One day this Winter, I ran into an old friend at Trader Joe’s.
As soon as I saw him, I had flashbacks to memories of colleagues confusing us as each other fifteen years ago. We do favor each other; however, I learned a lesson back then that continues to serve me well to this day — work a little harder than the competition to reap big rewards.
During that time, my friend and I networked in the same circles; we would be called one another’s names, have business conversations about the other person’s industry, and always seemed to be everywhere. That last point is important because we both were at multiple networking events per week. It seemed like we were everywhere because we were.
At the time, I was selling business coaching services. Our lead generation plan was strategic networking. We needed as many relationships as we could to know our unique selling proposition, so they could promote and refer us to their network. This is referred to as strategic networking. We can always find a random individual who may need our services. We can also rely on a general network to provide a lead if they happen to hear of someone who has a need for our business. The best networking comes from strategic partners — professionals in other industries who sell to the same target market, have similar conversations with clients and are willing to share their contacts on a regular basis.
A simple example of strategic networking can come from my role as a business broker and attorney. I sell to small business owners who are ready to pursue other interests or retire. My conversation with potential sellers is about the financial state and future goals of their company. So, a perfect strategic partner for me would be a professional who sells to small business owners and has conversations about their finances. Examples of my strategic partners include CPAs, attorneys and wealth managers. Out of a sea of potential relationships, it is easy to identify a strategic partner if you have a clear idea of which industries also sell to your client. Then, you can build a referral relationship with that partner that includes introducing each other to one another’s clients for potential business.
As a result, I beat the streets ten years ago (and still do today) to find strategic referral partners. But, I also knew that there was competition to link up with the best professionals to exchange leads with. So, instead of going to networking events periodically, as most of my competitors would, I went to every event that I could. On the busiest days, I would go to a breakfast meeting or a lunch meeting and then attend an afternoon and evening networking event. No one else was networking as much as I was. If I went to one more event than the average person, my chance of finding great partners significantly increased.
The same principle of doing just a bit more than the competition also applies to your work schedule. After working a 50-, 60-, or 70-hour week, it can be hard to imagine working anymore. However, all business owners work a lot of hours. What can you do to set yourself apart as a business leader? Work five hours on the weekend.
A decade ago, I attended a seminar that featured one of the top professionals in my industry. His time management talk highlighted two big ideas. First, fill the day with revenue producing activities, and spend the early mornings, and an hour after business hours, to handle administrative tasks. Second, to put yourself ahead of the competition, work a few hours over the weekend.
This is a big ask for busy professionals. However, if you work 50 hours per week, spend five hours over a weekend working on the business instead of in the business. The work should be tasks that support revenue generation — planning, key performance indicator review, building sales and marketing lists, documenting systems and improving key throughput issues.
During this time, your phone is not ringing, incoming emails are not pinging every few seconds, and no one is stopping by your office. Five additional hours per week will increase production and productivity by at least 10%. Ten percent more effort and time could produce 10% or more in additional sales, production and profit.
What would you do with 10% more sales and profit? Distribute the cash to yourself to support personal goals? Reinvest back into the business? Reduce your debt load? Prepare for an acquisition or sale of the company?
Consistently work just a bit harder than your competition to produce uncommon results in your business. The weekend, early morning, and evening work could be networking, focused time management blocks, working a few extra hours a week, and getting to the office before the sun rises.
Just a touch of additional effort will produce results that multiply the results received.
Jamar Cobb-Dennard is a business broker and attorney. To learn more about how to buy and sell businesses, contact Jamar at jamar@jamarcobbdennard.com.
