Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi, guys!

I am a solo entrepreneur, and my small size has been a problem when approaching much larger companies with partnership/cross-promoting ideas.

The problem is that I cannot partner with smaller, local companies because the offer(s) we provide would be of no use to my out of state clients.  Therefore, I must partner with businesses that also do business nationally.

Even though I have tried to promote other aspects of the partnership and acknowledged the fact that one person cannot directly impact the sales of a multimillion dollar company, it seems that all they can focus on is the size of my business!  I`ve heard "Great idea, but if you were a larger company, this would be more mutually beneficial."

I`m just looking for input from others who may have experienced a similar situation.  I may just have to keep trying and/or realize that being a solo entrepreneur can be a huge obstacle. 

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Kristen Hallows, BBA, CPC
Job You Deserve Career Coaching
www.jobyoudeserve.com

Join me on Coach of the Airwaves!
www.coachoftheairwaves.com/?page_id=58

Hi Kristen,

Yes, I have ran into that situation quite a few times before. Some things I have done to help me build work around situations:

(1) Make one of your strategic partners a staffing company. Then you can find help as needed if you get overwhelmed.

(2) Tell the company that you provide the service for that you will not be doing the work that you will provide a team of people dedicated to supporting them (and use a Virtual Assistant or a service such as guru.com) to find someone that can support you and be your first point of contact (if the job does not require you to physically be on site).

(3) Can the service you are trying to sell be offered in an online course? If you could automate some of the course or program and physically do part of it, then perhaps people would not think that they would have to rely on you to do `everything`.

(4) Pool your talents, resources and expertise with your competitor or a few of them. I know it sounds crazy but this was one of the best things I did to get my business to the next level.  We did not merge our businesses, we just created a collective alliance so that we could pursue certain kinds of jobs that would be difficult for any of us to get individually otherwise. It also works out great when you have to make new purchases (because you can divide costs) as well as when you are on travel as someone will always be available. I did it with a niche part of my business that was in training. Like any partnership it has its cons as well, so you have to be careful who you choose to work with and they have to be able to see the big picture and compromise a little as well. Make sure you use a lawyer to draft up your agreement.

(5) Sub contract to the company as a consultant instead. So instead of doing the actual job for them start by consulting on how to choose a such company to do what it is that you are trying to do. A few things could happen as a result. They could see how your program truly is valuable and how you could manage it by yourself or  you could negotiate the contract with the vendor for them.  You can collect a percentage (or lead generation fee) for closing the deal and stay on as a consultant in the long term to be the primary point of contact and follow on person once the contract is in place. You will probably find other ways in which you could consult them as well once you are in there.

Hope it works out for you.

Good Luck,

Shonika

 

Hi Shonika!

Sorry it took me so long to respond!  You mentioned a lot of great ideas.

Specifically, I like the online course idea.  I`ve been trying to think of ways to "productize" my services.  A course or book that`s easy to buy from my Web site would be great.  I`m actually working on the book idea right now.

I`ve also heard about the concept of forming some kind of an alliance with a competitor.  I agree that it could be a wonderful, mutually beneficial idea.

Thanks a lot for your post!  It`s good to know that I`m not the only one going through this stuff.  Good luck with everything, and I love your Web site! 

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Kristen Hallows, BBA, CPC
Job You Deserve Career Coaching
www.jobyoudeserve.com

Join me on Coach of the Airwaves!
www.coachoftheairwaves.com/?page_id=58

HI Kristen,

I`m glad you found some of the tips helpful.  My new website is being relaunched...taking a little longer than what I had anticipated 

But if you love my current website....you will REALLY love my new one  I will say it is more `reflective` of me and my vision as it has been re-defined over the last year. I will let you know when it`s up (probably this Wednesday or Thursday) because I know when you see it, it will definitely trigger a lot of ideas for you (and you can see how I utilize a few different `free` marketing tools via the internet and also how I brand myself. I am sure you have to deal with this as well when they are like...."I Have Never Heard of Her"...you have to make them think...`Well you are one of the few" ;-)

I also have an e-book that I recently published which lists 101 Ways to to Market and Grow Your Small Business and it is for solo-preneurs (all the stuff I did over the past 14 months or so to help me grow my client base). It is not made for Internet Marketers like a lot of ebooks are but it is made for small business owners and solo-preneurs who want to learn some ways that they can `creatively` and `resourcefully` grow their small business. So I am happy to share this with you (at no charge) if you think that it might be helpful to you.  Let me know.

Best,

Shonika