Power in business series

Relationships

Your business relationships are key to your power. What is "power". I think you already know, it is that which flows when you turn the switch on, when you connect. It is the energy that amplfies when you work in a team that is resolute, focused and has a good idea of what needs to be done.

How you build business relationships? You communicate. You establish needs and then meet them. You establish trust and then you deliver. You establish a flow of connectivity. Growth occurs when you are able to get more people to work on an activity you have proven there is demand for. It may take time to find that activity. It may happen overnight. Or you may try several ideas before your customers start to talk about you.

There are essentials to building relationships. You are servicing a need. The person who thinks that they can hang out their shingle, and attract customers by mere dint of their availability has assumed that there is a crowded market with and excess of demand over supply.

As the world economy has grown and more people than ever are available, the trust factor has become far more important. When you are the only doctor in town, you will have a full waiting room. But when you are one of a thousand web designers and a new technology is just around the corner, then you may find that supply is dominating the market. What can you do? You can build relationships. You can establish trust with potential customers. You can achieve this with a clarity of your "personal brand". This is a clear statement of your value to the world.

And if you are in a crowded market then you have better be the best or you will wait for a long time for customers to be attracted to you. Look at nature, flowers compete for the attention of bees with purfumes and colours. We learn by observing nature. If you are designer, then your designers need to stand out in the field of flowers waving in the breeze. Or you will not be visible.

There are core principles of business integrity that matter. Honesty and reliability are assumed. If you are working with a team, then you must be able to trust each other. Your work as a designer has a value, for a period of time. Fashions change. One day you may hit the demand and the next day, it may be someone else's turn. This is why you have to continue learning.