Any person who has mastered the art of successful business operations will tell you that business opportunities abound everywhere. You just need to know how to spot them and grab them at the most opportune time. For the savoir-faired business person, business opportunities can be found almost anywhere, including your current clients.
It is actually not that hard to spot and grab new opportunities from your ongoing projects if you are keen enough to note your clients’ actions and needs. There may be times when your clients appear to be struggling to provide something that you need for the project you are currently handling for them.
Such a situation may weigh down on your progress and greatly affect your set timeline for that particular project, as well as that of other work that you could be handling for other clients.
There are two ways that you can look at this situation. One, you can view it as a setback and even move to halt all progress on that client’s work until everything that is needed is provided. It’s a logical move, and probably warranted given the situation. The client will certainly understand why you are not progressing on their work, and probably will put in some more effort to get you what you need to finish the job.
The second way to look at that situation is from a prospective business perspective. If the client is struggling to provide certain things that are required for the project for one reason or another, why not take it upon yourself to assist them on that and do it for them as an extra, chargeable service?
After all you are in business to solve problems and provide solutions to your clients and more work will definitely not hurt your turnover one bit.
There are several things that would create viable business opportunities for you when your clients find it difficult to provide them for the projects. The following three scenarios show some of the instances where you can find nice opportunities as soon as you notice your client struggle to provide certain things for a particular project:
1. A client struggling to provide relevant information and data for a project
There are those projects that need input in terms of information or data. That information could be in the form of current trends, market surveys, research, administrative and legal information among other hard to come by information and data. So where is the business opportunity here?
Consultancy is the word. Yes, you can grab a great opportunity here by offering to be a consultant for the client. This could actually turn out to be a whole new business with that client even after the current project is done and concluded. It’s pure basics here, since you are already in that line of work, you know and have the resources to know all that needs to be known including what your client is struggling with.
2. The client who needs a website but struggles to provide pertinent multimedia for the site
If you are a website developer, you know the value of good quality images, videos and other media on websites. The client who commissions you to build a website for them will need to provide you with all information about them, the business and everything else that concerns that website including imagery.
Now for one reason or another, the client may struggle to provide quality media that will be needed to make a good site.
This is a perfect opportunity for you to grow your business by offering to assist the client in the preparation and production of that media. Even if it is not within your forte, since you only write code, you can easily outsource the service to someone who has the necessary skills, and subcontract the work. Many project managers actually begin to form and create remote teams this way, which end up becoming complete packages of service provision and indeed, one-stop shops for their clients.
3. Clients struggling to provide resources/raw materials for the project they want build for them
This scenario has two possible business opportunities that as a project manager, you can take advantage of and not only benefit from the added business, but also from the completion of the initial project. The two opportunities are either the chance to become a supplier for the needed items or the chance to become a partner through equity compensation.
If a client for instance needs a mobile application built or a prototype mobile device made, he or she will have to provide you with the parts that are required to build the device or enough funds to purchase and pay for the work you are going to do.
If the problem is that the client cannot seem to find and provide the raw materials needed, take this chance and offer to supply what is missing because you know how and where to get it. You’ll essentially become both a service provider and a supplier of materials.
On the other hand, the problem with the client could be the fact that they lack sufficient funds to pay for the service, in this case the app building. If you see enough potential for that application or program you are writing to make it big in the market, then this situation would provide a potentially lucrative opportunity of partnering with the client by providing the service in exchange for an agreed equity in that the product.
Final Word
As you can see, there is some truth to that old adage about silver linings behind dark clouds. You can choose to find the silver lining behind your clients’ struggles and create more business for yourself or just see them as dark clouds and duck.
In every situation, always remember that as a business person or a project manager, you are there to make a profit and grow. Learn to spot and grab every opportunity that presents itself to you even from areas you wouldn’t expect.
Image: Pic Basement
