Small Wins = Big Business

In business we should always think big. There is small saying which we should take note of – “Aim high. If you get lower, it’s still good. Aim low. If you get lower, it’s really bad”. Don’t belittle yourself or your business. “I’m a small player, I should know my place”, “I can’t possibly beat the big guys out there”, “With the capacity I have, my business will never get a portion of the lion’s share”.

We should always dangle a piece of cheese in front of ourselves to keep us running. It is a psychological means to make us strive forward towards a goal. So we start thinking – “Today I will run my products through my entire contact list, push forward our advertising budget so that people know more about us, make tie-ups to all possible networks, and do all of this within the week! I should be able to see at least a 20% growth in profit by end month!”

Not quite so.

Of course the example given was over-the-top. But in some cases we do make the mistake of setting too large goals in such short periods of time. It is not necessarily a bad thing but it is a form of ‘over-promising’ ourselves. The most ideal scenario that most entrepreneurs would dream about is the “build it up, hit it once, and hit it big”. It is like a one-touch-go thing, similar to a bank robbery. But we all know that it is a far-fetched idea. 

Overnight success is a rare thing. There have not been many business successes that pocketed the world in one night and lived to see the light of the next day. These businesses usually run out of steam – very, very fast. The more ‘realistic’ way of looking at it would be to seek out undersized, but well-delivered profits. Consistency is the key word here. Now these, though small and probably insignificant, will lead you to a more fulfilling win.

Remember that sweep-stakes only last for a short duration. Resilient businesses take a good amount of years to hammer in a strong foothold. Bill Gates did not create his world renowned computer operating system monopoly of Windows in one year. Microsoft only managed to make it big 10 years after they first started. 10 years is a long time. Some businesses can fold up and resurrect themselves 3 times over in that kind of time period.   

Are your clients helping / killing you?

Obtaining a good network of clients is hard work. Most entrepreneurs whom have just started their businesses would like to get their hands on as many clients as they can. We will search high and low, ask for referrals and extend the word out to our most obvious contacts, which is our peers and family to help recommend their products or services. After a while, we manage to obtain a healthy amount of clientele which constantly give us projects to follow up each month, however we still find ourselves working long and tiring hours, only to be paid a measly amount for our sweat, tears and caffeinated blood. We won’t want to be doing this for the rest of our lives right? 

Why is it so that some other entrepreneurs work so much less, get to spend time with their friends and family, and actually have a life, while earning so much more than you? So what seems to be the problem here? 

TYPES OF CLIENTS 

In order to address this problem, we as entrepreneurs must realise that there are two totally different types of clients in this world. Not all clients you meet would actually boost your business. Some may even take down a spiralling staircase to the pits of failure if you allow them to hang around you long enough. The two types of clients you would definitely encounter in your business endeavours: 

- Clients that will pay you accordingly for the great work you have done 

- Clients that will work you to death and pay you peanuts 

This is what happens most of the time: In the quest to keep our start-ups alive, we tend to grab anyone who wants to do business with us first, even though they low-ball our prices. These types of clients pull our prices low because they know that we are new, inexperienced and client starved. They work us and squeeze everything out of us after that. This is what you definitely not want but it is a true fact of business. 

It is a dog eat dog world where only the strong and decisive will survive. Small clients who do not possess the means to reward you handsomely for your efforts is a good learning experience and it should just remain as that. These clients should not become your staple diet or else you will eventually gain nothing but pain and suffering (unless of course you have a penchant for torture). They would not just exhaust your capacity to perform but also put your business in the line of fire. 

This does not mean you should think about being ‘exclusive’.  It actually means that you should and must maintain a certain standard for your business. If you know that you are delivering quality work, only offer it at quality prices. The price clients pay must equal the amount of service that you provide to them (although giving a little bit extra to your clients is always a good idea). 

The good clients are more rewarding than you think. They don’t just give you that little extra in your bank account that you have been hoping for, but they also provide you an enriching experience which helps boost your confidence and drive to perform even better. These clients may also help connect you with their own contacts, which spell more opportunities of business for you.     

So here is a brief rundown of traits that distinguish a bad or good client: 

The Bad Ones 

- Those who have absolutely no idea what they are looking for and what they want to see as a result
- Those who only compare products or services by price point and do not understand the term ‘value’
- Those who have pitch you absurdly low budgets but still want something extra
- Those who have such tight deadlines that you will not have any room for adjustments

- Those who would not disclose everything about a job to you at once 

The Good Ones
- Those who are willing to fork out money for quality work
- Those who regard you as a partner in the project, not just another contractor 

- Those who will share with you tips and techniques on how to improve on the project
- Those who regard your services or products to be a prime factor in their long term plan