Looking at the landscape for today’s business environment, it’s more important than ever to be creative. It’s just as important to be more resourceful. We often overlook the resources that we have around us as we continue to work “in” our business and not “on” it. How can you be more resourceful as a business owner?
I talked last week about mentoring and specifically mentoring programs for your business. As it turns out the more I look into the subject of resources the more resources that I find that are available to small business owners. In particular I ran across an article on student consultants. Many colleges and universities offer low cost help for small businesses to help them with a number of different areas from IT to accounting to marketing. Some of these programs charge money. Some of them are absolutely free.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers free workshops and consultations in your area as well depending on where you live. You can visit the SBA website to find out what’s available in your area.
Another area to look at is in who you know personally and assess what those people do professionally. Do you have friends or family members who can fill a gap in your business for a friends and family price? My only word of caution is make sure they are qualified don’t just hire them because they are cheap. Batering is another time honored tool available to small business owners. Do you have a particular skill that you can offer someone else who has a skill that you need? Be delicate with these conversations. Don’t just expect someone to do it because they need your skills. They may need cash more.
Take a look at your business today and ask, how can you increase productivity with little to no increase in expense? It may sound a little Utopian but I promise there are things and people around you that you can use or partner with that can help your business in this tight time. How have you been resourceful in the past to help your business move forward?