Thanks for stopping by as always. It is so easy to want to solve all our clients problems in one fell swoop. There is something so American about wanting a quick fix, a pill, that does what we need it to do, whether its diets, marketing or relationships. Why can’t life be easier!!!

Alas, its just hard work that gets things done. And great products! WOrk with great companies and the rest will follow.

Z

Agility is the ability to evolve quickly, to continue to reconcile your offering with your understanding of the market, to address your strategy as often as you would your tactics. Ventures are in a rush against time and their cash burn to become solvent. There is a point along the continuum at which you persist in having an identifiable expertise whereas your offering maximized your capacity to earn income for you and your customer. Some would argue that in venture consulting, that venture consulting is the expertise. This is a fallacy as it doesn’t build a strong enough brand impression to affect a sale of service; the clients are simply left wondering if you’re just another two bit huckster out to rob the little guy. In the case of venture, I think a rational and delineated consulting offering should be focused around ‘grass roots marketing’ or ‘cost efficient systems and process design’, or the most prone to abuse, ‘venture finance assistance’.

It seems as though your best best would be to focus on the grass roots marketing, identifying the current systems employed by each potential client and identify ways to augment their effort in a cost efficient way. This would presumably include using the web and its various applications.

The last thing is to focus on a value proposition that is a win-win for the client. Small clients are particularly adverse to paying retainers, so it’s important to work around this issue. I like the old adage, ‘its not work if you’re not getting paid for it.’ There’s another, ‘If I gave it away for free would it be worth something?’ Basically, I would run numbers on the client and come up with a way to charge them a fixed fee up front for your time, say 25k, then negotiate down to say 3-5k plus 10points on the increased business you generate for the client for a year. So if he goes from 10k in sales a night to 15k, 10pct of 5k… The clients doesn’t have to open up his books for you entirely, just show you some top line numbers (since you’ll want to base yours on the top line). Beyond being a good way to prove you’re aligned, this is a great way to beget upsells.

My two cents and years of experience…