Feast or Famine!

One of the newsletters I read is from the go big network. This week’s article is titled "Go Big or Go Home". A downsized economy will sort out business owners who create opportunity from those who disengage and eventually perish. The retail sector will hurt this holiday season as sales are predicted to slump with the unemployment rate steadily increasing (168,000 people lost their jobs last month) and a credit crunch that continues to limit capacity for businesses. It is your network of resources that will keep your business afloat and even thriving. As we learned at the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce networking event, to survive in this economy, utilize your network (Diversephilly, the various chambers, your associations – Michael, I will make an appointment for TEC’s Capital Corporation) and diversify your customer base. Think creatively about how to generate revenue from small businesses, corporate businesses, non-profit agencies and government clients.

ClearPoint Technology and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber emphasized that the businesses who are not operating on the Internet (see Gypsy Lane Technologies, Universal Concept), and do not have a professional email addresses are not even considered being in business (www.godaddy.com). When your business is properly incorporated (Real World Law, Athena Dooley Esquire) , has business assets separated from personal assets (see Sovereign Bank), has financial statements for the last 3 years (Goldflam and Associates, Williams Accounting) and has a course level understanding of the intricate operations for your business plan(See Enon Tabernacle Capital Fund's IE3 Institute for Entrepreneurship), then your business can go from a start-up business to an established business.

What I learned from the MED Week Conference was that we need to be entered into the CCR.gov database to be considered for corporate and government clients and have a profile in the Dun and Bradstreet reporting agency. I will continue to advance my business by learning what it takes to build an enterprise and share that information with the businesses on DiversePhilly. Newman Networks operates with corporate clients (Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania), small businesses and non-profit organizations (The Enterprise Center). Government clients are the missing piece for a diversified client list. It is time to add the City of Philadelphia’s, newly created Office of Economic Opportunity to my appointment book and learn what is necessary to work with the City of Brotherly Love.