Holden Associates – Accountants & Business Advisers Blog

Most people will be familiar with the phrase ‘you reap what you sow’. Even though the phrase has biblical connotations it can be still be applied to many different scenarios. It can be easily applied to the task of gardening, used to encourage students to study, cooking and even to the world of business.

The connotation relates to the action that is taken before any results can be seen or are manifested. Can you imagine sitting in your kitchen and simply thinking about dinner and realistically expecting a tasty flavoursome meal to be ready on the table – simply through the power of thought? In reality we know that dinner will never arrive on a table just by thinking about it. In order for dinner to arrive a decision needs to be made about what kind of meal is required followed by some kind of action. Whether it is a phone call to order a take away meal or making an effort to cook or paying someone else to cook, – some action will need to precede the arrival of dinner.

So, what’s the point of this story?  It’s a rather old cliché, but, you do ‘reap what you sow’. The taste and flavour of dinner will ultimately depend on ingredients and effort that is put into cooking it. This is no different to generating new business.  Simply thinking about the need to generate new customers will not add any additional revenue to your business.

First you will need to make decisions on:

• What products/services you are going to sell. Is it going to be a new line or a re-launch of an old product/service?
• Build a profile of the kind of customer that you are looking for.
• Where and how your business will be promoted?
• What are the quantities that need to be sold in order to make a profit?
• What action will need to be taken?

It is vitally important to carefully consider whether the action you are planning to take can deliver the results that you are seeking? It is unlikely that spending money on marketing alone or making adhoc sales calls will produce sustainable results. What is required is deliberate, systematic and targeted action to produce superior results.

It is not uncommon for smaller businesses to struggle to generate new business.  In most cases, it’s because they do not have a system to “sow, nurture and reap” new clients.  In the business to business transaction, most sales have a longer sales cycle.  If there’s no system in place to “water the field” then the company will not have much of a chance of reaping a good harvest. 

Systems, processes and decisions will need to be in place before businesses start to sow the seeds of growing and nurturing new prospects and clients. Such action can dramatically improve the productivity of the sales and profits to consistently follow-up over time.  Generating new business is hard work.  So, what are you going to ‘sow in order to reap an abundant harvest?

For help or advice on developing your business or an action plan for your business contact Holden Associates today.