Business development, without betting the business on it
New services, new markets, partners and referral relationships. The work that widens a business rather than squeezing more out of what is already there, done in a way that can be stopped cheaply if it does not work.
The next thing should be built on the thing you are already good at
Most successful new lines are an extension of an existing strength sold to customers who already trust you. The expensive version is a brand new offer, for a brand new audience, through a channel you have never used.
- Start from what you already do well. The shortest route to a new line is usually a service your current customers keep asking for.
- Test before you commit. A small deliberate trial with real customers tells you more than a business plan, and costs a fraction of a launch.
- Partners need to be worth it on both sides. A referral relationship only lasts when the other party gets something real. We look at that honestly before you invest time in it.
- Decide in advance what a no looks like. Agreeing the point at which you stop, before you start, is what keeps a failed experiment cheap.
What this work involves
Opportunity review
What you already do well, who else needs it, and which of those is realistically reachable this year.
A small, cheap test
Designed so a genuine answer arrives before serious money is committed.
Partners and referrals
Who is already talking to your ideal customer, and what would make working with you worth their while.
Deciding what to keep
An honest read on the result, including when the honest read is to stop and put the effort back into the core business.
Business development questions
Is business development just sales?
No. Sales is winning the work in front of you. Business development is deciding what work should be in front of you in the first place, and building the relationships and offers that put it there.
We want to open a second location. Can you help?
Yes, and the first question is always whether the current one runs well enough without you to be copied. Duplicating a business that only works because you are in it doubles the problem.
How do you decide which opportunity to chase?
Reachability and fit, weighed against what it costs you to find out. We favour the tests that give a real answer quickly and cheaply.
What if the new idea does not work?
Then it was a cheap answer to a real question, which is the point of testing. The mistake is finding out slowly and expensively.
The rest of what we consult on
Business operations
How a job moves through your business, who owns each step, what gets checked and where the time disappears. Most owners are not sh
Read more →Business strategy
Where the business is going, which customers it is for, what it will not do, and the two or three moves that matter this year. On
Read more →Business growth
More of the right customers, and keeping them. That means the offer, the price, where enquiries come from and what happens to one
Read more →Start with the free consultation
Thirty minutes, no cost and no obligation. You will leave knowing where this sits against everything else the business needs.
- The first consultation is free and there is no obligation to go further
- An honest read including when the answer is to fix something before you spend
- Scope and fees in writing agreed before any work starts
