KNOCKING ON OPPORTUNITY’S DOOR

From when I was a young kid, able to comprehend the use of English, I was made to understand it is common practice to wait and prepare for opportunity to come knocking on your door. Well, I’ve come a long way since then and I’m not entirely discounting that, because it’s fantastic advise if you are a student awaiting a scholarship or a footballer, but certainly not applicable when you’re in business and you’ve got bills and salaries to pay weekly! So you need to be proactive and rather than sit around waiting for opportunity to knock on your door, or call your landline; instead we suggest you get off your chair and go seeking for opportunity’s door and knock on it!
Seriously, a lot of people are doing just that and getting way ahead of you! Ever wondered why some of your friends hardly visit? It may be because they’re too busy hosting visitors, so if you want to see them you’re better off not holding your breath and waiting; rather you go see them yourself.

Let me illustrate further with a more personal approach on how we operate sometimes in our team.

Our Challenge
I work in a growing advertising agency with a workforce made up of skilled professionals; it was pretty tough to get big customers without a seasoned marketer or accounts man as we call it. Well, we like to have big clients like a multinational or one of the Top 10 Banks, but we are based in Abuja and most of the decision makers of such organizations and their advertising agencies are based in Lagos, the commercial hub of Nigeria.

Our Strategy
Rather than arrange for meetings with lobbyists and send countless proposals to the ultimate demise of the diminishing rain forest trees. We decided to come up with an approach for a new marketing communications plan, complete with advertising artwork and marketing concepts and creative ideas all ready designed on a CD-ROM. It was totally unsolicited without a creative brief! We arranged meetings with a brand manager and presented our ideas!

The Outcome
They saw what they liked, but even more than that was the fact that we had come all this way, done up preliminary artworks and deduced their marketing direction from researching their current adverts in newspapers and on their website. We were signed up and hopefully we’ll work together happily forever after.
However there are key lessons to be learnt here. First, we did not sit around waiting to be called like most people would after submitting a proposal, instead we went further to show them what we’re made off, hence increasing our bargaining power over the competition. It made us look proactive, bold and sure of ourselves. This strategy is impossible to fault and always impresses anyone you’re hoping to do business with.
So the key question to ask yourself is this; if I could be more aggressive about seeking opportunities for my company, who would I approach? When I approach this client what can I do unsolicited that would impress these potential customers?

Here are some ideas:
1. Make a list of who you’ll like to be doing business with and brainstorm on ways to make something suitable and tailored for them without spending too much time or money.

2. You’re giving them a “free” present and that’s already unusual, so don’t just stop there. Be creative on how to present it to them as well. If you’re in our line of business i.e. advertising and branding, put up a free mock website of your potential client and send them a text message with the website link telling them to visit that page and see what it would look like; or design a new logo for them. Or if you’re in something as boring as insurance, you could deliver them lunch with a menu of your services. Be free to express yourself and create a lasting impression about you.

Don’t wait for opportunity, go out there and find it. Using this approach to life, you’ll be pleased to find out opportunity is a brilliant host and it’s everywhere.

Ebuka Anichebe is the Managing Director of Jean-Paul and Associates Consultancy. He has an uncommon approach to marketing media consulting, business development and customer experience evaluation. He’ll like to hear your views on this article and more, write to him at ebuka@jeanpaulconsult.com or call 07040448749

CONSULTING: A NATURAL INSTINCT

How would you like to eat your cake, and then have it? Well that’s what you get when you are paid for doing what you love or otherwise would still get joy doing it for free.
I’ve heard many people working in the 9-5 particularly associates in the banking sector that work for much longer hours, say they envy me for being able to laugh at the end of the day. Work at my own hours (I love working at night) and thoroughly enjoy doing it! Doing what you love is great. But, if you're in business, you want to know that you're making a profit from it.

According to the author Steve Pavlina "Do what you love, but be damned sure it’s profitable."
If you're going to be in business, you need to be sure that there's money in what you're doing. Sure, you don't want to bang your head against a wall by doing something you dislike. But there's no point doing something you love if you can't make a good living from it. That's because most of us really love having food, clothing, shelter, security, self esteem and other important needs.

One may love consulting, but then would not love everything about consulting. There are some projects that you merely like. However, you would LOVE being able to enjoy the freedoms of having a good income- maybe not as steady as some would like. Sometimes it’s high and sometimes it’s just enough to get by another month. You shouldn’t throw yourself into work you hate, but then again you wouldn’t mind making good money for doing things you naturally like. In the end, you’ll love the freedom that work delivers.

I would advise anyone going into the consulting world in any field to begin with focusing on the work they like best. This pays by itself by helping you and your client giving the surprise factor in all you do. Putting in that extra touch, the extra thought, going an extra mile. I once had a job to create a website for a particular client that was keen on faultless writing but was unable to do so himself. Being keen on delivering a good job as well as my interest in designing websites led to my involvement in carrying out a detailed study and research into the field of business he was into. And subsequently writing up the content of the site and designing its layout. The client was amazed- we had two more similar jobs in less than a week!

That’s the power of doing the jobs you truly enjoy. You then require little momentum to deliver first class 5 star service and oust the competition with little or no effort in putting that extra value. A computer analyst that helps you do a system upgrade after a cursory maintenance check is more preferred to one that doesn’t. A consultant that sends you relevant mail updates regarding news in your field is generally appreciated than one that does a one off job and is off to the next.

If you're having a hard time figuring out what you can do for profit, work on doing a personal inventory to help you identify your passions, interests and talents. Talk to friends, colleagues or visit sites on the internet that describes your occupational interests or personal inventory.

Good Luck and have a Happy New Year!

Ebuka Anichebe is the Managing Director of Jean-Paul and Associates Consultancy. He specializes in marketing consulting, business development and conducts personal development and capacity building workshops for entrepreneurs. He’ll like to hear your views on this and more, write to him at ebuha@jeanpaulconsult.com. Or call +234-807-7744-731.