Stretch your possibilities
by Debra Valle

Fuel for your business

As solopreneurs and small business owners we typically set about building business in the same way: step-by-step, inch-by-inch, day-by-day, one customer at a time. We all dream of a time when our reputation alone fills our business pipeline effortlessly. 

But between now and when that time comes, there seems to be an endless chasm filled with lots of hard work and a lot of small steps. Many of us have a sneaking suspicion that the path we're on is moving too slow.  We suspect there is an easier, more efficient way for us to attract customers than through the gathering of business cards at networking events.

One of life’s teaching moments
Years ago I was driving through a residential neighborhood with my daughter, a very precocious second grader. We passed an elementary school. The billboard in the school yard read: We change the world one child at a time.

“That's a nice idea,” I said.

“Why would they do that?” she wondered out loud.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“One child at time, that's stupid,” she said while holding up her index finger to emphasize the number one—looking at me as though I had just fallen off the turnip truck. “That would take waaaay toooooo long! How about one classroom at a time, or one school at a time, or how about the whole state of California or something like that?”

I laughed and marveled at the simplicity of her logic. Even at her age, she simply couldn't fathom the enormity of such a task being accomplished in such small, incremental steps.

Humble beginnings
In 1996 I became a solopreneur, starting first with a consulting business and then adding a coaching practice—thrilled to be working from home. I put my nose to the grind stone and developed my client base one customer at a time. To fill the pipeline, I followed the storybook outline for the typically self-employed, believing as my reputation swelled, so would my business pipeline. I did what you’re supposed to do:

1. Provide quality service to satisfied customers
2. Create a referral engine
3. Network 
4. Develop and brand my business 
5. Create a business plan and an ongoing marketing communications strategy 
6. Engage in public speaking 
7. Create seminars, products, books, and tapes 
8. Establish business alliances and trade referrals with individuals who share an interest in the same target audience as me. 

Something was missing
None of my ongoing efforts seemed to catapult my business or create the momentum or visibility I wanted. I was working as hard to market my business as I was to provide services to clients.

About a year ago, I drove by that same playground and read the same sign my daughter and I saw years before. It dawned on me that I had adopted the same philosophy as the elementary school—a philosophy deeply rooted in our culture through fables like “Tortoise and the Hare” and the Horatio Alger story, a belief system that says small steps, steady efforts and good hard work are their own reward.  

Thinking of my daughter’s wisdom, I began to wonder “what will it take for me to develop my customer base one classroom, one school, one country at a time? How can I go from the habit of gathering one business card at a time to gathering thousands of potential customers through one initiative?” 

A new business model
To do business differently, I knew I would have to shift my perspective—and perhaps my DNA.  I had to “unlearn” the “go-it-alone, pull-yourself up by your own bootstrap” entrepreneur's mentality. Thinking bigger required me to move toward ideas of collaboration and creating alliances with like-minded professionals. 

I began looking for a system. After much time, effort and research, I found “SmartMatch Alliances™” by Judy Feld and Ernest Oriente.  But stretching my mind to consider a larger playing field was surprisingly difficult. Old habits die hard.  Ironically, I needed to take small, steady steps on my new, expanded roadway—coupled with the counseling and mentoring of like-minded individuals on the same path. 

Think bigger
By expanding my thinking, I was able to increase my playing field and my opportunities. Now, ever so slowly, I can sense the tide shifting and momentum growing as my pipeline groans under the weight of increased traffic. 

How can you think bigger? How can you grow your playing field? Read Fuel cells for business-expanding tips and ideas.

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Fuel cells

A new way of thinking
When we first begin the dance of collaboration, Judy Feld and Ernest Oriente (authors of “SmartMatch Alliances™”) tell us that it is best to adopt a new attitude—an attitude best described as a search for an “intelligent experiment”—rather than a search for Mr. Goodbar. It's a bit of an awakening, requiring us to recognize that we are not alone, and that there are a number of professionals and/or organizations that would find great benefit and profit in an alliance with us. 

The eight-step SmartMatch Alliances™ process they outline is thorough and thoughtful, and begins with a look at your business and what you might bring to an alliance partnership with someone else. Below are a few beginning steps in the process. To paraphrase Neil Armstrong, “One small step for man, one giant leap for...your business!”

• Identify your “genius work”

Begin by identifying areas of your work that constitute the best and most valuable use of your time. By definition your genius work can be done only by you; it is the aspect of your work that is “love in motion,” creating energy and a sense of being uplifted. It's genius work if time stops and you forget to eat!

List at least three or four activities that represent the best and most valuable use of your time:
1.
2.
3.
4.

• Exchange of value

Collaborating with the right alliance partner allows each party to leverage knowledge, expertise and a base of clients. To be successful each business alliance must bring something to the exchange, such as the ability to increase credibility, value, visibility, or revenues. What do you have already in place in your business that could easily be leveraged? Examples might be a Web site, client database, promotional mailings, workshops, newsletters, e-broadcasts, articles, tip sheets, books, seminars/telecourses, or other alliances.

List here what you might leverage in an collaborative alliance:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

• Finding your first alliances

The authors say look first inside your "P.I.N.S." for those individuals and/or organizations that are already communicating to your ideal client. 

Your "P.I.N.S." are
1. Profession
2. Industry(ies) you serve
3. Niche 
4. Specialty

• Are you alliance ready?

Take Judy Feld and Ernest Oriente's  self-assessment tool to determine if your business is ready for SmartMatch Alliances™.

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Fuel for your soul

Consider these words of wisdom:

“The only way to make sense of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” 
– Alan Watts, Author and lecturer on Zen Philosophy

“Nothing unless first a dream.” 
– Carl Sandburg, 20th century American poet

“Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?” 
– Robert Browning 19th Century English Poet

“The eye sees a great many things, but the average brain records very few of them.” 
– Thomas Edison, American inventor and entrepreneur

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