How I'll grow my business

It's that sticky place for small businesses. It's that point where the owner has plenty of work to keep him/her busy, but he/she isn't quite ready to bring on more help.  The business is reactionary.  The appointment calendar is booked for the near-term, but beyond the next month or the next quarter or the next contract, business is uncertain.

This is such a common problem for small business owners that I want to share what my strategy is for getting a company to the next stage. 

To give the context, I just started with a small company called Epimedia that does contract work for other companies. Epimedia writes software that makes hardware work. I am now one of four full-time employees of the company.  All of the contracts up to now have come from word-of-mouth. Every year has seen more revenue than the previous year, but the work can be exhausting as we continuously work at our maximum capacity.  We enjoy the luxury of high enough revenues that I can focus some attention on proactively finding new business.  The following is an outline of what I plan to do to find new business:

0. Be sincere
As I mentioned in

You're so lucky!

Let me introduce you to one of my best friends and one of my favorite people in the world, Drew Danburry.

Drew has done what most musicians fantasize about.  He has played on stages across the US and around Europe.  As a folk musician that funded his dream by making connections on MySpace and then playing shows in every venue, house or dorm hall that he could get into, Drew made fans everywhere he went.  Drew is self taught on the guitar, keytar, and accordian.  He has never taken voice lessons, although he has been told several times that he should. 

But you can't do that!
He has recorded albums and given them away.  He has driven around the country in a car that shouldn't be trusted at freeway speeds. He has been an example to me of not preparing for the future at the expense of the present.  (Or like one of my other heroes once said, "Consider the lilies of the field...)

"You're so lucky!"
In the midst of Drew's adventures, he frequently heard people tell him how lucky he was. Obviously his life was good: traveling , playing in front of fans,