IncQuery: How Do I Get to the Next Level?

Looking for ways to build a brand, and other challenges of building a company.

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Inc Query

Looking for ways to build a brand, and other challenges of entrepreneurship.

Another month, another round of great questions from readers -- about taking a business to the next level, getting a chance to run and own a company, improving management skills, and developing a business idea.

Moving On Up
I am the owner of a small eponymous handbag company that is facing a tremendous amount of competition, as designer handbags have become a big retail category. My business was doing very well until about a year ago, when sales started to slip. I have received wonderful editorial credits in the top fashion publications and have had placement in the finest stores in the country with good sell-through. Last year I decided to take sales in-house, instead of using a sales rep, because I thought I could be the best spokesperson for my product. I'm still looking for additional sales, but my primary goal has always been to build a solid brand. I've established my name, and my company is known as a viable player. How can I get to the next level? --Nancy

"If you want to get to the next level, you're doing it exactly the wrong way," says veteran entrepreneur and Street Smarts columnist Norm Brodsky. "Handling your own sales is not how you build a brand. You need to develop a certain mystique as the founder, the designer, the person whose name is on the product. You can't do that if you're spending your time qualifying leads, making sales calls, getting doors slammed in your face, and doing all the other things that go into making a sale. It's fine for the salesperson to bring you in to close an important deal, and you should certainly know all your customers, but you shouldn't be doing all the nitty-gritty work of selling, even if you are the best spokesperson for your product.

"Getting to the next level means letting go. To build a brand, increase your sales, and grow the company, you need to turn responsibilities over to other people. That can be hard, I admit, particularly when you believe you can do a given job -- like selling your product or service -- better than anyone else can, as most entrepreneurs think. I was the first dispatcher in my delivery business, and I always thought I was the best dispatcher we ever had (which probably isn't true). But if I were still dispatching, I'd have a very small company today, and I wouldn't be enjoying the wonderful life I'm able to have because of my business."

Making Connections
I recently lost my job as a chief financial officer when the start-up I worked for couldn't raise the money it needed to continue. Now I'm trying to figure out what to do next. I'd like to get back into the entrepreneurial world, but I have no savings to speak of, and my personal network is limited. On the other hand, I do have a record of success in entrepreneurial companies.

My goal is to become a president/CFO of a company and have a chance to earn an equity stake. I'm sure there are entrepreneurs who are near retirement or who want to get out or whose business has grown beyond them. The problem is, I don't know how to link up with them. Can you recommend a way to uncover these opportunities? Right now I'm spinning my wheels. --Paul

"Unless you have an established track record in a particular industry, Paul, the kind of opportunities you're looking for come only through personal networking," says Martin Babinec, founder and CEO of TriNet, in San Leandro, Calif., a five-time Inc 500 company that provides online and in-person human-resource services to small and midsize companies. "Even though your personal network is limited, that's where you have to start.

"But to be successful as an executive, you must continually expand your network -- through consulting, speaking, writing, and volunteer activities with industry groups, professional associations, the chamber of commerce, whatever. You might also try to develop relationships with commercial banks that lend to small companies, and especially with people in the banks' loan-workout departments. Let them know you're available as a resource to help on troubled loans. One of those situations might lead to just the kind of opportunity you're looking for. In any case, you want to make sure there are enough people out there who know your skills, talents, and interests -- and who will think of you when an opportunity arises."

Growing Up As a CEO
I have a company that makes women's belts and other fashion accessories. After eight years in business, our sales are approaching $20 million. I realize that you can't run a $20-million company the same way you run a $10-million company. My fear is that my management skills and knowledge aren't growing as fast as my business. How can I make sure that I keep up with my company? --Steven

For this one, we turned to Ken Hendricks, founder and CEO of ABC Supply Co., based in Beloit, Wis., which he has taken from zero to $1.4 billion in sales in 20 years. Along the way, ABC Supply -- a wholesale distributor of roofing supplies -- became the only company ever to go from the #3 to #2 to #1 spot on the Inc 500 in successive years.

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Bo Burlingham

Burlingham joined Inc. in 1983. An editor at large, he is the author of Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big. The book was a finalist for the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award in 2006. Burlingham is also the co-author with Norm Brodsky of The Knack; and the co-author with Jack Stack of The Great Game of Business and A Stake in the Outcome.

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