You will get what you want

if you help enough other

people to get what they want!

     Scenerio: You’re supposed to be an entrepreneur.  You got yourself into a business startup situation that’s cash short and you’ve got to make it work but can’t afford the tools you need, or even the workspace.

     Scenerio: You own or run an established business that has been steadily shrinking with the economy and the future is looking glum because you can’t seem to drive the customer base you need to buy your products or services.

Aw, those are two totally different situations, Hal. You can’t address them both in one blog and solve them with one solution.

Yup!  You’re probably right.  I also don’t pretend to have all the answers.  But I am pretty good at igniting sparks.  I mean, all ya gotta do is rub two businesses together to start a fire!  How about the two examples?

The entrepreneur thinks she needs cash to furnish an office and pay for workspace to start her computer seo consulting enterprise.  The old guy runs a 5o year-old lumber yard and his historically reliable contractor customers are at a construction standstill.

With the lumber yard so quiet, surely there’s a spare corner’s worth of office space somewhere that’s easily furnished with makeshift benches, shelves and tabletops.  There shouldn’t be any shortage of electric lines and even soundproofing should be readily available.

With all the belt-tightening going on, homeowners are turning inward to add onto and improve existing living space on their own, armed with do-it-yourself books, neighborhood teens looking to make a few bucks to support their text message and ipod habits, and a trial and error attitude.

The entrepreneur sees the opportunity and moves in for the kill — but it’s a mutual benefit kill.  With win-win as an objective, the strategy unfolds.  She barters for the space and makeshift furniture in exchange for email blasts to his homeowner database announcing free seminars run by local (out-of-work) contractor experts teaching attendees how to add a room onto their homes, how to convert an attic or basement into living space, etc.

Homeowners learn for free.  Homeowners purchase materials at the lumber yard and hire contractor/teachers for parttime on-site consulting.  The entrepreneur gets commissions on the referrals, makes numerous business contacts from among the homeowner classes, and helps pump up the lumber yard website by tying in a contractor blog site for helping unemployed roofers, framers, etc. find work.

Disneyland?  Not if you decide to make it work and are willing to try out new ways of doing business that help you achieve your goals without spending money.  It starts by opening your mind to possibilities, and by figuring out that you will always get what you want if you help enough other people to get what they want.  There are millions of scenerios out there.  Be one.       halalpiar

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