Tag Archives: growth

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Two To Tango: Freelance Strategic Partnerships

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Tango dancers in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Freelance professionals are survivors by nature—savvy, proactive and ambitious. You are forward-thinking and grasp the big-picture, characteristics that led you to be realistic about current business conditions and respond to the risk-averse spending habits of many B2B prospects. You recognize that a defensive strategy is needed to stabilize the ground beneath your feet and make it possible to at least maintain, and preferably increase, your client roster and bottom-line sales revenue. A perusal of articles in the business press and resourceful brainstorming have led you to consider pursuing a partnership with a Freelance colleague. Owners of business entities large and small have long recognized that a good partnership creates competitive advantages, whether the goal is to help the partners stimulate revenue during periods of marketplace fluctuation, or maximize revenue and profit during a booming economy. Bringing in partner is meant to bring additional value—clients, investment capital, business skills, brand recognition, for example— and strengthen the position of the partners.

Recent research suggests that successful business entities often rely on their relationships—de facto partnerships— with peers whose services or products are complementary to one’s own and whose target customers have data-supported potential to become a promising source of new leads for your entity. In fact, within the Software as a Service community, partnerships and event participation are described as among the highest impact growth channels for warm leads.

The Freelance economy holds numerous sources of potential partnership opportunities— vendors, co-working site colleagues, Freelancing colleagues you meet at conferences, business accountants and attorneys. Even your SCORE mentor could suggest that you meet with a fellow Freelancer who s/he also mentors and discuss the possibility of partnering on certain types of projects. If you find the possibility of introducing a partnership to your Freelance business entity intriguing, here are some things to consider.

1. View the partnership as a strategic asset, not as the cure for a problem.

First, why do you want to form a partnership? What do you hope to gain and what assets can you bring to the table that might persuade a Freelance colleague to engage in a partnership with you? In order for the partnership to be useful and produce the outcomes that you (and the partner) want, you must be honest about your motivations. So, what are you looking for in a partnership? Start the decision-making process by clarifying your partnership wish list. Next, make an inventory of the resources you can offer to a partner and use that list to articulate your Unique Selling Proposition to a Freelance colleague you hope will become your business partner. Keep in mind that a successful partnership is about sharing resources and is not a rescue mission to save a failing enterprise.

  • Do you want occasional collaborators—say, extra help on certain projects—or an ongoing partnership?
  • A partner whose clients are potential prospects for your services and your clients are potential prospects for the partner’s services? Ideally, you and the partner would see a growing client list.
  • A partner whose services are suitable for co-promotion opportunities, such as the McDonald’s and Coca-Cola #Better Together campaign and the Apple Watch Nike+? Co-promotion is meant to introduce your brand to a wider audience and result in enhanced brand awareness and recognition, with the expectation of increased lead generation, sales revenue growth and market share.
  • A partner whose services, when offered in tandem to your own, will result in the capacity to provide solutions that prospects will perceive as delivering more valuable than your current offering.
  • A partner who will share certain business expenses, such as co-promotion advertising costs and/or office space rental.

2. Goals that align and a cultural fit.

In a functioning and mutually beneficial partnership agreement, there are only winners and there are no losers. A partnership is never a zero sum game where only one person wins. Honest, respectfully expressed communication and transparency are demonstrations of respect and the foundation of authenticity. In a recent McKinsey report, alignment on objectives, effective communication and trust were most often present when partnerships and other joint ventures succeeded and most often absent when partnerships failed.

As well, a mutually accepted definition of good work ethic should be agreed-upon and include a shared understanding of how to handle relevant business practices, such as what constitutes timely and appropriate follow-up regarding client referrals, for example. In this way one develops a reputation as a good partner and the partnership can deliver on its intended purpose.

3. Clearly define roles, responsibilities and money.

Establish and clearly define the roles and responsibilities of each partner and that includes money. Discussing payment protocols upfront will prevent ugly misunderstandings. Will the partner who handles the design work on a website project be paid at the same rate as the tech person who perfects SEO and the speed of page loading—or will you each bill at your usual rate? Put everything in writing to avoid conflicts later. Depending on the state in which you operate, your partnership may require a written agreement.

Regarding roles and responsibilities, will there be a quarterly or semi-annual performance quota for client referrals generated, networking events attended, or other work-related activities? A discussion of what constitutes good work ethic and productivity metrics will be helpful.

4. Start small and work out the kinks. 

Where possible, start small and avoid diving into a big project until the partners become familiar with one another’s working style. Instead, rehearse your partnership by taking on a small project. Creating a story board to describe how the partners together will collaborate successfully on a project can be very useful. Remember what Avatar creator James Cameron and others remind us: “A vision without a plan for execution is just an hallucination.”

5. Frequent, honest, feedback.

Misunderstandings and disagreements are best acknowledged and managed in an environment of regular, honest, feedback and discussion. partnership problems are potentially costly. Scheduling regular check-ins for the partners, even if there is little to discuss and the meeting ends quickly, is cheap and easy insurance for dealing with problems the right way and at the right time.

6. Move quickly and collaboratively when partnership problems arise. 

The land of lost partnerships is littered with avoidance, denial, broken promises, unresolved conflict and denial. Especially if the expectations of an important client have not been delivered, immediate action to correct the lapse and protect the relationship must be taken. Remember what Warren Buffett continually tells himself: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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What Do You Spend to Get a New Customer?

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Do you know how much you spend, on average, to convert a prospect into a paying customer—attracting the prospect’s attention, educating the prospect about your brand, your services and your products, instilling confidence and building trust—and making a sale? Have you tallied up the combined cost per customer of your marketing campaigns, selling expenses, referral programs, customer onboarding and the like and calculated the average amount of the marketing spend that supports the growth of your customer list—and your revenue, as a result? What kind of a return on investment are you getting from your marketing campaigns and sales strategy?

You may not know in the moment your company’s average customer acquisition cost, but it would be a good idea to update it (or figure it out) and keep that number in mind, because your CAC is a metric that reveals an important story about how your business functions. Customer Acquisition Cost is a key performance indicator, although not necessarily in the way many business owners and leaders think. CAC shines a bright light on the performance of company operations and outcomes, including the business model, which is the essential plan for making money. The metric also reveals the effectiveness of your overall marketing strategy, which reflects your marketing acumen and, in the end, can make a credible prediction of your organization’s potential for profitability and expectations for growth and scalability.

CAC is a metric that can be benchmarked against an industry standard and it’s a smart idea to research your industry’s average CAC and use the benchmark number as a guideline. Learning the CAC benchmark for your industry will enable you to identify a reasonable dollar amount for your marketing and sales budgets and help you avoid either overspending or underinvesting on marketing activities—which you rely on to bring paying customers into the business.

Familiarity with the CAC benchmark in your industry also enables you to evaluate your performance as a marketer. For example, if your company’s CAC is significantly higher than industry average, it could indicate problems with your marketing strategies or sales strategies and practices—-you’re spending money but not bringing in enough customers, or not the right customers, to generate a healthy marketing ROI. On the other hand, if your CAC is rather low as compared to the industry benchmark, it suggests that you may be under-funding marketing. If that’s the case, then theoretically you could assume that spending more on marketing would bring in more customers that fit your definition of ideal. In other words, CAC reflects the effectiveness of your marketing practices and can help you set realistic goals, as well as identify where you need to do better.

Calculate CAC by dividing total marketing and sales expenses by the number of new customers you’ve brought to the business within a given period—annually or quarterly, for example. Because many businesses serve more than one customer segment, it will make sense to separately calculate CAC according to customer segments, which could be based on demographic factors and might also involve differences in sales cycle length or competitive landscape. Incidentally, B2B entities typically have a longer sales cycle and tend to have a higher average CAC than B2C companies.

You’ll also want to segment your spend on the marketing channels you use—e.g., email marketing, social media advertising, customer relations management software subscriptions, and/or attending trade shows—and calculate the corresponding CAC figures. But what does understanding CAC really do for you? CAC is about documenting, analyzing and tracking over time the amount you spend on various customer segments, plus your marketing channels and sales strategies, that are used to convert prospects into paying customers.

There is also the matter of a customer’s average lifetime (revenue) value. You already know that a campaign to bring in a new customer costs at least 5x more than what you must do to retain an existing customer. Nevertheless, you may want to calculate the average amount of revenue that will flow to your business over the length of time that a customer does business with your organization. The question is addressed by calculating Customer Lifetime Value, a metric that is foundational to long-term revenue growth. Additionally, CLV factors into CAC, because it determines the return on investment (ROI) of the customers you acquire.

Calculate CLV by multiplying the Average Purchase Value x Purchase Frequency x Average Customer Lifespan. For instance, if you provide subscription services or have customers on a retainer agreement, you can calculate customer lifetime value by multiplying the amount of the subscription or retainer fee by the length of the subscription or retainer contract (purchase frequency) to arrive at CLV for one customer for one year (CLV is typically calculated on a one-year time frame).

Another useful metric is the CLV: CAC ratio, which compares Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) to the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). The ratio documents the revenue an average customer brings to your business, as compared to what was spent to acquire that customer. A desirable CLV: CAC ratio should be at least 3:1, meaning that every dollar of marketing spend will result in three dollars of revenue generated by a customer. A ratio less than 3:1 indicates your company’s marketing efforts are producing less than stellar returns, while a ratio far in excess of 3:1 suggests that you could produce more revenue growth with an increased marketing spend.

Make a point to benchmark your CAC against industry averages and to understand what good marketing and sales performance looks like. Here’s how to get started on figuring out your company’s CAC:

  • Define customer acquisition process and goals.

Make a comprehensive assessment of you acquire customers—paid social media ads, organic social media outreach, thought leadership, e.g. public speaking, hosting a podcast, and/or publishing a newsletter, word-of-mouth and referrals? Have you developed an inbound marketing/ sales funnel to capture prospects who search online to find a B2B Freelance professional services provider in your category? Next, decide what represents a realistic customer acquisition goal for your organization—how many active customers can you reasonably expect to have on your roster in a typical year?

  • Segment your CAC by different variables

Consider how to segment your customers, keeping in mind customer demographics and accounting for the marketing channels and options you employ. Get comfortable with the fact that your CAC for certain channels might be higher than your benchmarked industry average, which means that you’re spending more to acquire customers through those channels. By segmenting your CAC, you can identify the best and weakest performers in your marketing and sales strategy and optimize your resource allocation accordingly by dropping certain options and increasing your investment in better performing channels.

  • Document your marketing and sales budget

Once you’ve chosen your CAC segments, you can look at what each of them costs—identify and quantify all costs directly related to acquiring new customers. These may include advertising, content creation, SEO, social media, email marketing, webinars, CRM software and/or buying your way into business association events that allow you to network effectively. You can use tools such as Google analytics, Facebook Pixel, or HubSpot to track and measure the performance of your different channels and campaigns.

  • Select your time period

Decide on the time period for which you will calculate your CAC—quarterly or annually should make sense for your business. You need to match your marketing and sales expenses and your new customers to the same time period for your CAC calculation.

  • Calculate your CAC

To calculate your CAC, divide the total amount of money spent to finance your marketing and sales activities by the number of customers you acquired in a given period, and apply customer segments that reflect demographic groups and the primary marketing channels you use.

  • Research your industry CAC average

To benchmark your CAC, compare your number with the industry averages for your niche, product or service and target market. Because  CAC can vary widely depending on the industry, the business model, the product, the target market, and the marketing channels used. Therefore, it is essential to benchmark your CAC against relevant and reliable sources of data, such as industry averages and competitors.

  • Compare CAC: CLV ratio

CAC alone does not necessarily indicate a revealing story about the health of your business, but the story will be more telling when you look to CLV and learn the average amount of revenue that you generate from a customer over the span of the business relationship. Be sure to follow-up with an examination of the CAC: CLV ratio, which tells you the amount of revenue generated per money spent on marketing and sales functions. A common rule of thumb is that your LTV should be at least three times your CAC. This would indicate that you have a positive ROI from your marketing and sales efforts.

Finally, keep in mind that CAC is not a static metric and remember that it can and will vary when impacted by various factors, such as certain fluctuations in your industry, organic changes in your product or service lifecycle, marketplace changes, especially changes in the competitive landscape or pricing. You will be wise to monitor and analyze your CAC regularly and adjust your marketing and sales strategies accordingly. 

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia, PA

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Summer Reading 2025

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Professional development is like getting regular exercise and maintaining a balanced diet—a gift you give to yourself as you strive to become a successful business owner. When thinking of professional development, conferences sponsored by professional associations or skills building courses held at a college may come to mind but think again—professional development is available in a variety formats. Among the most accessible and affordable methods to obtain professional development can be found in books.

Reading has traditionally played an important role in the development of successful business owners and leaders. When you open a book, a world of ideas, information and insights will be there to enlighten you. You’ll find lessons and experiences that can be critical to your growth as a business owner and leader, shared by authors who give first-person accounts of how they overcame challenges and found success. The books you read can teach you how to sharpen your business acumen and use your newfound proficiency to propel your business forward. The practical knowledge contained in a typical business-themed book can result in your discovery of actionable insights that can become competitive advantages, from refining your decision-making prowess to bolstering your effectiveness when working with teams.

In today’s fast-paced and endlessly-evolving business landscape, continuous education is not only beneficial, it’s essential; but in the age of information overload, it may be difficult to find time to read when you devote the majority of your time to operating your business. Furthermore, you may feel too overwhelmed by the process of researching and identifying topics that will be most useful or interesting to you—the business books genre is a wide field. With those realities in mind, I am happy to share with you a selection of books curated to appeal to Freelance consulting professionals and also business owners or leaders. I hope that one or more titles will interest you. First, here are suggestions that may help you find time to read this summer (and beyond!).

  • Schedule. Like scheduling time for any important task, specifying your reading time will help you choose a convenient time and make it easier to honor your commitment to professional development. Consider reading after dinner, to lend a “relax and unwind” vibe to your reading. You may find the 8:00 – 11:00 PM time slot, three or four nights a week, a great way to wrap up your day.
  • Formats. Especially if your commute is 45 minutes or longer, or your fitness routine is self-directed and not in a class format, consider listening to audio books and/or podcasts as your method to obtain professional development. When in transit or working out, insert your headphones and tune in to an interesting book or program that expands your knowledge, builds skills and enhances your performance as a business owner or leader.
  • Topics. There are many business-themed titles published each year, but it is inevitable that only a select few will appeal to you. Reading book reviews of titles that grab your attention—in the business section of your local newspaper, in the Wall Street Journal or other nationally known newspaper, in Kirkus Reviews , or Goodreads—to winnow potential reading choices as you discover and evaluate titles and authors that may appeal to you and maintain your motivation to read and learn. Below are 10 books to cue up on your Summer 2025 reading playlist.

Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business (2019) Paul Jarvis

Online-tech veteran Paul Jarvis, whose A-list clients include Microsoft and Mercedes Benz, describes the advantages of running a “company of one,” whether as an independent Freelance professional or as an autonomous, corporate employee. Jarvis has most emphatically not bought into the “grow or die” ethos and prefers instead to operate as a “lean and agile” entity. Jarvis explains how running your one-person shop enables you to both achieve a work-life balance that works for you and, just as importantly, enables you to avoid the need to navigate a potentially suffocating corporate hierarchy and sometimes poisonous office politics. In your little empire, you can work efficiently. Jarvis has learned that smart entrepreneurship isn’t about size—it’s about building a better business that works for you.

 Company of One details a refreshingly original business strategy that’s focused on a commitment to being better instead of bigger. Jarvis has discovered that staying small results in maintaining the freedom to pursue more meaningful pleasures in life as you avoid the headaches and complications that are inherent in traditional growth-oriented business. With this groundbreaking guide, you’ll learn how to set up your shop, determine your desired revenues, manage unexpected crises, keep your key clients happy and find self-fulfillment as you do.

Competing in the Age of AI (2020) Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani

Here’s a book that is an excellent resource for business owners and leaders whose organizations currently use, or are considering, Artificial Intelligence powered tools in their operations. The authors have produced a useful guide to the realities of doing business in today’s digital landscape and present actionable insights into how introducing AI-driven operating models can enable businesses to achieve scale and scope at an unprecedented rate.

Iansiti and Lakhani show how reinventing a business entity around data, analytics and AI removes centuries-old constraints on scale, scope and machine learning advantages that have traditionally restricted business growth. Recent examples of companies such as Amazon and Google demonstrate how AI-driven processes vastly improve the ability to scale, when compared to traditional data analytical processes, and allow massive scope increase, enabling companies to straddle industry boundaries and create powerful opportunities for machine learning—to drive ever more accurate, complex and sophisticated predictions that make business strategy becomes a new game.

The authors also outline the inherent risks associated with AI and offer recommendations for rethinking current operating models; they also examine the responsibilities that the introduction of AI requires of its users. Finally, Iansiti and Lakhani are transparent about the potential societal impact of AI and point out the potential for algorithmic bias, privacy concerns and cybersecurity threats, along with the need for responsible AI development and governance.

How To Talk To Anyone About Anything (2021) James W. Williams

James W. Williams has written a refreshingly honest, easy-to-follow guide to meeting and greeting and initiating conversations that’s tailor-made for an era when many meetings and even networking opportunities are regularly held in virtual format. As a result, the only avenue to connect with colleagues and attempt to parlay fleeting interactions into deeper connections is hobbled by a computer monitor. Engaging communication skills are increasingly recognized as a powerful and influential competency. 

While some are born with a silver-tongued gift of gab for many, communication aptitude must be developed and nurtured. Williams’ advice is likely to bolster the social acumen of even the most shy and introverted among us, the wallflowers who feel overwhelmed or uncomfortable when attempting to navigate business-slash-social gatherings. If you’ve ever felt awkward in the midst of a meet & greet, or unsure of what to say after an introduction has taken place, this book will show you how to access your communication potential and learn to become a confident conversationalist.

How to Talk to Anyone About Anything provides a user-friendly roadmap that will enable you to practice, grow and eventually shine in social and professional situations. Active listening, small talk and storytelling are situations that the author discusses, as is how to develop the fine art of appearing approachable to your fellow guests when you’re standing alone and wondering if you’ll talk with anyone. Readers will appreciate the many good examples that provide teachable moments and make this book ideal for professionals and social learners alike. Williams’ book is a great soft-skills business resource, that will be a great help to those who struggle with small talk, pitching to clients, or relationship-building within your team. The insights are perfect for occasions where first impressions and informal conversations can open the door to business-enhancing or career-building opportunities.

10X Is Easier Than 2X (2023) Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy

Call this book a must-read for ambitious business leaders. When the mission is to level up business growth, here are insights that give an eye-opening perspective on how to achieve exponential, rather than incremental, growth. This no-nonsense read can give business leaders and owners actionable insights into scaling their businesses rapidly, leveraging technology and resources more effectively and positioning their entity to stay ahead—of the competition and customer tastes—in a rapidly evolving marketplace.

Businesses leaders often aim to achieve progress, for example, and may focus on doubling their results year over year. However, Sullivan and Hardy argue convincingly that aiming for tenfold growth is not only feasible but also more practical and rewarding. As they see it, going for 10x requires letting go of 80% of your current life and going all-in on the crucial 20% that’s relevant and high-impact.

Readers will find practical strategies and mindset shifts that inspire you to break through limitations and achieve exponential growth. The authors emphasize the power of thinking bigger, setting audacious goals and taking massive action. For business owners and leaders, this approach is invaluable as it encourages innovation, pushes boundaries and fosters a culture of continuous improvement.

Acting Up: Winning in Business and Life Using Down-Home Wisdom (2019) Janice Bryant Howroyd

“Never compromise who you are personally to become who you wish to be professionally” is the core message offered by author Janice Bryant Howroyd, who grew up in a family of 11 children. Here she discusses the principles and techniques that she used to build a multinational staffing agency. The author guides readers through questions of leadership, risk-taking, developing confidence and networking, among other topics.

Howroyd also emphasizes the significance of data-driven and strategic business decisions as she simultaneously encourages readers to take a holistic approach to making the most of both their professional and personal lives. The author addresses as well the topic of diversity from the perspective of a black female entrepreneur and urges readers not to define her by demographics. In sum, Howroyd shares in her book the values she lives by and continues to represent: that of a leader who works for good, for growth and for innovation, for her family values and for the same ideals upon which she founded her company—that success is transferrable.

The 1-Page Marketing Plan (2018) by Allan Dib

“The most common way small business owners decide on this (marketing and advertising) is by looking at large, successful competitors in their industry and mimicking what they’re doing. In reality, this is the fastest way to fail and I’m certain it’s responsible for the bulk of small business failures.” Now you know why this book is included in the reading list!

In The 1-Page Marketing Plan, serial entrepreneur and marketer Allan Dib reveals a marketing implementation revolution that makes creating a marketing plan uncomplicated and fast—it’s literally just a single page! By creating and implementing that one-page wonder, you’ll have an effective marketing plan that you can put into motion. Dib understands that small business owners (and Freelance professionals as well) trying to jumpstart their marketing often don’t have adequate resources—money, time, or expertise—provided by employees or Freelance consultants—that big businesses do. The author has devised a credible alternate path that shows how you can create a basic marketing plan to help steer your business in the right direction and, as Dib himself says, puts you on “the fastest path to money”.

Reset: How to Change What’s Not Working (2025) Dan Heath

Reset offers a guide to fixing what’s not working in your business operations—in systems and processes, organizations and companies and even in our daily lives. Author Dan Heath provides real-world stories and actionable insights that can empower you to create lasting change in your organization—and maybe in your life, as well.

What if you could somehow learn to unlock forward movement and achieve the progress that matters most to you, without the need for more resources—like money and connections? Heath shows how, with the same relationships you have and the same financial resources you can access, it is possible to reconfigure the circumstances and bring dramatically better outcomes to your life. Yesterday, you were stuck. Today, you can reset.

The author explores a framework for getting unstuck and making beneficial changes that matter. Heath says that the secret of success is to find the leverage points—places where a bit of effort can yield a disproportionate return. Do that and you can rearrange your resources and activate those pivotal points. Heath also points out that to even experience the feeling of progress can be a leverage point that can accelerate the arrival of the positive change you desire.

The 48 Hour Start-Up: From Idea to Launch in One Weekend (2016) Fraser Doherty

This can’t be done, you say? Well, author and serial entrepreneur and Scottish citizen Fraser Doherty MBE (who was awarded the honorific title Member of the Order of the British Empire for his achievements) begs to differ. In his book, Doherty provides actionable advice on how to identify and shape a viable business idea that is ready to launch in only two days. Doherty’s reasoning behind the 48-hour deadline is simple—he argues that prospective entrepreneurs (aka wantrepreneurs) spend too much time and energy obsessing over the “perfect idea”. The time they waste waiting for the “perfect idea” to appear is time that could be used refining and adapting that business idea for customers who could actually use it.

The book is helpful with the initial decisions that aspiring entrepreneurs must consider when starting a business. In his considerable experience, Doherty has found that launching a business does not have to involve complicated financial projections, elaborate presentations, or extraordinary innovation. A simple, well-executed idea is what it takes to launch and sustain a successful enterprise and Doherty has done it more than once—the first time while still in his teens. 

Doherty also emphasizes that before you invest significant time and resources, quickly reality-test your idea with potential customers and conduct basic market research. The process will help you gauge market demand for your product or service, assess your main competitors, identify and address potential problems early on and, in general, refine your product or service based on the uncensored feedback received from potential customers.

Good Strategy Bad Strategy (2011) Richard Rumelt

It is a given that developing and implementing strategy is the primary task of a leader—whether military leader, business leader, baseball manager, or tennis coach. The definition of a good strategy could be expressed as a specific and coherent response to—and approach for—overcoming the obstacles to progress. A good strategy works by harnessing and applying power where it will have the greatest effect. Yet, author Richard Rumelt asserts that there has been a growing and unfortunate tendency to equate Mom-and-apple-pie values, fluffy buzzwords, motivational slogans and financial goals with “strategy.”

Rumelt displays an astonishing grasp and integration of economics, finance, technology and history to expose and clarify the often-muddled thinking that is the foundation of too many so-called strategies and his book details a clear way to create and implement a powerful action-oriented strategies that will be effective in the real world.

The book helps readers to recognize and avoid the trap of bad strategy and guides them to adopt good, credible, action-oriented strategy that honestly acknowledges and responds to the challenges that businesses encounter. Rumelt cautions readers that strategy should not be equated with ambition, leadership, vision, or planning; rather, strategy is a coherent, action-backed plan supported by a rational argument.

Rumelt emphasizes that strategies are often confused with goals and visions and points out that a plan is what sets strategies apart from goals and gives you a clear idea of what is necessary to succeed. To evaluate and decide which strategies are suitable for your organization, the author says it is necessary to confirm whether you have the resources to implement your strategy and, in addition, ensure that your strategy fits with your current situation. The actions need to fit with your present circumstances and work together to give you the best possible advantage. After this, you’re well on your way to a faultless strategy implementation.

The Courage To Be Disliked (2018) Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga

Strictly speaking, this book is not a business book. One might consider it as an accelerator that gives the determination to push forward with a desire to launch a business entity or achieve other important goals. Kishimi and Koga present their book as a dialogue between an older philosopher and a young man. Over the course of five enlightening and thought-provoking conversations the philosopher, who happens to draw from the theories of Alfred Adler, a late 19th- and early 20th- century psychologist and thought leader in that discipline (along with Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and B. Fred Skinner), explains to his pupil how each of us is able to determine our own life, free from the shackles of past experiences, doubts and the expectations of others. The wisdom that the philosopher reveals is deeply liberating and enables his pupil to develop the courage to change and to ignore the limitations that others, or even the pupil himself, may use to control him.

The result is a book that is both highly accessible and profound in its importance, yet it is not without controversy; certain of authors’ premises you may find shocking or, at least, unrealistic. Still, the book is, at its core, about reclaiming your power and using it to shape the life that is meaningful to you.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©Beli_photos

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Artificial Intelligence–Where Do You Begin?

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I haven’t used AI much, other than inviting this platform to do a free AI review of the posts I write for you, to make sure that the information is reasonably complete, for example, and my vocabulary choices clearly communicate what I want to share. Sometime soon, though, incorporating AI tools into my modest Freelance operation will be inevitable and as a Freelancer who fares best when operating expenses are reined in, thinking strategically about the business functions that will inaugurate my AI roll-out is a must. So as I work through this decision, I’ve decided to take you with me, because you’ll also need to figure out AI for your business needs in the near future. An AI tool is not an impulse buy. To obtain the results you want, big-picture thinking is needed.

  • Assess your current operations: Before spending money and implementing AI technology, review your business processes and identify where an upgrade would make a difference. For example, how might your productivity benefit if you could generate more extensive and specific data insights, or improve the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, or expedite content generation —blog, newsletter, marketing emails? Where might AI create the most value for your organization?
  • Start small: Choose one or two areas to implement AI tools and learn how to produce the results you want. A website chatbot programmed to answer inbound marketing FAQs might be a good place to start.
  • Let AI provide inspiration: In particular when using AI for content creation, remember that AI gives you a draft, such as suggesting good topics, or personalizing marketing messages for diverse audiences. Avoid directly posting AI-generated content on your website or social media accounts as your final version. Check AI suggested sources for accuracy.

Which AI tools are suitable for Freelancers and SMB?

As we head into 2025, it is understood that AI will become an essential resource to promote business growth, identify how to improve competitive positioning and overall move an organization forward. Whether you use AI to generate data analyses, conduct market research, create a revenue forecasting model, or manage customer relationships, these tools are designed to support companies of every size. Whether you’re a Freelance writer, wedding planner, or bookkeeper, there are AI tools that will improve your business operations in many ways, from project management to image creation, search engine optimization to financial projections. One or more of the four AI tools below may get you off to a good start.

Canva

Canva Magic Design makes it easier to design graphics that reflect your brand when you must create presentations, proposals, marketing emails, or other documents. Magic Design (with a complementary feature called Magic Write) is part of all Canva plans, including the free version. Jumpstart your design with either a text query or photo and Magic Design will auto-generate relevant templates that fit your description. With plain text commands and just a few clicks, you can create customized graphic designs. Just describe your preferred image or upload your media and Magic Design will create social media posts, presentations and even videos. No coding and advance design skills required. Subscription is either free, or from $9.99/month for Magic Design Pro.

  • Ask Canva to produce social media graphics for your marketing campaigns.
  • Update webpage template colors and fonts to match your brand color scheme.
  • Turn AI-generated content into a presentation slide deck.
  • Transform Instagram posts into a series of swipeable images known as a LinkedIn carousel post.
  • Upgrade your Canva plan with Magic Design for Presentations or Magic Design for Video.

Asana Intelligence

Asana Intelligence is an add-on to the Asana project management platform and is especially well-suited for IT, marketing and operations needs. Website developers and others who work with multiple clients might use Asana Intelligence to track client projects and write status updates that keep clients informed. Teams may use Asana Intelligence to aid in making shared project management faster and easier. Customer service virtual assistants can speed up client workflows when the Intelligence feature is activated. Users can also ask questions on any work in Asana to receive insights, identify challenges and set up next steps.‍, keeping the client in the loop. This versatility makes Asana Intelligence a nice choice for those responsible for both creative and administrative work. Premium and Business tier Asana plans include the Intelligence feature at no additional cost. Plans start at $10.99 per user, per month.

  • Create automated workflows that activate when someone new joins your Asana team or project.
  • Sort and label projects with auto-generated fields.
  • Generate summaries and action items for projects.
  • Edit project summaries and team messages for voice, tone and clarity.
  • Find data points and information in a project within an Asana workspace.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT is a generative AI chatbot that users can interact with through conversation threads, making it an excellent tool for projects that require lots of Q & A to drill down into specific market challenges, customer pain points, or competitor strengths, for example. Its conversational interface makes ChatGPT great for narrowing down discussions that help you discover the nuances—that might mean an exploration of your customer journey or understanding your customer’s end-user workflows. ChatGPT can also help build a more powerful go-to-market strategy for new product launches by identifying influential players in your target market and revealing relationships and interactions between those influential players that can influence both product or service sales and the customer experience. This step is very helpful to find people to interview and build relationships with to improve your go-to-market strategy. Buy a Plus subscription is $20/month to access what you’ll probably need.

  • Data collection for market research.
  • Discover and explore untapped market opportunities.
  • Write drafts for project proposals.
  •  Identify growth strategies, find ways to reach new audiences and discover insights that position you as an industry thought leader.
  • Create a revenue forecasting model to assist in predicting future financial performance based on historical data and assumptions. Conduct scenario analysis, a financial model that allows users to test different possibilities and assess their impact on financial outcomes.

Lumen5

Lumen5 is an AI video generation platform for marketers. The platform enables those without training or experience to easily create video content by simplifying the process of converting text into engaging visual content. Its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface and automatic text transformation capabilities make video creation much easier, saving time and effort. Storyboarding and video editing are two key advantages. You can use the service to create two kinds of videos:

  • Auto-captioned talking head videos using footage that you upload.
  • Marketing videos based on written presentations, documents, or blog posts.

When creating marketing videos based on a document, the text is all you need. You don’t have to film any footage yourself—Lumen5 will generate visual content that pairs with your words. Lumen5 plans start at $19 per month and allow you to create both videos and AI-generated voice-overs for your clients.

  • Marketers can use the tool to create content for client marketing campaigns.
  • Sales managers can turn presentations into personalized videos for prospects.
  • Freelancers can turn to Lumen5 for help creating their own social media content.

Disadvantages of AI

While AI has numerous highly valuable benefits, the technology also carries potential downsides. Being circumspect about the big picture consequences of implementing AI is important for you, your customers and your community. Think corporate social responsibility.

  • Job displacement–AI’s abilities to automate processes, generate rapid content and work for long periods of time can mean job displacement for human workers.
  • Data quality–AI models are only as good as the data they are trained with. The model will produce unreliable results if the data is incomplete or inaccurate. If you’ve previously used SAAS tools, always double-check the result of AI generated info.
  • Hallucinations–AI systems may inadvertently “hallucinate” or produce inaccurate outputs when trained on insufficient or biased data, leading to the generation of false information. 
  • Ethical concerns–AI systems may be developed in a manner that isn’t transparent, inclusive or sustainable, resulting in a lack of explanation for potentially harmful AI decisions as well as a negative impact on users and businesses.
  • Privacy concerns–The data collected and stored by AI systems may be done so without user consent or knowledge and may even be accessed by unauthorized individuals in the case of a data breach.
  • Environmental costs–Large-scale AI systems can require a substantial amount of energy to operate and process data, which increases carbon emissions and water consumption.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Marciobnws for Shutterstock. The Creation of Artificial Intelligence by Man, an image inspired by The Creation of Adam (1508-1512) by Michelangelo.

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On Avoiding A Cash-Flow Crisis

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On any given day, a Freelancer or small business owner might find him/herself in the suffocating grip of a possibly game-changing marketplace challenge. Anything from flood-producing rains to a wily competitor can cause customers to vanish and profit margins to shrink. It’s a nightmare scenario and, obviously, you must do whatever possible to avoid the problem. Stepping up your marketing with a clever campaign and catchy message, to nurture customer relationships and promote your brand, may be an effective response but be aware that money has a role that goes beyond the well known advantage of being a defense against disaster. 

An effective defensive strategy is about more than simply having enough money to outrun your problem. The key to handling money is to treat it as an asset and take steps to manage your cash by following its flow through your business. Do that by studying your sales revenues and accounts receivables, that is, money that flows into your business and also your accounts payable, meaning, the money spent on business expenses such as rent, utilities, payroll and inventory. 

The benefits of vigilant cash-flow management practices are not to be underestimated. According to 2023 data produced by Minneapolis, MN based U.S. Bank, poor cash management and insufficient cash-flow are implicated in 82% of business failures. Poor cash-flow shows its teeth in several ways, including:

  • Cash-flow gaps A cash-flow gap is a frightening emergency that occurs when a business pays expenses, for example, inventory or supplies, but does not receive the expected inflow of money within a reasonable time-frame. A shortfall is a warning that the business needs more cash, in a hurry. Maybe you’re waiting for a customer or two to pay invoices? Consistently expanding cash-flow gaps undermine working capital that can leave your business strapped financially, potentially putting it in a dangerous position if not addressed.
  • Managing seasonal revenue fluctuations  Seasonal businesses frequently face significant cash-flow challenges. A typical example is that of restaurants that operate in summer resort locations. During the peak season of Memorial Day (last week in May) through Labor Day (first week in September), these restaurants welcome an endless stream of customers, who pack the premises and overwhelm staff. Revenues are robust while the peak season lasts but in the off-season, greatly diminished revenues can trigger cash-flow gaps that cause the business struggle to maintain financial stability.
  • Opportunities beyond reach Expecting the unexpected, being agile and ready to act, is among the most valuable leadership qualities of a business owner, whether it’s the owner of a neighborhood dry cleaner to the CEO of a multi-national conglomerate. A business needs to be in a strong financial position to take advantage of interesting opportunities as they arise, whether that’s buying out a competitor, opening a new location, or launching a new product—the ability to act quickly usually makes all the difference. Without sufficient available cash, your growth and expansion plans will be hobbled, causing you to miss the boat on potentially lucrative opportunities.

Loans and credit cards are not the only options

When looking to resolve a cash shortfall, many business owners think of contacting their bank to discuss options for a business loan or credit card. Your business banker is there to support you in many ways but finding a solution to your cash crunch might more logically begin with your bookkeeper or accountant. S/he may not warm to the idea of you taking on debt associated with a loan or an increased line of credit; s/he may be more inclined to recommend that you become more vigilant about your entity’s cash management and make a modest investment in a cash management software package instead.

The power of cash management: cash-flow and forecasting

The purpose of cash management is to ensure that your business is able to pay expenses (accounts payable). Cash-flow management tracks how much money enters the business bank account—e.g., through sales revenue, accounts receivable payments, interest from investments—and leaves the business bank account for accounts payable. Cash management procedures position your business to both monitor expenses (and minimize or eliminate unnecessary expenses), make prudent financial decisions and, hallelujah, create and maintain a healthy cash reserve that will insulate your business from the financial instability. You’ll get your financial house in order and attain the means to pursue business opportunities that can further enhance financial stability.

Cash management software works by shining a light on money problems so that you can take corrective action in a hurry. Cash management software enables the user (you and/or your bookkeeper) to quickly and accurately monitor, analyze and pinpoint cash-flow problems. So, persistently late payments of customer invoices that cripple business cash-flow will be brought to your attention and signal that steps to speed up accounts receivables should be taken. Other cash-flow optimization benefits will likewise be made clear from the data that emerges from your cash management software, including the ability to accurately determine the amount of cash needed to cover accounts payable obligations and create a reasonable forecast of your entity’s future financial health.

Good cash management software will also have cash-flow forecasting capabilities to help you manage cash in the future, by creating “what-if” scenarios that let you evaluate various potential outcomes simultaneously. You’ll also be able to calculate expenses and ensure there is enough incoming cash to pay up. The best cash-flow management software will also have cash-flow forecasting capabilities to help you manage cash in the future and make the future of your business entity bright. Click link to learn how you can get started. https://www.trustradius.com/cash-flow-management

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Mother Counting Money, by Johann Georg Mayer von Bremen (Germany, 1813-1886)

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Building a Referral Partnership

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Now that you’ve got your business up and running, beating the odds and experiencing some success—congratulations!— ambition may bring thoughts of growing your entity. It’s natural that you’ll want to realize the dream that drove you to launch a business. You’ll wonder how you might continue to grow your customer base and revenue and become a force in your marketplace.

You’re dreaming big but you’re also pragmatic; you’d prefer to attain growth without taking on onerous debt or committing to some other risky strategy. Your choice of strategies may be limited but there is at least one that, over time, has the potential to deliver the growth you’d like to see without putting a dent in your budget. Your ideal growth strategy could be a referral partnership.

A referral partnership is an agreement in which business entities refer customers to one another. A well-chosen and consistently executed referral partnership agreement can become an important element of a business growth strategy and enable the participating businesses to reach new markets and access new customers to whom they can introduce their respective brands as they book additional revenue. While the reciprocal benefits of referred customers is the foundation of the agreement, in some instances a bonus might be paid for referrals that result in a sale or billable hours. Negotiating an agreement that is considered advantageous to the parties is crucial to building a successful and sustainable referral partnership agreement.

The principal building block of a successful referral partnership is your list of potential partners whose customers can be reasonably expected to become your customers as well, as your own customers can likewise be recommended to your referral partner’s business as a potential customer. The viability of a referral partnership rests on what you and your partner can offer one another.

When you think of business colleagues, or even your customers, whose product and/or service line complements, but does not compete with, your offerings you can create a short list of potential candidates and discuss the possibility of creating a referral partnership. There are other factors to consider when selecting those you’d like to discuss a referral partnership, as you might expect, including identifying a potential partner who shares your values and whose customers can be expected to have the motivation to do business with you and vice versa.

Once you have selected a partner, it is important to develop a clear plan for how the referral partnership will work and expectations for its performance. It should also outline the roles and responsibilities of each party.

Building blocks of a sustainable referral partnership

  • Trust

Trust is a core aspect of finding the right fit in a business partner, and evaluating trustworthiness often comes down to conversations, track record and intuition. This is why it’s essential to take the time to have those pivotal discussions around vision, values, professional and personal background. Sadly, the business relationship you went into with such high hopes and visions of the money the parties will make is closer to fantasy than reality. In fact, some 50 to 80% of partnerships fail in the first few years. Before you finalize a deal, build a strong foundation of mutual respect and trust with your referral partner to increase your chances of success.

  • Similar values

To create a beneficial small business partnership, there needs to be common ground. For this reason, it’s important to ensure your prospective partner shares business goals and values that are aligned with yours. This goes beyond the desire to simply make a profit — it means confirming that you share similar core values that guide how you conduct business.

  • Define roles and responsibilities

Although there’s no legal requirement for a written contract that details the terms of a referral partnership agreement, getting things on paper will help participants to establish accountability, avoid miscommunication and defuse the potential for conflict that might arise from an underwhelming outcome, for example. Your referral partnership document can summarize the expected duties that participants will undertake to promote, whenever appropriate, selected products and services of a referral partner. A written agreement demonstrates that each participant is satisfied with the terms, in particular the amount of work that must be done to generate viable referrals. The terms and conditions of your referral partnership agreement might reasonably include:

  • Describe the responsibilities and expectations of participating companies (owners and staff)
  • Define what constitutes a referral
  • When referral bonuses (if applicable) will be paid and the amount paid per referral
  • Length of the partnership
  • Results that define success or failure
  • Timeline for assessing initial results and for declaring the partnership a success or failure
  • How the partnership can be terminated

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Everett Collection, photo by Conrad Hall (1970 Academy Award Best Cinematography) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) starred Robert Redford (L) as the Sundance Kid and Paul Newman as his partner in crime Butch Cassidy. The film was nominated for Best Director and Best Picture at the Academy Awards and won four Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography.

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How Does Your Garden Grow?

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Sales at your business venture have finally taken off and it looks like you’ve created a winner—-fantastic! Because you’re ambitious, you’re already thinking about how to capitalize on your success. You’re looking to grow because sustainable growth is the key to maintaining a thriving businesses. But let’s slow down for a minute and talk about how you might grow your venture? Business growth has different meanings and one or more paths can be taken to achieve it. What you’ll need to successfully grow your business is the right growth strategy.

As always, big decisions demand careful thought and you’d be wise to analyze the relevant business metrics and also the marketplace in which as you operate as you ponder the kind of growth you should pursue for your organization. The path to growing your business must fit your marketplace conditions, be acceptable to target customers and enable the venture to thrive within its competitive landscape.

Researching the state of your industry, local business conditions and your marketplace are among the steps you’ll take to assess growth possibilities for your venture. Analyzing your customer base and documenting the rate of its expansion over, say, the past 12-24 months is an obviously important step you’ll want to take, as is studying the pace of sales revenue. Information and insights you discover will shape the expectations and goals for growth and allow you to build a timeline and budget for your chosen growth strategy.

Your business growth plan should be attuned to specific areas of growth. For example, your research and analysis may lead you to conclude that revamping a couple of your B2B services could be expected to substantially increase sales revenue derived from a niche market that you have the credibility and resources to enter. Or maybe relationships that you’ve developed in another city will allow you to grow your client list / customer base by expanding to establish a beach head there.

In many ways, your primary task is to figure out why the business is successful. What market conditions exist or what competitive advantage have you created that enabled the business to thrive? The answer to that question will help you decide the growth strategy to follow. The following are strategies that you might pursue to grow your venture.

Market penetration strategy

Continuing to sell your current products and services to a greater number of customers and in that way scale up the volume of sales revenue derived from your current market. A market penetration strategy is a product market strategy where you achieve increased dominance in the market in which you currently operate. The company grows by increasing market share.

Market expansion strategy

Entering a new market where you sell current products and services. A market expansion strategy means you’ll plan to sell current products and services to a new customer demographic because you’ve maxxed out growth potential in the company’s current target customers. Being able to successfully follow a market expansion strategies you’ll first confirm that you have actually topped out on sales in the current configuration of your market.

Next, research potentially viable new markets, evaluate your ability to reach customers in that market and create a plan to launch. Brand development and customer acquisition will be key components in a market expansion growth strategy.

Product expansion

Launching a new product or service to sell in your current market. The ability to achieve growth for some businesses requires that the company needs to introduce a new product or service. Product development, that is, the creation of a new product/service, or the enhancement of an existing product/ service, enables the company to attract new customers and as it retains the existing customer groups.

Diversification

Launching new products or services to sell to a new market. Diversification can be a proactive way to avoid the fallout of an economic downturn. By offering different products and services, a company can lessen the negative impact of a recession. Pivot to survive.

For smaller organizations, what is technically known as horizontal diversification is most useful. The company will add new products or services to its current line. The products or services may be new, but they often have a similarity to the original product/ service. The company diversifies its line with a clever tweak that expands in a desirable way the options to the customer. You may add a refinement or some sort of updated (or pared down) option that appeals to shifting customer priorities and preferences.

Acquisition

Buying out or taking a controlling interest in another company. Acquisitions are usually only a viable growth strategy if you have excellent cash flow and a generous line of credit at the bank, or a group of deep-pocket investors available. If you have access to money, growing your business through an acquisition is the way to go. You can reduce competition by acquiring a direct competitors, for example. You can also obtain proprietary technology that confers to you a significant competitive advantage. Market share and customer share increase because you capture a new customer base.

To my American friends I wish a happy 4th of July! To everyone, thanks for reading,

Kim

Photo: © Kim Clark June 11, 2021. The James P. Kelleher Rose Garden in Boston’s Emerald Necklace

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How Freelancers Scale Up

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According to the Small Business Association in 2018, there were 30.2 million small businesses (< 500 employees) in the US and 80%, 24.3 million, were one-person ventures, i.e., Solopreneurs. Although just under 6 million small businesses have paid employees, those businesses nevertheless employ 47.6% of private sector workers, 59 million of 124 million employed Americans (factoring out government and not-for-profit organizations—schools, hospitals, social welfare agencies, the arts, religious institutions). BTW, there are fewer than 20,000 large businesses in the country—19, 464 in 2018. 2017/08/04125711/Frequently-Asked-Questions-Small-Business-2018.pdf

I suppose it can be said that in American business small is beautiful, or perhaps more accurately, small is the reality. Many of those 24.3 million Solopreneurs attempt to turn what could easily be called a Weakness in the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) strategic planning matrix into a Strength (me!) and use terms such as “boutique” to describe our business, along with marketing-spin phrases such as “personalized service” to communicate to prospective customers that the experience of doing business with us will be very positive and that no one is treated as a commodity.

Operating a boutique business is all well and good, however “boutique” can easily turn into “broke” if the proprietor continues to just scrape along, trying to bring in enough customers to pay the rent and keep the lights on. In order to make a go of being a business owner/ operator, it is necessary to scale the business. A business has successfully scaled when it can deliver its products and services to a significantly larger customer base while maintaining or improving operational efficiency and quality control. Good strategy and execution are needed to scale, but it’s often do-able. Read on and learn tactics and inspiration that will help you decide how to scale your venture.

Scale the Brand

The process for scaling your Freelance business starts with knowing, articulating and communicating your Brand. To attract more clients so that you can double or even triple your roster over a 3-year period, for example, you must communicate in various ways—client testimonials, case studies, LinkedIn recommendations, social media, company website, your newsletter or blog and other marketing channels—that you are highly competent, trustworthy and dependable. You deliver every time and you meet and often exceed client expectations. You bring value. Invent a Branding tagline to help yourself stand out from the 24 + million Freelancers in America and add it to your email signature block.

Be advised that Branding doesn’t simply refer to the colors you use for your business card or logo. Branding encompasses all client touch points during which your client encounters or interacts with you and your company, from the initial contact with you, interaction with employees, the tone of emails, visiting and navigating your website, your payment and billing systems, social media posts, advertising and everything in between. Articulating and communicating your Brand not only enhances the perception of your know-how as a Freelancer, but also makes it easier to scale your business in the future.

Scale client acquisition

Freelancers tend to get stuck in a rut of competing for projects in the same way over and over. We find a tactic that works, whether it’s cold emailing potential clients or applying for jobs posted on sites like Upwork.com and Guru.com. One will eventually figure out how to get hired on those sites, but you’ll still leave a lot of work on the table. It’s been reported that 27% of Freelancers find assignments via referrals made by friends, family and clients; 24% find projects through online job boards, email marketing and social media platforms like LinkedIn ProFinder. How can you make the most of these sources?

You don’t have to chase down all possibilities but do get into the habit of exploring alternative client acquisition methods, to get your name and expertise in front of a wider audience. Your current clients are also a potential source of referrals (I’ve been lucky enough to have that happen). Get the ball rolling by making a referral for your client first, so that you will come to mind if one of the client’s colleagues could use your services. BTW, unless you’re in IT, job boards attract clients who low-ball the money. Not only that, but Upwork now requires Freelancers to pay to submit a proposal and then pay again 20% of the fee when one is hired. I will not pay to apply for a job and that service is off my list.

Scale your network

Networking can potentially deliver significant benefits that accrue from the relationships you build. Networking helps us meet new friends, find a future spouse, get invited to join a board, learn of a house for sale when we’re looking to move, or get a job referral. Networking will also bring to you potential collaborators, for those times that you need to bring in a Freelancer colleague in order to take on a bigger project, or the gift of community support when it would be helpful (and when is it not?).

Start building your professional network ASAP, compiling connections who are Freelancers themselves and maybe also potential clients. Try connecting with fellow Freelancers in the comment section of industry blogs and industry-related LinkedIn and Facebook groups and participating in relevant Twitter discussions.

Scale your skills

Whatever one does for a living there is always training and development involved, that is, if one is lucky, because professional development is an investment in you and no one can take it away once you have it. In order to find work, the Freelancer must be considered a trusted expert. To be considered an expert, one must be better than the rest and that means your knowledge and skills must be bleeding edge current.

When preparing to scale your business you have to grow as a person and a professional and that means learning new skills, keeping up with the newest trends and learning to use applicable tech tools. This can be challenging, as well as time consuming, but what you learn can perhaps lead to new business ideas, smarter planning for the future and implementing new systems and approaches. Online education sites like Coursera, Udemy and Codecademy are a good place to start. Serving on a board, teaching and even judging a business award (I’ve judged the Stevie Awards/ Women in Business category https://stevieawards.com/women for 6 years) are other ways to keep skills current and learn new competencies (and network as you do).

Scale your creativity

To effectively scale your Freelance gig and transform it into an enterprise, you need to break out of your service-based mentality and the best way to do that is to create a product to sell. Think about it—once you’ve created your e-book, course, or physical product, you can sell it over and over, whereas you’re limited to providing a certain amount of services per week to clients.

Not only does a product give you the ability to reach many more people, but creating a product also provides you with passive income, giving you more time to work on other areas of your business. Put on your thinking cap and see what you can dream up. An e-book or online courses are probably the most accessible products for B2B service providers to produce. I don’t have an online course to sell (yet), but I’ve been teaching business-related subjects for more than a dozen years.

Scale your systems

In order to grow, one needs the tools to keep revenue consistently coming in at a steady and abundant pace. To support opportunities for that business growth, it pays to systematize certain business functions and responsibilities. Outsourcing gives you the pleasure of employing a fellow Freelancer as you devote more time to the pursuit of lucrative clients or identifying another product to sell.

Invoicing, bookkeeping, newsletter or blog editing and social media account management are popular outsourcing functions because they do not require a deep knowledge of your business. Outsourcing (or automating) routine tasks gives you the time you need to work on your business, not in your business and that will enable you to scale.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Photograph: (Reuters) Master Baker Bartolo “Buddy” Valastro, owner of Carlo’s Bakery in Hoboken, NJ and star of the reality television show Cake Boss (TLC)

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Challenges That Impact the Solopreneur Enterprise

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There are always challenges associated with operating one’s own business venture. Some challenges are formidable while others are merely annoying.  Many are common and probably inevitable.  Anticipation and preparation are the best defenses and can mostly be addressed in your business plan and its subsequent updates.

TIME CONSTRAINTS

Employees can, on occasion, walk into their office, close the door, and choose to be non-productive for most of the day.  Solopreneurs do not have that luxury.  We must meet or exceed the expectations of clients and prospects every time and hit a home run whenever we walk up to the plate.

Solopreneurs are often faced with a lengthy daily to-do list— client work to perform, a meeting to attend, a workshop to develop, a class to teach, an event with probable networking potential to attend.  Furthermore, there are business operations to maintain, such as financial management, marketing, prospecting and customer service. Every item is mandatory.

Over time, fatigue and a sense of being overwhelmed can develop.  Even depression can manifest. The successful Solopreneur must learn to manage and prioritize routine tasks and in fact consider removing some from the plate through outsourcing.  The judicious use of technological tools that save both time and money is smart management, as they help business processes and customer service operate seamlessly.

Click  here  and  here  to assess no-cost and low-cost apps that not only record the time you spend on project work, but also invoice clients and in some instances, accept accounts receivable payments online.

FOUNDER’S SYNDROME

The reality of a single-person shop is that services that generate billable hours cannot be delivered unless the founder is on the job and able to produce them. That means, if you’d like to attend a multi-day skills training session or take a one or two week vacation, be certain to allow adequate time to make key preparations that will help you to discreetly step away from center stage for a few days.

Tasks that you’ve outsourced, e.g. invoicing or bookkeeping, can continue as pre-arranged, but the production and delivery of the services that are the business must be put on hold until you return.  Learn how to prepare your business for your absence (in this case, a vacation) when you click here.

HOW TO GROW

You work alone and that is why you are called Solopreneur.  To promote the expression of your creativity and ingenuity, it will be wise to remove certain routine tasks from your plate, as noted above.  Grow your organization by giving yourself adequate time to concentrate on the money making functions of a business owner: client acquisition and retention, recognizing potential new revenue streams, including niche markets you might enter, effective and timely business strategies to implement, collaborations, beneficial partnerships and networking.

If you elect to continue to perform all administrative tasks as you work to grow and sustain the business, quality control might become an issue.  Spreading oneself too thin is inadvisable and may result in sub par work, diminished customer service, poor decision-making and fatigue. It is far more preferable to spend the money on outsourced help so that you can maintain or enhance the expectations of your brand.

In closing, I reiterate that when you write a business plan, you will be encouraged to acknowledge and prepare in advance for most of the business challenges mentioned.  The initial marketing plan, financial plan and business model will keep you from falling prey to client list, money management and growth challenges.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Mosaic depicting the Amazon queen Melanippe, courtesy of the Haleplibahce Museum in Urfa, Turkey.

 

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Resources to Grow Your One Person Shop

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Every business owner dreams of growing his/her venture into a thriving entity and some even enact plans to make that happen. Once in a while, a business owner has the good fortune to create a venture that takes off like a rocket but usually, building a business is a slow boil. Whatever your circumstances, it will take time and resources to grow and expand your enterprise.

Most business owners and Freelancers think first of investment capital, an additional product or service line, or increasing the client list and billable hours when contemplating what it will take to grow revenues and profit, but the process of building a bigger business almost always requires additional staffing as well. For the typical business, that means deciding whether new staff members will be full or part-time employees. Freelancers face a different picture, however, since most work alone. Still, additional staffing will make it possible for you to more quickly and effectively position your Freelance consultancy for growth.

So what kind of hired help might a Freelancer bring on, once the growth strategy has been determined? Start by considering which of your business functions might be successfully outsourced, perhaps to a fellow Freelancer. Specialized tasks, such as your quarterly tax preparation and filing, can be performed by a Freelance bookkeeper. Your new bookkeeper will also be able to prepare and send 1099 forms to those who bill $600 or more/year to you for professional services rendered. Furthermore, your bookkeeper can ready the information that you’ll deliver to your accountant for the annual tax preparation and filing.

Accounts receivable and accounts payable functions are other tasks that a bookkeeper can take on, since these are financial transactions. Accounts receivable management means invoicing, a task that many Freelancers have difficulty keeping up with. You’ll have to supply information about the project fee, payment schedule, hourly rate and hours worked for each billable client, but the invoices will be prepared and emailed on time. Moreover, a savvy bookkeeper will give you valuable advice about maintaining healthy business cash-flow and other financial management suggestions.

Marketing tasks, including the editing of your blog and/or newsletter (which you may prefer to continue writing yourself), is another business function that might be successfully outsourced to a fellow Freelancer. If LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms play a regular part in your marketing campaigns, then contact a social media marketing expert to discuss how s/he can help your organization.

A talented marketing expert will bring a fresh perspective and innovative ideas that can reinvigorate your overall marketing strategy, refine your approach to social media and also manage social media postings on your preferred platforms. Not only that, your Freelance marketing specialist will read and analyze statistics for each platform and use the info to guide future campaigns.

When you’ve removed a few important, yet time-consuming, tasks from your plate, you can then freely direct a laser focus on finding and creating opportunities that will ensure that you achieve business goals. You’ll design and implement an effective launch strategy for the new products or services you plan to introduce. You’ll have time and energy to network your way into a longer client list or pursue new or niche markets that will enlarge your customer base and pump up your billable hours and sales revenue. You might also explore outside funding sources that will allow you to purchase new equipment or open your first office.

Now that you understand the role that staffing plays in business growth, let’s take a look at the hiring process. Personal referrals are usually a good place to start and no doubt between the contacts you’ve made at business association events that you at least occasionally visit and your list of contacts, potential candidates will surface. You might also try an online resource such as LinkedIn ProFinder or Upwork. The Freelancers on these sites are carefully vetted and closely monitored to ensure that they meet client expectations. As you interview potential hires, keep a few things in mind:

EXPERIENCE—Does the candidate possess the necessary skill set to be an asset to you and your business? Ask to see examples of the kind of work that you’ll request.

RAPPORT—You will discuss matters close to your heart with this person, so it will be important that the two of you communicate well and get along.

AVAILABILITY—Does the candidate have time to take on the projects that you need to get done? If you envision just 4-6 hours of work per month, for example, is the candidate willing to take on such an assignment? Also, if you expect emails and phone calls to be answered on the same business day, make that known. Get agreement on when the business day begins and ends and how each of you expects requests made over the weekend to be handled.

FEE—Shop around and get quotes from three or four service providers, but understand that the lowest fee may not result in the best value for dollars spent.

REFERENCES—Inquire as to the types of clients your candidate has worked with. Ask to speak with two current or former clients, so that you understand the depth of expertise and the type of customer service that your candidate provides.

Thanks for reading,
Kim

Photograph: Nina Leen, 1948. Eileen Ford (1922-2014), co-founder with her husband Jerry Ford (d.2008) of the Ford Modeling Agency, at their New York City office. Ford Modeling Agency represented supermodels through the decades, including Cheryl Tiegs, Lauren Hutton, Naomi Campbell, Suzy Parker and Jeannie Shrimpton.