About

Startups

New business startups and entrepreneurs face several unique and challenging obstacles, including:

• Is there a market for my product/service?
• If I find customers, exactly what resources do I need to serve them?
• How much money will I need? Where can I find it?

The most successful entrepreneurs are fixated on solving a customer problem and fight to overcome these obstacles. This customer fixation is critical for success. But other things are needed as well. This is where B3B Consulting can help.

Examples where we have helped startups:

• Developed a “pitchdeck” for investors
• Built a comprehensive business plan for a new business.
• Created the sales presentation
• Identified resources (people/skills, $, capabilities) needed by timeframe

While your startup is unique, we can help you overcome some common issues and avoid pitfalls. Remember: most startups don’t survive more than a few years and many don’t even make it through year one. Call us to learn how we can improve your odds for success.

New Product / Service

Many small and mid-size companies find themselves challenged when they decide to build a new product/service.

• Often it has been some time since the last new product and the people who did the work are gone or in new roles.
• It’s even worse when the knowhow (process) has been lost.

There are several effective ways to develop and launch new a new product or service (“stage gate® ” and “lean” are two common ones)  but many companies don’t have this type of best practices knowledge in house. This is where B3B Consulting can help. We’ve built and launched numerous products and services and can make sure you avoid common mistakes and improve your probability for success.

One all-too-common mistake we see is assuming you know what the customer wants in the new product or service. It’s much more cost effective to spend effort on the front-end learning and confirming exactly what customers want vs. building something that doesn’t sell. This is another area where best practices such as customer panels, in-depth qualitative research and/or third party interviews can make a big difference.

Of course, developing and launching a new product/service, even when it is well-targeted, requires substantial focus and resource. More, in fact, than many companies assume or plan for. Many products/services are late to market because of insufficient resource allocation.

B3B Consulting can help with the resource planning and even provide “arms and legs” help if that is what is needed. Call us today to learn more.

Growing Your Business

Growing an existing business or product/service always entails risk. If the company is fortunate enough to be in a rapidly growing market, being able to scale is critical for two reasons. First, not being able to deliver on time, with quality and service will undermine any growth objectives. Second, if (when) a competitor stumbles, you need to be able to capitalize. Balancing and assigning resources becomes critical, especially when profitability is factored in.

In these situations, B3B Consulting can help determine whether your company has its resources positioned properly including evaluation of downside risks.

If your company is not in a fast-growing segment, growth essentially means taking share from one or more competitors.  In markets that are not consolidated, this usually means targeting one or two types of competitors where your firm has a distinct advantage. Success comes down to having the marketing, sales, delivery and service messages and resources aligned to do so.

In markets that are consolidated, taking share is harder, unless a significant competitor has fallen on hard times (we should all be so lucky!).

In these cases, B3B Consulting has:

• Helped create a SWOT analysis
• Created a Porter “5 Forces” insight
• Established a targeted marketing plan
• Assisted in recruiting sales resources
• Identified new and alternative sales channels

Call us today to learn more.us,