Adding Value to your business

Its been a pretty hectic time since I last posted but I thought I'd give you some food for thought before you start with your new year planning for your business.

As you probably know by now I work very closely with some very valued, highly professional companies to help me provide an excellent service to my clients and with the projects that I work on.  These auxilary companies include but not are exclusive to: Andi at  Developing Photo who does all the photography for my clients and does a fantastic job, the guys at Freelance World who are fantastic accountants whom I recommend to my clients, the lovely ladies at Frasermedia whom are top of their game in the PR, marketing and media related world.  To name but a few.

I will only recommend someone I have had personal experience of and that I can wholeheartedly recommend.  Thats not to say I dont make mistakes at times and then have to re-evaluate the people I recommend - but thats few and far between.

I suppose the point I'm slowly getting around to making is that we all need a bank of fantastic suppliers surrounding us and that we can rely upon for excellent quality.  Now as you know this doesn't necessarily come cheap.  But as I say to all of my clients - you get what you pay for.  Dont pay four or five figures for a fabulous website to put your own shot with a £50 camera photos into it - you'll be the laughing stock! Also dont try and do something that you can pay a professional to do.  They are specialised in what they do for a reason.

However there are two sides to this coin - just because someone calls themselves a professional doesn't make them so! This is especially true of the creative industries.  There seems to be this inherant "breeding" that going to college and learning a subject makes you ready to start a business in that craft! This most definately is not so!  I have encountered two projects of late where poor photography and/or design has hampered a whole project that had the ability to be amazing!

If you are looking for any service always make sure they have experience in the field you are working in.  Lets take photographers for instance.  You are looking to get photos done for promotion purposes of your new venture, lets say its a holiday home, and you've seen lots of photographers work and like the work that they are doing.  Have you seen examples of the sort of shots you want/need? Do they do commercial work or is it just families/weddings? Are they capable of giving you good value for money?

You need to think about all of these things before you jump in with any service provider.  Yes they may be good at what they have done so far but are they capable of completing your job to a high standard?

So how much do you value your business? Are you going to put a price on your brand? Yes budgets are tight but remember that these people are human too, they should be flexible to your needs.  Maybe you can do the project in stages if cashflow is a bit slow. Or heres a fantastic tip - what have you got to trade with your supplier? Personally I've done work in exchange for various items from logo design and branding to christmas dinner! As long as both parties are happy with the exchange where is the issue?

So have a wee think as you are planning for 2012, do you really have the correct service providers around you? Do you need to find a new one? Could things look better with a professional slant on them? Why not take the bull by the horns and look elsewhere.  If you need any help give me a shout - first hours advice in exchange for a good coffee!!