💡 How to Turn Layoffs into Your Opportunity (Issue 169)
An interesting way to find potential new clients
Klarna is backpedaling after cutting hundreds of human jobs and replacing them with artificial intelligence. The Swedish buy-now-pay-later company now says real people are essential to customer service and plans to bring them back—but in a gig-style setup. (source)
While AI has added a unique twist, this pattern of corporate behavior is not new. I started in tech in 1993, so I’ve witnessed many layoffs, hiring booms, and economic crashes. One recurring pattern I observed is that companies conduct large layoffs and regret the loss of talent within a few months.
The remaining employees were soon overworked.
Projects would start falling behind schedule.
Unique skills would be lost with the departing employees.
At one company, I remember a manager desperately trying to convince an ex-employee to come back temporarily to help with a project. Apparently, this person was the only one who really knew how this specific piece of software worked.
As a solopreneur, you can read industry signals and more specific corporate actions to find opportunities for consulting and contract work.
For example, if a startup raises a significant funding round, it will be growing soon. They’ll use that money to hire as quickly as possible. But they usually struggle with finding great talent to fill seats quickly. And they will soon face issues scaling their organizations and processes. You can be the solution to their problems.
Another example: when a company conducts a large layoff, it usually soon discovers that the remaining teams can’t keep up with the workload (surprise, surprise!). Fully loaded headcount is more expensive than hiring consultants and contractors to help keep projects on track.
The budget for hiring consultants/contractors is also treated differently from the budget for hiring employees. At one of my past employers, we could frequently hire contractors even when the execs had frozen hiring for full-time employees.
So, if you’re looking for new corporate clients, pay attention to these kinds of signals (e.g., funding announcements, layoffs). Reach out to the appropriate hiring managers (use LinkedIn and leverage your network to identify them), and offer your services to help address the pain they are most likely facing.
Would you like to brainstorm with me about how to find new opportunities for your business? You can schedule a complimentary call.
Larry Cornett is a business coach who works with ambitious professionals to help them reclaim their power, become more invincible, and create better opportunities for their work and lives. Do more of what you love and less of what you hate! Check out his new Invincible Solopreneurs Daily Journal!
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