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“Not every company has to list on the stock exchange, it is not the only way to raise capital”, says Robert Judd, manager at Business Strategies International. People tend to overlook the money available from government sources in terms of rebates and market development grants says Judd, whose organisation helps business to identify and apply for market development funds and other grants available to them. One example is COMET which is designed to increase the commercialisation of innovative products, processes and services.

Like Stewart, Judd’s company helps business find money. He says his first step as a consultant is to understand the business and what your capital requirements are. Making sure you are accessing whatever grants and incentives are available to you is a good way to get capital and it doesn’t put your home on the line or mean you have to sell a share of the business.

Both Judd and Stewart agree that most small businesses lack in two important areas – financial management and marketing. Often, company finances are handled by a bookkeeper and maybe the multi-tasking owner, but that’s not good enough. Similarly marketing (and we don’t mean sales) is an area that is typically under-represented in the management team of a small company looking to grow through capital injection. But that doesn’t mean you should rush out and hire a new CFO and a CMO, says Stewart.

The calibre of people required to sort through these issues properly are usually far too expensive for a small business to employ. So consultants like Judd and Stewart usually put the business in touch with highly experienced strategic professionals who can work on a contract basis, sometimes even just acting as a mentor. These external specialists also provide much needed distance from the day-to-day operational needs of the business and provide a better strategic picture of what you are doing and where you should be heading.

“I find that few resellers have a marketing strategy or even a marketing function”, says Moses. They are very sales focused and because there is little marketing done they have to initiate every sale. They have to go out and find business. Everyone CRN spoke to agreed that resellers can rarely articulate a clear value proposition.

“They have one, or they wouldn’t be able to get more business”, says Moses. It’s a message you need to take to your customers, to the press, to your vendor and distribution partners and to potential investors.

You need to be able to say what it is you do, how that helps you win customers and how it helps them when you deliver. For example, Moses points out that the distribution of leads by vendors and distributors is often quite arbitrary because they don’t know the individual value proposition their channel partners can bring. If everybody knows what your business does best, you can get better leads.

Hannah Watterson is the principal behind Watterson Marketing Communications. With more than 20 years experience doing public relations for Australia’s IT industry, Watterson understands the business and what can and can’t be achieved. The benefits, she says, are more wide ranging that simply media relations. “A PR program that addresses not just media but also the reseller’s customers and prospects can help build the company’s profile and promote its differentiators in a very competitive market. It can also help bring the reseller to the notice of the vendors and so improve those relationships, and it can help them attract staff”, Watterson told CRN.

Hiring an external Public Relations consultant can be affordable and can have significant long-term pay-offs, but long term is the key. While some companies may try to spend up to quickly raise their profile ahead of a listing, launch or other major event, this probably won’t have much affect on their profitability. A sustained campaign of communications directed at the right media and your target audience of customers, vendors and other partners can raise awareness and push home your value proposition with the right people.

“A stop/start program will ultimately be a waste of time and money. You need regular contact to build relationships and a profile”, says Watterson. A reseller needs a budget of around $30,000 a year to support an effective public relations program. It also needs an existing customer base – as proof of its capabilities and a clear understanding of its target market and offerings. “The executives also need to have the time to commit a few hours per week to the program”, she said.

A communications specialist can help you identify target media and develop materials for them. They will advise you how to interact with the media and then use the news releases, customer profiles and any resulting coverage in other communications campaigns. “For example, the reseller might also use the materials in a customer newsletter or on its Web site. PR does not begin and end with submitting a news release to the media”, explains Watterson.

“Smaller companies can focus on one or two key publications and build a close relationship with those titles offering expert comment for features and news of deals. They can also leverage the PR activities of their vendors – if they have played a significant part in a big deal they should encourage the vendor to issue a release on the deal and include information on, and quotes from, the reseller”.

It was the same advice we got from most of the consultants we spoke to – leverage the skills and marketing activities of your vendor partners.

David Paddon, Director of Go To Market, a consultancy specialising in providing business consulting and lead generation to the IT channel says his organisation generally goes through half a dozen steps with a company. “If a manager says to me he has a poor sales pipeline it is generally an indication that something else is wrong, something isn’t working properly”, says Paddon.With more than 20 yeas in the IT industry holding executive and board-level positions, he specialises in the planning and execution of business development strategies, has marketing skills that he has deployed across the Asia Pacific region and can point to significant sales, profitability and market share growth successes.