Knowledge is Power

Especially during hardships when we as entrepreneurs, who are humans after all, tend to make judgments made from an emotional standpoint such as panic.

This is the time when those favorite business article or books come in handy. Hopefully by now, you have a knowledge base that you refer to in times like these. If not, it’s never too late to get started.

I keep telling clients that the best marketing ideas are free. That’s because it’s human nature to share success stories (At church, they have to snatch the microphone from some people who go on forever during testimony time). And where do successful entrepreneurs share their marketing victories? 

In small business publications! The kicker is that you don’t even have to spend a cent to find out what smart entrepreneurs are doing to not only survive but also thrive during this economic slump.

Everyday, I spend time checking out the Small Business or Entrepreneurship sections of the New York Times, Business Week, Wall Street Journal, Forbes and Time.  There are others sources of course such as Inc, Entrepreneur and the various blogs. (That’s why I can’t wait for Amazon’s Kindle to go global. It would be the ultimate traveler’s companion.)

Not only do achievements of fellow entrepreneurs motivate me but I also adopt and adapt the concepts that work for my clients’ situations.

Quick example. The other day, I wrote how Southwest Airlines has had 35 consecutive profitable years. One of the key reasons is that they offer low prices.

How could an airline company make money at the current price of fuel? Well it turns out that in the early nineties, analysts at Southwest anticipated a price hike and started fuel hedging which is buying fuel for future delivery.

I have a consulting client in the fitness industry. I shared the concept with him and now he’s crafting a proposal to send to one of his supplier who’s feeling the pinch from the exchange rate and needs cash urgently.

If all goes to plan, the fitness industry entrepreneur is going to be able to making more money in the future as he builds his brand and attracts more clients. He will be able to ring more sales on products that cost him less.

If this supplements supplier is wise, he should approach his other clients and strike a deal of his own with them. To decrease his inventory costs, he could even send a proposal to the manufacturer and strike a deal!

Talk about remixing a concept to death!

I would advise talking to the accounting and finance people first before blindly following what a marketing guy is advising. This is a financial issue first but good for marketing as the ability to sell goods at a lower price can be a powerful marketing weapon (think Walmart).