In the world of business, developing trade opportunities is really about nurturing trade relationships. The days of a worker spending 20 to 35 years with one company are long gone, and the most important way to keep all your business opportunities wide open is by nurturing these relationships. In some ways, this complicates the world of making truly sound business decisions. If you have strong business relationships, there will no doubt be the odd phone call or email with a new business proposition on the other end. Some of these propositions will be fantastic while others will be gone before the finished idea even reaches your brain. Some will permit you to test them out while you maintain your current work position while others will demand your full time focus.
If you are going to get far ahead in this world, you are going to have to be receptive to new options that come across your desk, as well as being receptive to those who have a desire to convey them to you. Beware though if you have quite a lot of money at the get-go you might see many more business proposals which might be thinly veiled pleas for financial aid for someone elses doorway rather than your own.
Learning to discern between outstanding business opportunities and business relationships is mighty difficult though. Sometimes the relationship between the parties gets in the way of sound decisions. If a business relationship is sound and the idea initially appears good, the temptation is to jump right in without looking past a shallow level. This strategy may backfire unless the opportunity is quite foolproof. And when someone does come up with a foolproof business opportunity the rest of the world will know about it too. Until then, we are all still out there swimming with sharks and hoping for the best.
Business ideas can often pop up in the strangest of places. These are the thoughts and concepts that materialize during family outings, holiday soirees, and of course, seminars that are more useful as a cure for insomnia than anything else. It takes not just a bright mind but a bit of bravery to leave the proverbial door open for continued discussion. There are few things more distressing than driving home from a social event wishing that you had gotten someones contact details because you felt they seemed really onto something, and you wanted in. If you could have only been a little braver you might have snatched up his contact details, let your mind ponder their idea for a while, and then called with your own proposition a short while later. But you did not, and another million dollar opportunity went home early, along with the inventor.
It is a shark infested world out there, and everyone is looking so hard for success that they arent remembering to look for the friendly face of those who can help them. Sometimes the best key to developing your own winning business plan is to simply continue to listen to others.