The Best Way Small Business Owners Can Generate Immediate Revenue

Say you just lost your largest client, or you want to get your new business off to a great start.

The point is that you want (need) new revenue quickly.

Here’s how to get it.

This is going to take a bit of moxy — you will need to get out of your shell to do this face-to-face.

Get out in your community right now.  I’m not talking about a networking meeting.  Attending a typical networking meeting can work quite well over the longer term, however, they are not a feast of grab-and-go revenue.

Instead, start visiting businesses.  Go to a business park and open every door that you can find.  Yes, I am serious.  The front doors are typically unlocked, and there is usually someone there who can help you.  I did this recently with a client and was amazed to see how many times the person behind the front desk said things such as, “Your timing is pretty good.  We were just talking about this yesterday.”  This door-to-door tactic works well if you sell to other businesses AND for those of you who sell directly to consumers.

Just last week I visited with a new food business that was just at the first few weeks of getting launched.  The owners were flying high from just having canvassed their business park.  “We just got finished going door-to-door collecting names of people here who might be interested in our sandwiches.  We send out an email in the morning telling them about our special of the day.  They reply telling us how many they want.”  When I visited only 4 days later they were counting a stack of cash from sales to the very people they had signed up.

Want to know what other business should do door-to-door canvassing?  Dog trainers!  I was surprised to see how many people take their dogs to work.  Sometimes the dog greeted us before the owners did.

If things are running tight, and you need the extra boost to get over the mental defeat of loosing a big client, do not expect to get over the hump while hiding behind email.  Sure, I like doing business via email as much as anyone else, but it is hard to establish new, solid relationships this way.  My motto is “Establish relationships face-to-face; Maintain them electronically.