Being a start up or a growing company is challenging. Cash flow is tight and I find people often undervalue sales and the time B2B sales efforts take to close business. We do get asked often if we will work for 100% commission. Our short and only answer is “No” and there are a couple of reasons for that.
- Not having any control of the product, execution of the install, customer service, delivery and the list goes on. We are not equity holders and have no say. The challenge is that without some semblance of control and no guarantee of income for time spent (because we all have mortgages and groceries to pay for), the risk is too high. The other aspect here is what happens if after 6 months of effort, you as the owner decide to close the business down or go in a different direction? That time is a sunk cost and anyone who has done B2B sales understands that the sales process takes time, in the range of 6 to 18 months.
- We are not in the business of financing other businesses. Supplying sales resources comes at a cost. You would not expect your lawyer, accountant, landlord, hydro and cable company to provide free services for you. The same goes for sales. There is an opportunity risk of doing 100% commission and there is a significant financial risk when considering the lack of control in # 1. The reason we set up VA Partners in the first place is that we believe a fractional sales rep can get your sales funnel established and then over time, move you toward having the resources of hiring full-time. The risk mitigation for you on this is the part-time, lower cost nature of the fractional resources.
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