You know you’re going to be hungry again at some point don’t you? So what have you put in place to deal with this? Got some bread in the freezer… a tin of soup in the cupboard… a frozen lasagne waiting to be bombarded with microwaves? Of course you have, because well… you knew you’d need it.

And what’s the other option?

Wait until you’re starving and then think about getting dressed, lumbering down to the bus stop and crawling to Sainsbury’s? No of course not (unless you’re a student or a recently-divorced man). Why would you (knowing full well you’ll need food at some point) wait until the moment of that need before addressing it - especially knowing you can’t just solve it the moment you’re hungry?

And, I’m sure you guessed, this is my metaphor for new business.

You know you 1) will want growth for your company, and/or 2) can’t relying on your biggest client to stick around forever, so why are you waiting until it’s a problem before taking steps to address it? If you start some cold channel outreach now, you’re doing it without the need for immediate results, and with enough time to let the process run unhindered by pressure.

Waiting until you need a new client before looking for a new client is crazy. We often hear “we don’t need any new clients, so don’t need to do any new business” and - at that moment in time - that’s probably true. But things change, and there is NO COMPANY on the planet who hasn’t lost a client. If your set up is robust enough to lose a client or two and carry on regardless, excellent - happy days. If, however, you know just one client leaving puts you in a pickle, don’t want until then to do something about it.