Offline Clients - Are you in Business or a Middle Man?

Hi Kay,

Before I decided to start bringing offline businesses in to the online world
I sat down and created a list of what I was capable of doing. After the
first few jobs I began out sourcing to graphic designers and article writers
as sort of a test and to locate people that I could trust to get the job
done properly and on time.

I went through a few of each before I found a people that took pride in
their work.

I handle the daily operations of my business but I don't micro-manage it.

I outsource things that require too much of my time in order to over see
all my projects and also allow me time to attain new clients.

I have not been late one time after giving the client a date their site
would be ready nor have I allowed the outsourcing to get so close to the
wire that I had to panic in order to get the job done.

Normally I will pad the cushion a little so that if there is a problem I will
have time available to resolve the issues before the dead line.

Now I did have a couple of close calls in the beginning but I quickly
learned how to minimize them and prevent them from cropping up in the
future.

Anyone that offers clients some thing that they have not done themselves
is just asking for trouble. They may slide by a few times but when the
problem rears it's head repeatedly the person will surely soon be bitten by
it.

Have a Great Day!
Michael

Kay,

I understand what you are trying to say with your post.

However, it seems like the brush is too broad.

Most of the people I work with understand that knowing how to do a task isn't an advantage, many times it can be a hindrance.

Having the actual skills to lets say set up a website, or install a complicated script is what causes them to continue in the mindset of keeping hold of all project because they can do it better than someone they can hire.

This is the key difference of being self employed, or truly becoming a business owner.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be self employed.

Yet calling a business owner a middle man is less that a accurate assessment.

Take any small, medium or large business where the founder / owner doesn't personally build the product, sell or service the product; to view that as a middle man is not understanding the purpose of business structures.

There should be an understanding of the generalities of what is involved, and knowing enough about the subject to be able to qualify the skills and talents that are needed to perform a task.

Also to be able to identify people with the needed skills to work for you in those tasks and procedures.

One of the common traits that I find with new consulting clients is the lack of planing and organizing structures to create a successful model to manage growth.

I also see many threads talking about hiring someone for a low price and then simply wishing that the person is good.

That too is lacking an understanding of how to structure a successful business.

To build a successful business, thought focus and planing that creates systems to acquire, train and evaluate performance are the bedrock to sustainability and growth.

Mark Riddle

Exactly the steps I took....
I remember when the whole cash cow thing was hot & heavy a few months back...when what was being preached was "just get out there"..."take action"..."anyone can do this"...."just do it" !!!!
Many did just that...but the following day there were threads like..."OK, My First Client...Now What"....or "How do you set up an autoresponder" I just shook my head...thinking, ummm....ya should have known that before hand.

I followed pretty much the same path Jamie mentioned. Took the time to map out a business plan....understanding my strong points & weaknesses.....found reliable jv partners to fill in any voids. Then & only then did I go & approached clients...

I mentioned this all in the begining of the cash cow thread....that what I thought was best was to take the time to define your business & services, map out a plan.... and not just run blindly...knocking on doors. Comments back to me were: "I am over analyzing all this"...just do it!!

I'm wondering how many that did run blindly into all this...did get a few clients, but had a rude awakening come tax time....when they had to shell out a large sum of money on taxes for all that "easy money". How many planned for that?

Good OP to point this out Kay, thanks...

GoGetta & James with "spot on" advice as usual...thanks guys.

Ken

Ouch. Sounds like you learned the lesson well, though.

Outsourcing is fine but if you are guaranteeing work to an offline client you need to have your ducks in a row. After they hand you a check is not the time to say "now what do I do?".

kay

That's one of the golden rules of business... Also is the key ingredient in making your product/service "remarkable" - as in worth remarking about in a good way.

Dave

James, right on! Many people don't think about this but this is vitally important. Again, as we are dealing with real life business owners here, if you mess up and don't have insurance you could be hit hard.

I know of someone that used an image from a free stock xchange site and got sued by Getty! Luckily he had insurance but if he didn't, BAM business dream could of well been over!

So watch out and do things properly!

GoGetta

Right on James -- there are a LOT of businesses and individuals moving in on the local business niche.

There is still plenty of room for everyone, and there will be for some months, but soon enough it's going to get more competitive (from many angles) and you're going to need an edge.

Unless you're happy getting gigs as "Dave from accounting's little brother who knows about that web thing", and getting paid a few hundred bucks, then you're going to have to get serious.

(My own course will be moving in this direction for the upcoming 2.0 release -- more professional templates, forms, checklists and branded websites etc -- on top of all the sales & marketing training.)

I see this as a GOOD thing.

The people who shouldn't be in the market -- the guys looking for a quick easy buck and not delivering real value to business owners -- they'll get passed over in favor of more professional consultants.

More money for those of use doing it right. Better results for the small business owner.

That's a good point Michael. I feel there is also the intimidation factor. Small businesses can be intimidated by large impersonal organizations and there is nothing to beat talking directly to the person setting up your web presence.

The funny part is that "this market" has well-entrenched, knowledgable players in every geographic area that have been doing it for a very long time to a very great degree of success.

It may just be me but "middleman" seems like a loaded word.

That being said... regardless if you do everything in-house or if you outsource the end result should be value to your client.

As we all know there's a different roads you can take to reach the same destination. One is not necessarily better than the other.

There are many businesses that are "middlemen". Some of the more familiar ones are real estate brokers, general contractors, and stock exchanges.

It might surprise some people to learn that the LCD display they use everyday in their business isn't built by the company whose logo is on it. This is true of numerous products in numerous markets.

For those warriors who choose do to all the work themselves ...why?

Do you thing there is nobody else available to do this work?

By using leverage (other peoples skills and experience) you can increase your revenue (both gross and net) and free up your time for tasks that will grow your business.

I think we've got to get out of this mindset of "I do everything" and start thinking more like a business by putting people, systems, and procedures in place.

Just my .02

Kevin