Whether business is steady, overwhelming, or dead, The Charlotte Observer has some tips that’ll help you survive.
The truth is, there is no silver bullet for creating a steady stream of work. But there are some things you can do to cope and manage.
Communicate early and often
To get out in front of your customer’s cycle, try to “check in†on a regular basis. This may mean a quarterly call to say “hello,†a monthly coffee to find out what’s coming down the pike, or even physically dropping in when you’re in the neighborhood. It all depends on what your client prefers. The important thing is to keep in regular contact so that you can get advance warning of work that might be coming your way.
Build your bench at work
Don’t wait for the next flood before you start filling sandbags. If you know that you’ve struggled with spikes in the past, immediately start planning for how you’ll handle overflow in the future. … Think about who you’ve worked with in the past that you respect and can count on. Remember that you won’t be small forever, and sometimes when it comes to capacity, if you build it… they will come.
Photo by Jennifer C.