As Frazer in Dad's Army would say... "We're all doomed!".

Or so it would seem if you've listened to the news today, after record falls on the stock market, job layoffs, banks dropping like flies, etc

It's true we are living through unprecedented times, but I've been through enough burst bubbles, downturns and recessions to know that it's never all doom and gloom.

Sure, budgets get squeezed, but in many cases that represents an opportunity for new business. When you've got to do more with less you start to shop around, right?

Whether it's down-shifting your breakfast cereal or changing suppliers, times like these are a great new business opportunity for smaller, more agile players in the market.

Outsourcing vendors should see the current climate of impending job layoffs as another opportunity. Moving some processes to external outsourcing vendors is an excellent tactic where fixed costs need to be slashed without impacting business performance. In fact, the benefits of outsourcing should be recognised now more than ever.

From a technology stand-point, the main sell has always been saving time and money (always dressed up with an ROI case). Technologies that fail to address board-level agendas and require significant capital costs to implement will struggle.

However, with software-as-service offerings this should be less of an issue.

And what about management consultancies? Again, consultancies typically fill a void where experience is needed to deliver results. Internal changes, such as redundancies and organisational restructures bring about opportunities for all disciplines.

Likewise, shrinking sales revenues in response to changing markets require a difference approach, often one that needs external input.

I'm not saying it's going to be rosy; you'll probably need to trim here & there and jump through a few more hoops to get sign-off, but, c'mon, think of all those new business opportunities...

Labels: new business agency, new business development