A note
from our founder...
Dear friend,
I want to tell you about how I saved my first company, and in the process, created a system that may save yours.
My first company, Curious Lion, helps clients create custom training solutions for its employees and customers.
At first, I was able to leverage my personal network to get leads.
This worked out well in the first year and helped my get on my feet. I was lucky, not everyone makes a smooth transition from a corporate job to owning their own business. In fact, when the first check arrived in the mail, I had to pinch myself – I will never forget the elation of opening that first check!
But luck doesn't last forever.
Soon I faced the same problem all B2B businesses face: I didn’t have a sustainable pipeline of sales leads.
After the first few projects were successfully completed, and the clients were happy, I assumed they’d come back for more. But the need wasn’t there. Budgets were not approved. Timing wasn’t right. In short, the business was not repeatable. I didn’t know what to do next.
I WAS SCARED.
Suddenly I went from collecting checks and delivering work to staring at my inbox, hoping for new business.
Things had come quite easily in the beginning, but they weren’t easy any more. I wondered to myself where the next deal would come from. I couldn’t sit around and wait for my current clients to need a new training solution. I had to go out and find new business.
I had to build a pipeline to replenish deals when we completed current projects.
This was my first real test as a business owner.
I realized very quickly that
your pipeline is the lifeblood of your business
Of course, you can’t convert all new leads into new business, so you need a steady stream of them to replenish the opportunities you lose. When you do a close a deal, it’s time to celebrate! But only for a moment, because then it’s time to do what you do best: creating and delivering value to your client.
