Tightrope: Get set for growth in 2009

— -- A few weeks ago I drove to Ohio to present a seminar on growing and developing your business for the New Year. With only a couple of weeks left until 2009 there is no better time like the present to start planning for your New Year's business resolutions. And growth and development should be at the top of your entrepreneurial resolution list.

All too often many entrepreneurs get so caught up in producing products and services that they forget that the real foundation to every business is the customers and clients they serve.

Below are a few of the suggestions I made at the Ohio seminar. I hope that you will include one or two in your New Year's plans for your business.

• Take time to know your customers/clients. This is the first rule of business development and growth. You need to know as much as possible about the people you serve where they are, what they want to accomplish, why they wants to accomplish this, when they wants to accomplish this particular thing. Only then can you help them to get exactly what they want. And don't forget this kind of client information can also help you to develop ideas for other sources of income.

• Expand the products and/or services your company offers. The Wall Street meltdown caused by accounting lies, cheating and corporate theft has caused us all to suffer through shrinking 401(k)s and the near-depletion of private pension funds. The result is that few of us will ever know what complete retirement is. Single-source income is a thing of the past. Now, we must create ways to develop multiple revenue streams. Example: if you own a catering company, can you develop additional sources of income by writing cookbooks or adding a cooking school to your current business? Look for creative ways that your company can introduce new sources of income.

• Become committed to not just selling your service or products but creating meaningful solutions to improve the lives of others. When you know that you have something to offer that will help others you will stop at nothing to get your product or service to the marketplace. This kind of commitment will give you the incentive and the drive to sure-fire success and is the difference between the successful and the near do wells.