Seize the opportunity. Be prepared

The good news: You’ve been delighting your customers or clients for years. You have built an excellent reputation. It’s only a matter of time before you’re presented with a spectacular opportunity. Maybe something life-changing.

The important news: It’s essential you get prepared for your big opportunity, in advance. Now is the time to get that preparation in place.

With all that in mind, here are some things I strongly recommend you get to work on. They’re in no particular order.

• Talk with your suppliers. Find out how quickly they can scale up if you have a sudden, vastly higher demand than usual for certain products.
• Be on the look out for people who you can put in place, in case you need additional team members at short notice.
• Make sure your company’s financial information is clear and detailed, should a serious party ask about acquiring your business. This will help you get the best possible price and show them you’re a professional. It also speeds the process up.
• Talk with your bank manager in anticipation of a future, major project. Make sure you have access to the cash flow required, for what can be a sudden, huge spike in your outgoings. It’s also a good idea in general to get to know your business banking manager, before you need anything from them.
• Get some media training. Learn how to speak on camera, how to talk with clarity and how to overcome any fears about there being a huge audience.
• And if you’re hoping to go ‘viral’ in a way that would put your website under extreme pressure, contact your web host. Ask about their ability to quickly scale your server up, to handle huge volumes of traffic. I’ve seen what happens when a server can’t cope, and masses of valuable sales and enquiries are lost.

Give yourself the gift of preparedness and be ready when your big opportunity comes along.

After all, you’ve literally earned it.