Loading ...Until recently, Christopher Hazlett, founder and president of software design firm Integrate Consulting, ran a successful business developing software for Fortune 100 companies. However, the recent economic downturn has forced him to look elsewhere to keep his business alive. Hazlett says in early January Integrate had 12 months of work in the pipeline, but in just two weeks all of his active clients backed out of their contracts.
He knew he was focusing too much on a specific area, but the big contracts made that easy to do. Acknowledging the downturn, Hazlett made a big gamble to save his company by switching from its strength of developing software for companies to developing a Web product for a market that includes churches and synagogues.
Hazlett is now ready to launch a software program called Event Clipboard. He says the new product fills a niche that didn’t exist, which he defines as groups within large corporations, nonprofits, and small- and medium-sized businesses. Hazlett says he has learned several important lessons from this experience. First, be frugal.
During Integrate’s heyday, Hazlett thought about renting an office, but decided there was no compelling reason to do so, allowing him to save on rent. Hazlett also cut his salary last year, and puts much of what he earns into personal savings. Switch to a new product or service if the one you are marketing is not selling. Be patient and look for opportunities during tough economic times. Corporate cost cutting hurt Integrate, so Hazlett is now marketing a budget-conscious product to help customers save money.
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