Today, I want to talk to you about the topic of diversification. Before I do that, though, if you haven’t picked up the book, Internet Marketing for Small Business, be sure and pick that up at smallbizmarketingbook.com.
Anyway, what got me thinking about this topic today is I just came back from my monthly mastermind that I host, and one of the gentlemen there today has been doing contract work for Lowe’s. He does renovations and Lowe’s has because a primary customer, and then all of a sudden, at the end of the year, they shut down the program that he had been a part of that was funneling all this work to him, and his business came to an abrupt standstill.
The reason I want to bring this up is it’s a topic that I see over and over again. It’s a challenge that I find many business owners in. They find a really good, solid client or customer, brings lots of repeat business, but they don’t ever branch out beyond that client or customer or that particular business line, and so when they comes to an abrupt end, they find themselves in a very precarious situation, unable to meet expenses, unable to grow the company. Sometimes, they end up having to lay people off.
We see that a lot here in Wichita, where I live, because we are a large aircraft manufacturing community, so there are many support businesses tied to the aircraft industry, and so when things don’t go well in the aircraft industry, those businesses end up hurting because they have no other lines of business coming in. They’re not diversified out.
For example, a lot of the machine shops here have diversified into other areas, agriculture, industrial, even things like motor sports, to where they have the means to keep the business moving forward, even if the aircraft industry slows down.
I want you to think about your own business today. Where are you susceptible? Where are the places that, if that customer dropped off or that particular product or service was no longer available, that you would really be exposed, and start figuring out ways you can diversify your revenue streams so that losing any client or losing a product line doesn’t absolutely destroy your business.
Just a few thoughts for you today. Hope you have an amazing day, and I’ll talk to you soon.
