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This article was prepared for the
November 7, 2001 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights
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Morph to Take Advantage of a Changed Economy
Ignore reports of reduced corporate spending.
“People
are always going to be spending money,” says Marc Kramer,
principal of Kramer Communications in Downington, Pennsylvania. Maybe
an IT budget has been cut by 25 percent, he gives as an example, but
a drop from $100 million to $75 million means there is still money
to be made. Anyone with IT products and services to sell should go
ahead and pitch them — but only after researching the best way
to do so.
Kramer speaks on “How to Improve Sales in a Down Economy,”
on Tuesday, November 13, at 11:30 a.m. at a meeting of the Venture
Association at the Westin Hotel in Morristown. Call 973-267-4200.
Kramer’s consulting business provides a range of services, including
marketing plans, customer retention plans, and business sales plans.
Most of his clients are in the technology, finance, and service
industries.
A graduate of West Virginia University (Class of 1982), he set out
to be a journalist, covering sports and writing features for the
Ingersoll
newspaper chain. He found journalism “a very stressful
business”
with a high divorce rate, and one that doesn’t pay particularly well.
So he switched directions, working in accounting and consulting for
a number of companies.
U.S. Web was Kramer’s last employer. A recently hired partner, he
had just leased an office in Philadelphia and extended job offers
to 17 employees when U.S. Web told him its quarterly numbers were
down. The company changed its mind about the Philadelphia office,
and told Kramer to move to Boston.
“If you move to Boston, we’re staying here,” was his wife’s
reaction. “Start your own business,” she said. And he did.
Already Kramer had been consulting on his own part time. “It’s
the only way you can have control of your life,” he says of the
life of an entrepreneur. “Right now there’s no loyalty in
business.”
Being an employee is akin to having just one client, he says. A bump
in the road, and you’re left with nothing. No income at all, and the
unpleasant prospect of job hunting.
Still, drumming up business is a vital part of life as a business
of one, and doing so is not as easy this year as it has been for the
better part of the last decade. The flexible entrepreneur can still
land business, though, Kramer says. Here’s how.
Diversify. One of Kramer’s clients is an HR firm thatplaces temporary workers in corporations. Demand is way down. At thesame time, corporations are laying off in droves. “They needoutsourcing,”says Kramer. This too is an HR function, so Kramer advised his clientto broaden his business, and to start offering outsourcing.Businesses in any number of niches can similarly branch out, addingservices that use their skills and are more in line with what clientsneed in a pinched economy. As an example, he says media outlets,havinglost some advertising from consumer-oriented accounts, might contactbanks to see if they have repossessed buildings they need to get ridof and might want to advertise for sale.Interview clients. Sometimes it is fairly easy todeterminethe broad outlines of corporate requirements from paying closeattentionto the news. Other times, these requirements are not so easy to read.In these cases, Kramer suggests that entrepreneurs take a directapproach,and ask their clients — and potential clients — exactly whatit is they need now. Assume they do have some money to spend, andsome problems that need to be solved, and figure out how your companycan provide the answers.Don’t stray too far. In repositioning your company totake advantage of corporations’ new priorities, be prepared to moveinto new business areas — but don’t move too far. If you stickwith an industry you know, you can mine known contacts and provideinsight gained from related work.Keep adding clients. Kramer says his observations of otherentrepreneurs have convinced him that the successful ones know howto juggle clients, and avoid depending on too few. “It can takethree months to get a client,” he says. That is if everythinggoes smoothly. It is not unusual for the back and forth and approvalsup the corporate chain to take a year.And once a contract is won, there are often delays. The project thatis supposed to be completed in four weeks can stretch to 12 if keyplayers on the client’s team are traveling or tied up on otherprojects.Meanwhile, the entrepreneur is not getting paid. Spreading work amongmany clients is the answer. Kramer suggests that five to sevenprojectsat a time provides a good balance.Keeping the deals going is a challenge, especially now, butfor Kramer, this is a small price to pay for living the life of anentrepreneur. He is confident in his skills, and that provides moresecurity than a job ever could.Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
