Lessons learned from one entrepreneur’s struggles
Hazlett faced every entrepreneur’s nightmare last year, as this New York Times article reports. When the stock market began wobbling last January, almost all of his big corporate clients walked out on their contracts — taking his Hoboken, N.J., software design firm, Integrate Consulting LLC, from six figures in projected revenues to nearly nothing in just two weeks.
After spending four months searching for new clients in vain, Hazlett didn’t give up. Instead, he changed his focus — from making software for Fortune 100 companies to developing event-planning software for small and midsize organizations including businesses and churches. Although he just introduced his new product — smack in the midst of an economic meltdown — he’s still optimistic.
What can we learn from Hazlett?
First, don’t put your eggs in too few baskets. Hazlett admits he was uneasy about relying so heavily on large corporations as clients. That’s risky, even in the best of times. So when the economy turned ugly and big companies cut their costs, his company lost out.
Don’t be afraid to change course if you need to. One of your advantages as a very small business is being able to turn on a dime. Since corporate cost-cutting was what hurt Hazlett, he is now promoting his new product, Event Clipboard, as a way to help organizations save money. The reaction of beta testers has been positive, and he hopes to have 250 accounts by the end of 2009.
Don’t overspend. Hazlett never used outside financing, never took on debt, and never even had an office, so he was able to regroup rather than fold his business.
Stay positive. “I’m exuberant,” says Hazlett, who saw his business as having only two choices: “Change, or close my doors for good.” Which one would you choose?
How has your business or personal life changed since the Nation’s financial crisis?
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