How to generate business in a recession for less than $50
Posted on Sun, Apr 19, 2009 @ 11:56 PM
entrepreneur: "the relentless pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources." - by Harvard Business School Professor Bill Sahlman
I attended a forum sponsored by the Daly City/Colma Chamber of Commerce that featured Dr. Victor Cheng. A Stanford graduate, business consultant, marketing expert and guest contributor for various financial news outlets such as MSNBC and Wall Street Journal, Cheng shared his words of wisdom to approximately 100 small business owners recently. His simple, attainbable and affordable strategies apply to any type of industry and size as follows:
- Provide special offers or incentives exclusive to your company's services
- Take advantage of referrals and name dropping
- Revisit old prospects and leads
- Build an email list and/or newsletter updating contacts (current partners and potential partners) of updates, news, and current events
- Contact complimentary businesses and cross promote each other's services
- In addition to sending "Thank you" acknowledgments to partners, identify and highlight them in your annual reports or newsletters of their status and contribution
- Hire unpaid interns. They gain valuable work experience in exchange for your references and referrals. They also could be future employees in the making.
- Barter with other businesses
- Provide Internship opportunities
- Promote goodwill within the business and local community.