Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it. If this looks like a laundry list of things to consider to foster new business, it is.

• Selling more to current customers will do it.

• Searching out new customers in the same industry and trying to convert them from their present source, is yet another way to accomplish it.

• How about finding new uses for your present products in totally new markets.

• Examine your core competencies and existing resources to evaluate how you can expand them to produce new products for new markets. (Evaluate the scope of capital investment, if any, that will be necessary to make such expansion a reality).

• If entering a new field where your experience is thin, consider partnering with a company already in that field and forming an alliance with them.

• Evaluate the feasibility of acquiring a company whose product(s) would supplement and or complement your own.

• Search out companies that can provide you with competitive intelligence on which you can make more informed decisions.

• Develop and implement a Strategic Plan as a guide for creating new business and new business opportunities. Keep it dynamic not static.

• Review company policies to ensure that they are not impacting the creation of new business

• Search out new ways to create new value both for your product(s) and your company.

• Consider branding your product or products.

• Pursue product tie-ins with other complementary major brand(s) in selected markets.

• Consider using diversification strategy to expand an existing product line with new products that all focus on one area.

• Don't be afraid to think out of the box when formulating new policies and processes that can ride the winds of change.

None of these things can happen in a vacuum. They take commitment, passion and getting other people in your company to buy into them so that everyone is pulling in the same direction. Many of them are related. When you accomplish one, it may pull another one along. One suggestion is to make a matrix for each of them and fill it in as you progress. You will be surprised at the successful results.