Small Company Big Business

This is a fabulous book, smart, detailed and right on the money to help any small business work with any big business. Great work Bronwyn Reid.

Small businesses have been struggling for decades to crack the code of working with big business. Bronwyn Reid has written a book based on many years of experience, offering both practical and inspirational advice that will help any small business to attract bigger customers, keep working with them for longer periods of time and ensure that the relationship is mutually profitable and rewarding. It’s about time someone wrote such an intelligent and useful book for the small business market.

—Andrew Griffiths, International Bestselling Author

For small business wanting to crack a big corporate contract, Bronwyn Reid shares her years of experience in an easy to read format, the risks, the benefits and the whole process from whoa to go (or not).

—Amanda Fisher, The Numbers Matter, Author of Unscramble Your Numbers, The Connected Accounting Practice, Connected Technology.

Bronwyn develops sincere and genuine relationships with stakeholders and like-minded people striving to achieve similar organisational and community change. Some people are driven to networking as job requirements and KPIs or as a means to increase the bottom line of their company budget; I can state that Bronwyn doesn’t fit this mould – she engages and networks with people because she wants to make a difference and to share her learning from experience with others, so that they perhaps don’t make some of the same mistakes that she and Ian did when first starting out in small business some twenty odd years ago.

Small Company, Big Business explains how to work with Government, Private Enterprise, ‘the Big End of Town’ companies, legal requires, systems – technology or not, project management and finances – a must read for all SME owners wanting to work in the Big Business arena.

—Kim Harrington, Associate Vice-Chancellor Rockhampton Region, and, Director of Business Development CQUniversity Australia

Having a small, multi-discipline contracting company on the Central Highlands in Queensland, it’s inevitable that one day you are going to deal with a big company in the resource sector if you want to make a living. Even though I had been managing a business for over 20 years, I still felt confused and overwhelmed and struggled with a lack of support. Until this book came along. With this book, Bronwyn takes you through the steps required in a relevant and practical way that makes sense and gives you a feeling of being supported. It’s not often that you can access the expertise of someone like Bronwyn who has such a wealth of knowledge and actual experience. Bronwyn has guided me through changing our company profile to better reflect our business and given me direction. I now feel empowered and confident to deal with the big companies and I also have a real sense of where we can direct our business and future.

—Sandi Cant, W5C Group

I just in finished reading Small Company, Big Business and I want to say bravo! Your book is bloody fantastic! As someone who has mainly worked as a client-side program and project manager, I totally relate to how SMEs just don’t get doing business with corporate clients, with respect to contracts in particular.

Small Company, Big Business should become a best seller and essential reading for any small business contracting to larger clients, especially in the government, construction and resource sectors. It would be a good idea to get local government to order a pallet and send out to all their creditors as well as have their own staff read it! Very impressive. Well done.

—Sonya Comiskey, PINE TREE PROJECTS

A ‘must-read’ for small companies thinking big! As the owner of a small company targeting some big clients, I found Small Company, Big Business a great and practical read. I love the fact that Bronwyn’s advice is based on her own, firsthand experience of what works (and what doesn’t) when dealing with the big end of town. I’ll be referring to this book frequently …

—Cynthia C. Dearin, Dearin and Associates

There is no better advocate for how big and small business should be working together. Period. Bronwyn understands both sides of the equation and is able to use her experience to help both types of business to do more business, more effectively and more efficient. She understands and can clearly articulate the strengths and weaknesses of both—and more importantly knows to help business people play to one and mitigate the other. Highly Recommended.

—Geoff Hetherington, The Clarity CEO

I had the privilege of working closely with Bronwyn during the publishing of Small Company, Big Business and her knowledge of working with big business is second to none. Since then she has helped me write tender documents and understand the processes and outcomes that large corporations and government are looking for. If you are a small business looking to work with big business then reading Small Company, Big Business is a must. Bronwyn is both a wealth of knowledge and a pleasure to work with.

—Ann Wilson, Independent Ink

If you own a small business and want to take it to the next level, then I strongly suggest you read this book. The information that Bronwyn shares is practical advice with real applications, not just theory. If you’re wanting to do business with large corporations, I suggest you read this book first. It may seem like something that is out of reach for you but after reading this book it will definitely be achievable.

—Blake Repine, CQ University

Bronwyn’s expertise in managing the power relationship between big and small business is impressive. She is a recognised expert, and is not only called on by both big and small business, but also by governments as a specialist and an advisor. Being in small business and wanting to work with the big end of town, Bronwyn’s advice is critical—I make a point of following her posts on LinkedIn and have recently acquired her book—she is someone I enjoy learning from, and we are always learning.

—Kate Christie, Time Stylers

First published 2017 by Independent Ink

PO Box 1638, Carindale

Queensland 4152 Australia

Copyright © Bronwyn Reid 2017

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. All enquiries should be made to the author.

Cover design by BrandStrong

Edited by Bev Ryan Publishing

Illustrations by CADesignIT

Typeset in 12/16.5 pt Adobe Garamond Pro by Post Pre-press Group, Brisbane

Cataloguing-in-Publication data is available from the National Library of Australia

ISBN 978 0 6481 3633 0 (pbk)

ISBN 978 0 6481 3634 7 (epub)

ISBN 978 0 6481 3635 4 (kindle)

Disclaimer:

Any information in the book is purely the opinion of the author based on her personal experience and should not be taken as business or legal advice. All material is provided for educational purposes only. We recommend to always seek the advice of a qualified professional before making any decision regarding personal and business needs.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

SECTION 1: HOW DO BIG BUYERS THINK?

Chapter 1: Three Disconnects

Chapter 2: How do Big Buyers Buy?

Chapter 3: What’s a Supply Chain and How do They Work?

Chapter 4: What do Large Buyers Want?

Chapter 5: Why Would They Buy From Me?

Chapter 6: Why Wouldn’t They Buy From Me?

Chapter 7: Understanding Contracts

SECTION 2: SHOULD I PRESS THE GO BUTTON … OR NOT

Chapter 8: Do You REALLY Want to Supply to Big Organisations?

Chapter 9: The Business Journey

Chapter 10: Why Do This?

Chapter 11: Why Not do This?

SECTION 3: SET YOUR FOUNDATIONS

Chapter 12: The 9 Essential Business Skills

Chapter 13: What Business Are You In?

Chapter 14: What’s Your Why?

Chapter 15: What’s in Your PESTLE Environment?

Chapter 16: Who is Your Ideal Customer?

Chapter 17: You Have to Pay the Admission Price

Chapter 18: Understanding Portfolio Risk—Having All Your Eggs in One Basket

Chapter 19: Your External Team

Chapter 20: Financial Management—Getting Paid

Chapter 21: Growth, Downsizing, and Exit Strategies

SECTION 4: SIMPLIFY THE COMPLEXITY

Chapter 22: Why Your Business Needs Systems

Chapter 23: The Business Benefits of Good Systems—the 5 C’s

Chapter 24: The 7 Steps to Creating Systems

Chapter 25: The Technology Question

Chapter 26: Do I Need to be Certified?

SECTION 5: MAKE YOURSELF KNOWN

Chapter 27: To be or Not to be—Online

Chapter 28: Your Email is Your Brand

Chapter 29: Your Website

Chapter 30: Getting Behind the Iron Curtain

Chapter 31: Networking

Chapter 32: Partnerships

SECTION 6: TELL YOUR STORY

Chapter 33: The Importance of Storytelling

Chapter 34: Capability Statements

Chapter 35: Bids, Tenders, Proposals—What?

Chapter 36: Tenders and Proposals—How They Work and Where to Find Them

Chapter 37: Start Local

Chapter 38: Go / No-Go decisions

Chapter 39: Writing Tenders and Proposals

SECTION 7: SO YOU’VE WON THE CONTRACT—NOW WHAT?

Chapter 40: Introduction to Project Management

Chapter 41: Keep Your Customer Close

Chapter 42: Putting it All Together

About the Author

How To Work With Bronwyn

Ordering Additional Copies of this Book

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book has taken me significantly longer to finish than I would have liked or expected, but it did eventually get done.

For that, I have several people to thank. To my husband Ian Rankine. 11 years ago when you wrote your first series of books, you had my name in the Acknowledgements, and now it’s my turn to thank you. There is absolutely, positively, no way on earth that I would have come to this point without your love, help and support over the past 26 years of our business and life partnership.

My two wonderful children, Sala and Sam. I know that you didn’t suffer from over-mothering as your father and I combined our parenting duties with starting and growing our businesses. You have both developed into beautiful adults, and I know you will both make your mark in the world by doing good things. Thank you for believing in me and being my support system when I needed one.

The many, many people who were involved in the creation of this book. Bev Ryan, who started me on this author’s journey when I won the Queensland Rural, Regional and Remote Women’s Network Strong Women Leadership Award for Business back in 2013. Bev then completed the circle by being my editor.

My designers, the team at BrandStrong and Cheryl Tompkins at CADesignIT. You have taken my somewhat incoherent and amateurish design specifications and turned them into products that have made my book come alive. Ann Wilson and her team at Independent Ink made the whole thing come together so well and helped me through the whole printing, marketing maze. Thanks.

My Accountability Buddies, Dallas McMillan, Robert Buhrke and Anetta Pizag. Thank you for your support, wisdom, inspiration and most of all, your friendship. You even stuck with me during the times when I really questioned myself and my ability to finish this book.

As I am not a lawyer, my colleagues Sarah Bartholomeusz and Georgia Thomas kindly reviewed my chapter on Contracts and made valuable suggestions and additions. Thanks for keeping me on the right side of the law ladies.

My mentors at KPI, especially Glen Carlson and Daniel Priestly. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, and introducing me to a whole new skill-set as well as a truly remarkable group of entrepreneurs.

The book guru and world’s-best mentor, Andrew Griffiths. Andrew, you know just how badly my writing had stalled until I attended your Author Retreat. I think you should also know that when you (almost) got cross with me and said that this book had to be published, I interpreted that as the sound kick in the derriere I needed to get to the finish line. I am eternally grateful for your support, wisdom, friendship and odd sense of humour.

Lastly, to the team at 4T Consultants, both past and present. I know that you were all probably heartily tired of hearing me talk about the book while it was under construction, so thank you for stepping in and allowing me to take the time needed to complete it. In particular, thank you Kelle for bearing the brunt of my work as this book neared completion. 4T is what it is due to your collective efforts. As Claire said at one Friday drinks on the verandah, 4T isn’t a job, it’s a lifestyle!

INTRODUCTION

Being a small business owner is a bit like being on a perpetual roller-coaster ride. There’s the adrenaline highs (remember that moment when you got your Business Registration Certificate in the post that you could frame and put on the office wall?), and deep, despairing lows—like the day your best customer called up and informed you they were taking their entire contract to the competition. Your bank account is constantly in a state of either feast or famine. There are sleepless nights when you just have to keep working to meet a client deadline. And then there is the never ending search for new leads and new customers.

Out there is the nirvana—the dream of most small business owners—that day when you finally land a big-name company as a client. Instead of constantly chasing leads and having a wildly fluctuating bank account, your new contract will provide you with a steady and certain income. You also know just how much it will mean to your business to be able to put the logo of your new customer on your website and marketing materials—especially if it is a well-known brand—proudly proclaiming that you are one of their trusted suppliers. You can do what you’ve always done, just on a bigger scale.

As enticing as that future may be, most business owners simply don’t know how or where to start. They don’t know what big customers want, and they don’t understand their language. In fact, seven out of ten small business owners tell me that this is their biggest obstacle to growing their business by attracting a big customer. Six out of ten say that they don’t know how to get their potential big customers to notice them.

That was me 20 years ago. Our consultancy business had the opportunity to sign a contract with an international research organisation, but I really didn’t know where to start. I felt powerless. It was me—or at least my husband and me—trying to figure out how to deal with an international giant. And the deal we came away with reflected that imbalance of knowledge. I simply didn’t have the knowledge or the tools to do any better at the time, but I knew instinctively that I’d had the bad end of the deal. I knew that if our fledgling business had any chance of a long term future, I had to get better at dealing with these people.

The same feelings of confusion and trepidation, and lack of knowledge, may be stopping you from taking that one important leap you need to get your business really growing—stepping up and becoming a supplier to a big organisation. You may have heard horror stories about not getting paid, or overwhelming bureaucracy, and it certainly isn’t always a walk in the park. But it doesn’t have to be all gloom and doom.

Fast forward 20 years, and I have certainly done a lot of learning. Our consultancy company went on to become an award-winning and successful supplier to all levels of government, and both national and international companies. I stumbled along, and tried a countless number of ways to make the interaction with my big customers smoother. The lessons I learned and the mistakes I made along the way have enabled me to now help other small business owners grow their own businesses into the vehicle they envisaged when they started out with a certificate of incorporation and a dream.

I have distilled all those lessons—some painful and expensive—into a program that others may follow to make their own path easier. That’s what this book is about. I’ve put it all into a logical sequence so you can implement gradually, rather than feeling completely overwhelmed. If you are reading this book, you are most probably already thinking about trying to get those important big customers. You have probably even attended some workshops to learn what to do. Chances are though, that the implementation—putting it all into place—is still looking like an impossible jungle.

The 7 steps outlined in this book will allow you to find, engage, and then keep those big customers you really, really want to have on your website. You will learn how they think, what they expect of you, what you need to comply with their requirements, and how to keep them on your client list once you have signed that first, important contract.

It is important that all 7 steps