Deals on the go
When you are an entrepreneur, you just love to strike deals. Trust me, the future of your business depends on how connected you can be. Aside from creating a massive customer base, you have to build a resilient 'line of production base'. Many underrate this and fall victim when they become incapacitated with production. One of the worse things to happen to a business is to latter make customers mark you as 'incapable to deliver'.
Business has not gone as I expected actually. Nevertheless, down time can be an opportunity. I must learn to take advantage of my disadvantages. Instead of folding ARMs to be emotional, I keep hitting the positive lane. Mindset matters, you know?. Trying to build a brand is not a one year thing. At least I have read books from business men who hang in there for more than a decade. Some even found their peak after over two decades. Success is real, the only challenge is 'how long can you hang in there for it to manifest?'. I know, it is easier said than done.
I have my advantages, one of it is I can easily collaborate. That is what happens when you have what to offer. In one of my recent articles I did talk about how I was able to collaborate with a much bigger company as their affiliate. It has been one good deal till date. You think you are small until you realize you can be an emergency problem solver.
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They in some occasions rely on me for delivery, for instance when their machinery gets faulty. I am open for them as they are also open for me too. It has made business very flexible and reliable. This is how smart business is done, instead of being competitive, join heads with those ahead of you to leverage every pending opportunity. I have access to machines that we cannot afford for NOW, thanks to that early deal. Should I look for others of such? Why not.
I was out on Monday after looking at some other opportunities that was still surrounding my business field. There is still a lot of industry to cover. Nevertheless, my smart moves have been affiliates. Instead of thinking on how to raise money to buy this expensive machineries to meet up? Why not work with reliable companies who have gone ahead of me. The advantages here are numerous. One of such is that I get exposed to free knowledge, I also get paid (contract percentage to my company) and I am also building customer confidence.
To my affiliate, I am the referral but to my customers, I am the producer. You see, I get to keep my customers while stretching out for external help in the process, sweet!!!. Another good thing is that I get to do business with them at 'production floor price', something very crucial. You know it will be difficult to excel as an affiliate if you have to add extra charges to meet up. They are dependent on turnover because we are a company and not an individual.
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The branding industry is very broad, one of the sector I wanted to add to our product/services is packaging. How big is this industry? The demand for quality packaging is getting higher and higher. Souvenirs are NOW part of a good event. Branded jotters, gifts cards and fancy bags are a few of them. And I know with just the proper marketing, I will hedge in this industry. I have had customers ask us of such service and I am not ready to say NO anymore.
That was why I was out on Monday to strike new deals. I took my compliment cards and hit the road. How did it end up? Better than I expected. I secured affiliate deals with two reputable branding companies to add to my list. They've opened up their business to us to work with at both ends. In short, they were happy I showed up because my business was offering a service/product they too were in demand atimes for. As long as I keep doing bus with them, my chances of getting contracts are high. They are willing to also secure me deal at their own contractible percentage too, a win-win indeed.
To conclude, let me add, as an entrepreneur, you must learn to be smart. You don't need to have everything in order to deliver. Aligning yourself with other companies with the vision of quality delivery can save you many cost while you stay in profit. I have to only summit the jobs/contract and get my percentage while I focus on my business daily deliveries. I also learn in the process as I will be gathering ALL I can to also introduce new machineries to my company. It is really worth every time.
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