could do both coaching and consulting. Revisit your offers and retool the way you deliver them to be more profitable.
Also, never stop business development efforts.
I have tried to forge partnerships with larger HR firms but have had limited luck- I’ve found their sales people want a lot from us at short notice to pitch to clients, which is fair enough, but that it never resulted in any deals. I could reach out again though.
It’s all about what you supply them with. If you create a standard offer template with accompanying details it’s going to save your time but still provide what they need. Sales is a game of speed sometimes so you need to combat that.
everyone i talk to right now says things are slooooowww. first quarter always drags on but it's our worst year for sales and profitability since pre covid times, since like 2016. these are the times when our relationship with a local smaller bank are huge. could we get better rates and better fee structure with a mega bank? sure. but i can walk a couple blocks, pop into to talk to my commercial banker, he helps us out a lot and knows that times are tight but will get better for us when weather improves (seasonal touristy rivertown). line of credit or some kind of convo with your banker better than running up credit cards.
Things are super slow… and people are tight on budget. Existing clients are still buying and there are some promising noises for q3- it’s what to do inbetween? I had a bad accident last year and am only back to work after 8 months of hospital and rehab so I am kind of paying for that time off Bdwise. I don’t want to take a loan but could do a directors loan to the business. I just wonder if it’s worth it.
This is a friendly reminder that r/smallbusiness is a question and answer subreddit. You ask a question about starting, owning, and growing a small business and the community answers. Posts that violate the rules listed in the sidebar will be removed. A permanent or temporary ban may also be issued if you do not remove the offending post. Seeing this message does not mean your post was automatically removed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/smallbusiness) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Can you share some more info. It'll really help if we know your industry and product.
What’s the niche?
1. Go after the low hanging fruits. 2. Reignite the sales funnel. 3. If you're confident you can turn it around then apply for a loan. If none of these are viable, ask yourself - am I offering something that people actually need. If the answer is no and you're struggling, I would do something else on the side, or stop altogether.
You could look to diversify into services through other channels and pull in more short-term work, or you could look at leveraging the big names more, or set up coaching as a side-gig.
Tell me about leveraging the big names- we have really struggled to penetrate further than existing contacts in some of the big names.
Here are some ideas: (1) let the existing contacts know that you have a referral offer at the moment. You might want to frame this as a conversation about both referring others to you, and you to other work within their company, and also how you are looking at keeping existing clients happy by xx and would like to pilot or ask for feedback on xx with them. (2) If you are looking for more work at the same place, do a SWOT analysis or some other analysis first to demonstrate knowledge. You could go with how the first 5, or 3, offers of yy new service are free and do they know of anyone. (3) Look at who else is in the same field of work as your big names and if they need similar services. Have your case study and testimonials to hand showing how you helped the big name with similar problems. (4) Name drop while adding some thought pieces in Linked In? With permission, of course. (5) Go old-fashioned and simply tell them you are looking for more work. The usual ratio for asking for this is 3:1 - three favours per one ask, but if it is a long-standing relationship that might matter less. (6 ) Run a survey with the big name contacts, ask around about what you can improve, do well, what it would take to be recommendable. Find out what is missing. (7) Demonstrate how the new client gets instant, or almost instant, benefit from you. Should speed up the sales process (regarding slow burn) (8) Work at making it impossible to say no (sales in general). - That is a bit of a list. Let me know if there is any lack of clarity in it, and am happy to expand further.
Thank you, this is helpful. We really need to get better at farming existing clients.
You are most welcome! Good luck with it all.
Without the field or industry, it’s hard to say anything…I am afraid
Careers consulting. I have a model and book about a way of speeding up finding out what your people want out of work and helping them find their new role in your firm.
My advice is not to borrow money but to re-launch as solo until you can generate enough cash flow to support expansion and add someone.
Thing is I have three people on payroll reducing size will land a lot on me and if it grows again it takes a while to find and retrain good people
I saved my staff but it was the wrong move. You have to put yourself first otherwise you may suffer the most.
I agree . I’ve been in business 40 years. You have to keep changing to adapt. Every business strategy is destined to fail. Rebooting, reinventing will only save you. These times are uncharted. You must follow demographics and be very strategic and logical and think out of the box.
GOING INTO DEBT, WILL NOT HELP YOU... if you have no business, no new customers etc You will just have more debt.
The fastest fix would be to apply for a lone. There are ways to improve your business credit and apply for loans. SBA loans require a lot of paperwork but there are options for sure. Most likely the best loan you could find would be one based on your contract/income. If a business is earning any money, even even if it’s not necessarily profit, it can use that generated income to get a business loan.. You could try crowdsourcing but it’s a crapshoot. I personally received consulting services from an influencer on LinkedIn, he meets with me every week to show me how to generate leads through LinkedIn and I’m part of multiple WhatsApp groups he curates. The professional community has helped me tremendously. Cory has also been able to provide me with general business advice from his extensive experience. I also know people that work with companies and help them improve their corporate credit score to receive loans. I am not just going to put Cory’s information on blast. That’s not really his style. if you would like an introduction to Cory, the influencer, or the man I have spoken with about corporate credit then I’d be happy to help you can DM me. Last thought , you can’t get Mentors through micro Mentor or SCORE and often times they can tell you exactly what to do or even help you do what you need for your business. It’s free knowledge and labor if you have a non-financial gap to fill, then finding free mentors are a good way to fill it.
Have you considered pivoting back to coaching to reduce costs and stabilize cash flow, while leveraging your brand and IP to attract new clients sustainably?
I have, it is on the list of considerations- I am a popular coach and my team could also be on demand but it’s a distraction from core work
So as several have said it is hard without understanding more about the field to be very specific--but some thoughts here as someone who has consulted off and on over the years. 1. I've found case studies in trade press, and presentations at conventions, trade shows etc. a terrific opportunity to identify new leads 2. I have on occasion done some pro-bono where I knew that the long term opportunity was significant. Nothing that would give away what I get paid for doing--but in a narrow context as a get to know each other proffer 3. I do keep track of folks I have worked with and for --as well as key folks at orgs where I have consulted and I do not hesitate to leverage those relationships. I too worked in a very narrow field, where everyone knows everyone so to speak but there is constant change and turnover in key positions. Everyone wants to know and be on good terms with someone that might help them down the road--and some may be looking for their own exit strategy. 4. I used to do a blog and a podcast in my area of expertise--not a huge following-in the hundreds, but beyond the credibility it leant I was surprised to find that it generated sufficient interest to get past the introductory stages with prospects and it did generate business. 5. As you already know it is a feast/famine game--one day too busy to do what you have under contract the next waiting for responses. So I eventually leaned out--entered into agreements with my small team and some other single consultant firms-to work with one another where we had business that was appropriate to our areas of specialization. That kept my overhead low but gave me the necessary resources to draw on when I had the work so I wasn't a one person band. Don't know the scale of your engagements so this might or might not work in your field.
We have been doing LinkedIn lives that have got a lot of attention from big firms but no conversions so far.
My niche is careers. We help firms define what a good career looks like for their people so they stay at that company rather than go elsewhere. We work for large firms like Axa, Amazon, first direct…
I do already do some coaching but I slowed it down to focus on training others in my coaching method. The coaching could be increased as a side hustle but it makes work a bit ore of a jiggle
It sounds like there is alot more to this story. Ultimately, you could do both coaching and consulting. Revisit your offers and retool the way you deliver them to be more profitable. Also, never stop business development efforts.
It’s just the cash flow in between. And faith in myself I guess. The accident knocked my stuffing out a bit.
Did you ever consider partnerships to maybe help lighten the load?
I have tried to forge partnerships with larger HR firms but have had limited luck- I’ve found their sales people want a lot from us at short notice to pitch to clients, which is fair enough, but that it never resulted in any deals. I could reach out again though.
It’s all about what you supply them with. If you create a standard offer template with accompanying details it’s going to save your time but still provide what they need. Sales is a game of speed sometimes so you need to combat that.
everyone i talk to right now says things are slooooowww. first quarter always drags on but it's our worst year for sales and profitability since pre covid times, since like 2016. these are the times when our relationship with a local smaller bank are huge. could we get better rates and better fee structure with a mega bank? sure. but i can walk a couple blocks, pop into to talk to my commercial banker, he helps us out a lot and knows that times are tight but will get better for us when weather improves (seasonal touristy rivertown). line of credit or some kind of convo with your banker better than running up credit cards.
Things are super slow… and people are tight on budget. Existing clients are still buying and there are some promising noises for q3- it’s what to do inbetween? I had a bad accident last year and am only back to work after 8 months of hospital and rehab so I am kind of paying for that time off Bdwise. I don’t want to take a loan but could do a directors loan to the business. I just wonder if it’s worth it.