Here’s a situation that may sound familiar to many small-business entrepreneurs. A very bright woman, let’s call her Betsy, has a business providing ESL (English as a Second Language) instruction to corporations in a Spanish-speaking country where she lives. She works for some big firms in her market area and has a great reputation. Historically, her students have been engineers and other middle managers, and her client has been the HR department. Now, with the economy in recession, her pipeline is not as full as it once was. Training budgets–at least for middle-level employees, are being slashed. She feels nervous about the future of her business. If this trend continues, she will have difficulty making ends meet.
Here’s what our coaching led her to consider as she navigates the current turbulence with a view toward turning a problem into an opportunity:
- Plan your future market strategy. Are middle-managers your ideal clients? While they have been your bread-and-butter up until now, what about C-level executives? With business becoming increasingly global and more competitive, the advantage of being completely comfortable with English is no small issue to CEOs, COOs and others in the corner office. While Betsy’s business model up until now has been teaching classes of a dozen mid-level people at a time, she could reposition herself as an ESL coach working one-on-one with senior management–and charging a multiple of her current fees.
- When business contracts, go broader and deeper. She has identified a market of 20 companies in her area, mostly Fortune 500 technology firms. That’s a great start, but what about the hundreds of companies just under those big ones? Would their top-level executives perhaps have even a greater need for ESL coaching? And what about other-than-tech sectors–tourism, for example. Wouldn’t an up-and-coming hotel general manager need excellent English to advance in her company?
- Get in the business networking mix. How will Betsy get in front of these new prospects? She hasn’t spent a lot of time thinking about (or engaging in) business networking. But she’s smart, attractive and engaging and should have no trouble building a referral network through attending Chamber of Commerce events, joining a business referral group and making sure everyone she knows is aware of what she does.
- Craft a new message. When Betsy does get in front of these high-level prospects, what will she say? We talked about imagining meeting a potential client at an event. What would you say to introduce yourself? How would you find a way to ask, “Are you less competent in English than you want to be? Is that holding you back? Why do you tolerate it? Do you want to do something about it? What would it be worth to you to leave your insecurity about communicating in English behind you forever?”
Many small-business owners cling to their original business model, whether it was a model they intentionally conceived or one that evolved on its own. Entrepreneurial business has to evolve to survive. Betsy’s business teaches some valuable lessons about identifying new market segments, repositioning existing services (perhaps only slightly) to appeal to new customers, and evaluating pricing structures to be in line with customers’ expectations.
What else would you have advised Betsy to do or think about?
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If you are thinking of leaving your corporate job to start a business, nothing is more important than having Reserves. I am talking about a great big virtual warehouse filled with tangible and intangible items. If you don’t have them when you start your business, your engine will soon fail. If you run out along the way, you’ll be stalled on the side of the road in the blazing hot west Texas desert sun with no water, like that guy in 
