One pattern has followed me through more than forty years of very different kinds of work.

When a business needs more business, the next opportunity is often closer than it first appears.

I saw it as a young manager calling former optical patients.

I saw it years later when I reopened relationships with suppliers that had stopped doing business with us.

I saw it again when a relatively small group of contractors and other professionals began referring homeowners to me for kitchen and bath projects.

The circumstances were different.

The principle wasn’t.

Businesses spend years accumulating relationships.

Customers.

Patients.

Suppliers.

Colleagues.

Professional contacts.

People who know the quality of their work.

Some remain active.

Some drift away.

Some know people the business would benefit from meeting.

Those relationships don’t replace advertising, marketing or new-business development.

But I’ve learned not to overlook them.

Sometimes the sensible place to look for the next piece of business is among the people who already know who you are.