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My business is up and running now

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JoyDivision

Although I am no longer doing web development market research suggested the market was too crowded. As a moderator of a large internet forum I discovered so many people were having problems with setting up wireless networks and other stuff so I have decided to setup a business offering wireless network installation, PC repairs and home tuition.

I have had good initial response in the market research side of things but I still have yet to get a single phone call. So far I have only got 500 leaflets out and put some adds in newsagents so it is still very early days.

I also need some other marketing ideas which are cheap. I have a web site which was rushed a little bit but I think it does the job perfectly ok.

I have also advertised with google.

I suppose it is very common at this early stage in the business for it to be very very quiet, I guess the time of year dosn't help either.
 
Hi

I have a small business alongside a full time job doing PC repairs, wireless setups, and other stuff like that.

I don't want to put you off but it is a very difficult business to make any money in. The problem is that most people know somebody who can do the work for a very cheap price. I have found that some people would rather spend days of their own time setting up a wireless network rather than pay for it to be done for them. It does seem silly to me but that is often the case.

The other main problem is the competition. I live in Hull and although its a fairly large town/city, there is not a lot of work around. It seems to me that there are loads of companies around who offer the same kind of service. Even if after an initial first look, I am still coming across further businesses all in this area. Then you also get the people who do guvvie work, and as they are not paying tax, will be more than happy to do a crappy job for crappy money.

I have tried hitting companies in the area with direct mailouts and again although after a follow up phone call reaction is good, there is still very little work.

As I said I do have a full time job, without which there is no way I could make enough to cover my bills just from this type of work. At least not yet.

Maybe you could offer web design along with the actual PC repair / setup work.

Good luck

Darren
 
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Yep I have done shop windows etc. I do intend to offer a web development and programming service a long side this.

My market research concluded that they are sucessful businesses in the area doing this so with the right marketing I figured it be ok. I will give it a few weeks and if I get no business I guess it is back to square one, possibly university.
 
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Good to hear you have finally got your business started.

I wish you all the luck in the world!
 
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You could also contact larger companies who only deal with usiness and business over a certain size, so some work they may not touch ask them to refer to you.
 
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Thanks.

I have been thinking this about this a lot, and I know for a fact people do have problems with computing as I spend a lot of my time helping people to fix them on a large forum.

The areas I have targeted have lots of cash rich time poor people so a lot of these people would rather pay to have the work done.

I think my real threads are internet forums and people who know people who can do it cheap.

I for example will not even open a computer up unless I backup all the work the client says is important first. I guess its only been two working days so its far too soon to start worrying.
 
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Yep. My public liability insurance dosn't cover data, it dosn't cover hardware either but hardware is so cheap I can cover that out of my own pocket.

The most that can really go wrong is I accidently short a £50 motherboard and the chances of that happening are virtualy zero.

My insurance is not active yet either, I am going to wait to get a customer first :p:
 
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Hi JD :) ,

Good to see you back again!
All the very, very best to you. You deserve a break - now go for it!!
Cheers, Nigel
 
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Try ads in your local newspapers - free and paid for - and you should have a yellow pages ad (but that will take some months).

That's where people go first if they need someone but have no recommendation from friends.
 
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cjd said:
Try ads in your local newspapers - free and paid for - and you should have a yellow pages ad (but that will take some months).

That's where people go first if they need someone but have no recommendation from friends.
Click to expand...

I have placed an advert with my local directory which advertises local businesses. My neighbour is a plumber who has got some work from it so I know people read it.

Meanwhile I will probably get a part time job in a supermarket to ease the preasure.
 
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JoyDivision said:
The most that can really go wrong is I accidently short a £50 motherboard and the chances of that happening are virtualy zero.
Click to expand...

And you can't get a replacment quick enough and becuase of the 2 hurs extra downtime you caused the client they lost a big contract that was worth a few grand.
 
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Well according to the web stats nobody has yet even bothered to look at my site :(

I am in two minds what to do, if I keep on promoting it I could loose more money but it may make the business a sucess.

More than 1000 leaflets have been delivered since Friday now.

It might be time to get a job at McCows and write the last five years of my life off :(.
 
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JoyDivision said:
Well according to the web stats nobody has yet even bothered to look at my site :(

I am in two minds what to do, if I keep on promoting it I could loose more money but it may make the business a sucess.

More than 1000 leaflets have been delivered since Friday now.

It might be time to get a job at McCows and write the last five years of my life off :(.
Click to expand...


You'll need to be far more thick skinned than that to be in business Joy! If at first you don't succeed, either cheat, or try again but in a different way. But you have to believe in your service and business 100%. It seems very early days to be thinking so negatively?

Think positive!! You can do it. (Repeat 20 times before, during and after breakfast every day!)

Hayles
 
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I know I think there is a market there, I just may be going about it the wrong way. If anybody is a marketing expert and wouldn't mind me PM'ing my leaflet and press adverts I would be very gratefull.

I have also arranged an appointment with my local business place for advice.
 
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<<<<<
I know businesses are slow when they first start but it seems there is no interest at all in this.
<<<<<

I think it's your name. Joy is just a bit too girlie for a guy that fixes hardware!
 
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bci said:
<<<<<
I know businesses are slow when they first start but it seems there is no interest at all in this.
<<<<<

I think it's your name. Joy is just a bit too girlie for a guy that fixes hardware!
Click to expand...

lol but its not my business name :D Joy Division is a name of a 1970's indie/punk band.
 
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If you're a web developer, why are you even trying to make money offline? Makes no sense to me. There's a lot of money to be made on the net in this day and age. People are making thousands of pounds every week online. Why not join the the revolution.

Just get a normal job and spend your spare time building quality websites or blogs that generate some good traffic, mind you, they could be about anything and you can make a fortune by advertising alone.
 
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I have got a site, its a manc music site, it is old now but it does have steady traffic, if I redveloped it could be quite big the problem is i have been told that you cannot make enough money from advertising revenue.

The site is successful to a certain point though.
 
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Don't agree with that. People make thousands of pounds from google adwords, or even better Chikita E-mininalls-as they look cool.

Also affiliate links using clickbank are really cool. Sign up to clickbank and get affiliate links from there. It even tells you which ones bring in the most cash. visit this guy here Michael Cheney and put your e-mail address in there and get 7 free videos on internet marketing. The info is quite good.
 
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Thanks I suppose the market has moved on a lot since the days of dodgy banner add schemes, I think google has really cleaned the market.

I used google to advertise my site and its great.
 
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For instance, I just have a blog at the moment, but i've optimized it for certain keywords, mind you can only do so much since the blog is provided by a certain provider e.g blogger etc, But I get a lot of hits everyday from google since I've optimized it for certain keywords. Which means I get a lot of signups every week into my business which means I'm earning money while I sleep. I've also linked it to many other sites which really helps your rankings plus Links on forums like this one, If someone clicks on it, your page rank increases. So currently, I'm on page one for a lot of keywords on google and other search engines. The amount of times i've sponsored new members in my sleep is unreal, or even when i'm at work or in the pub. It truly is automatic. I'm averaging at one new member every day now.

So watch those seven free videos from Micheal Cheney and learn how to optimize your site for maximum profit without spending a dime on pay-per-click advertising.

My mate simon also makes a fortune from websites, but he uses pay-per-click, but he's got the money to advertise like that. He's made well over 2 million pounds in the last two years, selling all kinds of rubbish on the net.
 
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Just recieved my first phone call, it was a woman that wanted to bring in a her faulty laptop for repair but I said I am just a mobile service so would need to go her house, she said she will phone me next week when she knows what time she has off.

I was a little bit excited though so I just hope she didn't pick up on that :p:
 
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I hope you took her number ;-)
 
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I have, I realised that I need to be a bit more pushy so I phoned her back and offered to go during an evening.

I have booked the job in next week :). I just hope I can fix it now because its a laptop and for obvious reasons there is only so much I can do with laptops, where as with desktops I can fix anything. From the sounds of it though its just an operating system issue.
 
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