Leverage in business, from my perspective, is the ability to use what you have — or may not have — to move your business forward. The truth is, I didn’t know or appreciate the concept of leverage in my early days of business.

A few examples of leverage:

1. If you are in a co-working space today and you invite someone to meet you there, they are greeted at the front desk, perhaps welcomed by someone from your team or the host organization, who takes them to your office or a meeting room. You’re leveraging the space to appear as a well-rounded organization. You may not own the space, the building, the equipment. You may not employ all the people there, but the perception of being an established business is clear.

2. If you secure a loan from one bank, you can leverage that loan to get another.

3. If you secure a large client, you could leverage their bigger name to help secure another large client.

What I have come to understand from my experiences in down times or times of crisis is that while it is important to be resilient and move forward, the ability to leverage what you have — including cash, people, and places — is more important. Power comes to those who are able to leverage what they have to keep their business moving forward.

We’ve been asking you to take time to reflect on what you’ve been doing. When I began seriously looking at how I was able to secure some of my earlier business deals, I was surprised to realize that it was all about leverage without me even knowing it!

By bringing the concept of leverage front and center for you, I hope you don’t have to suffer or struggle as long as I did to lead or start your business or organization.

BEFORE YOU GO

We see our blogs as opportunities for dialogue. Please share your thoughts as comments.

1. What can you do to leverage the resources you have?

2. What other ideas do you had around the concept of leverage?

3. What else have you done to keep your business or organization moving forward?