Take 5

As a longtime business consultant, I talk to business owners each day. Key ideas for remaining vital come up all the time when I am conversing with clients and employees. Here are just five I would like to share as we prepare for falls traditional uptick in the marketplace. 1. Host an event. Open your office for a networking opportunity, a business briefing or a breakfast. Get clients and prospects through the door. If your budget is lean, partner with a complementing business. For example, if you are a real estate broker hosting first-time home buyers, allow a mortgage company to provide catered food and coffee. 2. Meet with advisors in person. Ask your A-Team (think your lawyer, CPA, benefits consultant) to meet face-to-face. Discuss changes in your operations, ask for discounted fees or propose performance-based billing in exchange for a renewed commitment to do business together. 3. Conduct informational interviews. Some genuine stars, the best and brightest managers, salespeople, financial planners and artistic professionals are seeking work right now. So, too, are high-energy college graduates. Meet with themeven if you do not have a job opening. Fifteen minutes may inspire a job seeker to share industry insights. It also may inspire you to bring on a consultant until a full-time position is available. 4. Sharpen your sword. So you have sold widgets for 15 years by doing X, Y and Z for five hours a day. You are still doing X, Y and Z, but your sales are down by 50 percent. Stay sharp. Take classes online, listen to training experts and shake off old habits that no longer yield results. A new economy requires fresh tactics in every industry. Moreover, what worked during exponential growth in the Valley may not guarantee success in todays conditions. 5. Target international clients. Our city is on the map, so think globally. Equip your office with web conferencing technology, attend seminars on international outreach and etiquette, discuss foreign currency billing with your aforementioned A-Team and track headlines. Create a customized approach for non-U.S. markets seeking a presence here. If you do not, your competitor down the street will.

Business Advisors, LLC David K Seems, Managing Partner, Stanford Place II, 7979 E. Tufts Ave., Suite 900A, Denver, CO 80237, Phone: 303.708.8774 Fax: 866.609.9083.

Gail L. Reeves, Marketing Consultant, Stanford Place II, 7979 E. Tufts Ave., Suite 900A, Denver, CO 80237, Phone: 303.708.8774 Fax: 866.609.9083. Phone: 303-708-8774, www.BusinessAdvisorsLLC.net, info@businessadvisorsllc.net David K. Seems is licensed in CO, NM, WY, MT, AZ, CA, GA, IL, MI, MN, MO, NV, OK, OR, and TX to offer insurance products, life insurance (including variable life), and annuities (including variable annuities), and is securities registered in AZ, CO, MN, NM, and WY and adviser registered in CO. This site is not a solicitation of interest in any of these products in any other state. IMPORTANT CONSUMER INFORMATION: David K. Seems may only transact business in a particular state after licensure or satisfying qualifications requirements of that state, or only if he is excluded or exempted from the state's registration requirements. Follow-up, individualized responses to consumers in a particular state by David K. Seems that involve either the effecting or attempting to effect transactions in securities or the rendering of personalized investment advice for compensation, as the case may be, shall not be made without first complying with the state's requirements, or pursuant to an applicable state exemption or exclusion. For information concerning the licensure status or disciplinary history of a broker-dealer, investment adviser, BD agent or IA representative or any financial institution he represents, contact your state securities law administrator. Insurance products from the Principal Financial Group are issued by Principal National Life Insurance Company (except in New York), Principal Life Insurance Company and the companies available through the Preferred Product Network, Inc. Securities and advisory products offered through Princor Financial Services Corporation, 800-247-1737, member SIPC. Principal National, Principal Life, the Preferred Product Network and Princor are members of the Principal Financial Group, Des Moines, IA 50392. David K Seems, Principal National and Principal Life Financial Representative, Princor Registered Representative, Financial Advisor. Business Advisors, LLC is not an affiliate of any company of the Principal Financial Group. Principal Life maintains certificates of authority to transact insurance in all 50 states. Principal Life NAIC identification number is 61271. Principal National NAIC identification number is 71161. Privacy Policy