Starting from nothing, in public
Here's the starting position, published before any of it works, so there's nothing to tidy up afterwards.
- Screened
- 7,319
- Qualified
- 50+
- Meetings
- 0
- Clients
- 0
What I've actually done so far
I've read the filed accounts of 7,319 Surrey companies through Companies House, looking for three things showing up together: years running the business, some head count reduction, and no real change in revenues. Over 50 came back carrying all three.
That's a screen, not a pipeline. Nobody has been approached, no meeting has been booked, and nothing has been sold. A list is the cheapest part of this and I'd rather say so now than let the number stand in for progress.
Why filed accounts rather than a bought list
A database tells you a company's size and sector. Its accounts tell you what has been happening to it. A firm that has been running for years, has quietly shed a couple of people, and has revenues that haven't moved is describing a specific situation, and it's usually the one where new business stopped working and nobody could say exactly when.
I've been on the wrong end of that myself and didn't spot it until it showed up in the numbers.
What I'm testing
That the founder is already the best salesperson in their own business, and what's missing is a full diary rather than a sales hire. So the work over the next 90 days is to book meetings for myself the same way I'd book them for a client, and to publish what that actually takes.
What gets published every week
Companies screened and qualified, approaches sent by channel, replies including the unkind ones, meetings booked and held, and what broke. The last one is the part most write-ups leave out and it's the part worth reading.
What would make this a failure
If 90 days of it produces no meetings, that's the answer and I'll publish it as the answer. I'd rather it failed here, where you can see it, than in private where I could tidy it up afterwards.
Next entry from 14 September. There's nothing to buy and no list to join.