FM Walsh & Associates Inc.

Business Development As A Habit

Whether you’re a brand new entrepreneur or you’ve been running your business for a while, having a system for business development is essential to maintain momentum.  It is especially easy to fall into the trap of “coasting” when our initial marketing efforts start paying off, and we end up busy serving current customers and forget about needing to continue to prospect new customers.

Regardless of how busy you are, make sure you are spending time doing business development.  For example, your time may currently be divided amongst the following activities:

• Money-making/Billable Activities
• Business Development Activities
• Skills/Personal Development Activities
• Administrative Activities

How much time are you spending in each area?  I’ve found that a 60/20/10/10 respective percentage split works well in a business-as-usual state.  You spend 60% of your time on activities that contribute to your bottom line, 20% of your time on business development and strategic planning, 10% polishing or acquiring new skills, and no more than 10% on administrative tasks like paperwork, invoicing, and e-mails.

You may decide to have a different allocation, which is great.  The important thing is to know where you are and where you would like to be, so you can make the necessary changes to ensure you are leveraging your time intentionally.  What do you need to do to get to where you want to be?