Making connections and building relationships are extremely important for entrepreneurs and small companies for business development. Here are five success stories from some of Singapore’s small and medium businesses (SMBs).
“We put a great deal of emphasis on building relationships at Blak Labs. We call this 'Creative Care' – we came up with this term because everyone in Blak Labs is creative and works directly with clients to solve business problems or help clients achieve their communication objectives. We're intimately involved in the strategy and creative aspects at every stage. When we started out, noone knew us or what we could offer, but because of personal relationships that were already in place, we were quickly able to win projects and, as a result, build credibility with various clients. Over time, this led to more – and bigger – projects. People notice when you deliver good work – word begins to get around. Five years on, this belief in delivering with Creative Care sees us with a team of 20 in Singapore and a new office in Myanmar.” ~ Charlie Blower, co-founder and managing partner, Blak Labs
“I have always focused on building relationships first and foremost, with everyone we connect with in business. Relationships are at the core of our business. Working in partnership with our clients creates innovative and integrated solutions and provides us with a true understanding of what our clients need and how we can support them. Powered by purpose and responsibility for providing engaging solutions means relationships are the key to business success.” ~ Danielle Warner, CEO, Expat Insurance
“My company does training for the media industry. A few years ago, we made a conscious effort to be more involved in the community. I started to attend more industry talks, informal meet-ups and events such as film premieres and got talking to the people there. I also joined the various media community Facebook groups to find out more about issues being faced by media professionals. This helped me to spread the word about my company and we saw a valuable increase in sign-ups based on this.” ~ Ketan Shah, Training Manager, AV8 Media
“SMBs have limited budgets for promotion and advertising, hence relying on a network to build a brand name for the business, its services, products and employees is an easy way to reach existing and new customers. An example of this is how we at Millennial Events work with Geezerbuild. We leverage our networks and relationships to build solutions that meet our respective clients' needs. They provide the technology and we provide sport consultation services. Together, we have secured clients that would not be looking at either of these solutions alone.” ~ Hass Aminian, founder and CEO, Millennial Events
“I was previously the co-founder of a stress management company and I volunteered for DOT (Daughters Of Tomorrow), an organisation that helps women. Through DOT, women find gainful employment and are able to attend to their families’ needs. They get paid an income that helps them live independently. When I volunteered my time and skills, it led to amazing connections, which brought business to the company with celebrity speaker Ron Kaufman and his team, and publication in Motherhood, a major magazine. Networking in this instance not only made me contribute to those who needed help, but it also gave me something in return.” ~ Olga Pleskonos, founder, Olga Pleskonos
