England’s national day is a strange one, celebrating a saint who, if he existed at all, had nothing to do with this country. The stories say he was a Roman soldier from what’s now Turkey who was put to death for being a Christian, and his selection as England’s patron saint was for complex reasons.
The one thing everyone knows about St George is that he slew a dragon. The legend, which has also been told about numerous others, tells that a princess was offered to placate a fearsome dragon, but St George arrived in the nick of time, fought and killed the dragon, and rescued the princess.
The Dragons of Business
Any business, especially an SME, faces numerous dragons in its attempts to make its mark in a highly competitive field. Cashflow and human resources can be tricky, dangerous dragons, but the really big, fearsome one is finding customers in a highly competitive field.
It’s all very well for large corporations, who have entire departments for each part of the business, one of which does nothing but tackle this conundrum. If you only have a handful of employers, or even just yourself, it isn’t so easy.
Where To Find Customers
It really depends on what your business is, and who you’re aiming to sell to. If you’re in retail, that could means you have a shop on a reasonably busy street. You still need to persuade people to walk through your door, though, rather than the door of another shop. In any case, you may not have a shop — a good deal of retail is done online.
If you’re offering a service, particularly a business-to-business service — printing or web design, for instance — it’s even harder. Your potential clients have to know you’re there before you can start trying to convince them you can offer a better service than your rivals. And, if you don’t find a way of making them see, it’s just like a great big dragon blocking the way. Here at the Resource Centre we are continually promoting our clients, letting others know exactly what they can offer.
Get Rid of Those Dragons
If you’re a one-man-band, or even have a couple of employees, the chances are you’re very good at what you do, and that’s what you want to concentrate on. You need someone else to find you potential customers — and it just so happens that’s what we do.
We don’t claim to be knights in armour, let alone saints, but maybe we can slay one or two of the dragons threatening your business.