General help for a newbie please :)

[Cotswolds Power Clean]

Hi there, little bit of background, I am mid 30s a fully qualified electrician, but aged 27 I had a heart attack, so the idea of working with electric lost its appeal.

Not long after I became my grandmothers full time carer, she has recently passed away and I was at a loss what to do, so I have started my own business. Now I could do with some advice if possible, I have probably gone about this all wrong, so please be gentle with me

Have started a gutter cleaning and pressure washing business, I have bought a petrol pressure washer and a gutter vacuum system, I also have long reach pressure washing poles that can clean to just under 8 meters, so I can do "most" of my work from the ground.

First week out I put out around 300 leaflets, door to door dropping, and also built a website, which can be found by googling Cotswolds power clean (can't post a link), in the first week I took 5 phone calls and 1 internet contact, I placed my website on all the local facebook selling pages.

This got me some good work, I thought this was it I am in business now!

The following two weeks I got no calls, no web site contact, nothing, I have put out maybe 1500 flyers now, my web site is starting to rank quite well on google, I have twitter and facebook. I have done a few more jobs since then, but nothing like the first week.

Starting to get a little disheartened to be honest and wondering what I can do, or where I am going wrong. Just got some polo shirts with the business logo on it, the business name and email address, they look very smart not cheap printed and was looking in the coming week to try and walk into pubs, B&Bs etc and talk to the owners.

Any advice at all of any kind would be most welcome, I am a little out of my depth, all my customers have been over the moon with the work, I have a gallery showing some of this, as well as comments on my web site from customers, I feel like I am doing everything right..... but the phone just isn't ringing? oh I also have a local phone number which redirects to my mobile.

Thanks in advance!

 

[DazRave]

My first thought is "what was different when you were getting calls to now when you are not"

And my answer was the weather, perhaps?

Maybe due to the recent sunshine most people are trying to save a few quid and have started to get their own pressure washers out and climb up a few ladders? Maybe your pricing is a little too steep for the summer months when people don't mind doing it themselves?

 

[Solomon14]

Sounds to me like you're going the right way about it. Persist and good things will happen. Don't give up.

If you post a copy of your leaflet the designers and clever people here may have some advice on how you can improve the conversion rate. Although 1-2% is standard I believe. For every hundred leaflets that go out at least one person should enquire. If this isn't the case then I would suggest you revise your leaflet and try again. I like the idea of visiting businesses in person to discuss if there's anything you can do for them. The more of those places you visit the more customers you will get. Keep at it.. it will happen for you.

When you persist through tough times and dont give up.. things tend to happen for you. You will get rewarded for not giving up. You have a ball rolling.. keep pushing it along and it will gain momentum.

Good luck. I hope it does well for you.

 

[Socio South West]

You are taking a very close view, comparing one week with another - it's how business runs - some weeks you wish the phone would ring, and other weeks you wish the phone would stop ringing, regardless of what advertising you do.

Where you do need to micro manage the business in the early stages is on the financial front - make sure you control expenditure in relation to income, and forget to account for the fixed costs of the business - insurance, vehicles etc - at your longer term peril

Keep at it - you will succeed!

 

[mrsdoc]

Think you need to get out and knock on doors. For those jobs that you've already done, call in to neighbours/business next door and basically say 'I've just done the gutters at no. 12 and they are very happy with the job done. I'm in the area again next Monday, can I book you in.'

 

[businessfunding]

Lots of people on holiday!

Keep doing it.

Have your van sign-written (or a magnetic sign). Arrive early to a job and put a card through neighbours saying I am in your road today - call me on 07... for a free quote (worked exceptionally well for a client in the same business)

Good luck!

 

[maxine]

Leaflets should work pretty well for you and would probably perform better than a lot of other marketing activity as they catch people with your message before they have gone as far as searching online. It's the opportunity aspect and a prompt to do something that they hadn't really thought much about yet.

With facebook, get people sharing and liking your page but I honestly would suggest that in terms of how you spend your time at the moment .. get out there with your sign written van, and your logo'd polo shirts and smiley face and hand out some leaflets yourself. This will absolutely, hour by hour, be the better use of your time compared with twitter and facebook (that's an evening thing when it's too late to knock on doors!)

Park up outside garden centres, b&q or similar or walk up and down the high street giving leaflets away. This usually means you can get through a lot more leaflets in a geographical area for a generic service rather than pounding the streets putting through letter boxes (although you should do that aswell!) lol

Good luck and if you need someone to answer your sales calls whilst you are out with leaflets then see below

 

[FutureM]

maybe give every customer a few business cards or something and ask if any of their friends or family might want one of your services, I think recommendations in your business go a long way! Don't know if you clean windows but you could also retain customers and get them to use your service more by offering a discount for monthly cleans or something.

 

[Cotswolds Power Clean]

Thanks a lot for all the reply's!

Lots of good advice, think I will definitely try the handing out of leaflets, I did consider putting leaflets on cars, as you can hit a large number quickly, but decided against it in the end.

Cold calling is something I would prefer not to do if I can help it, I don't mind walking into businesses, but residential I'm not keen on, but maybe I will have to?

Thanks everyone.

 

[mrsdoc]

Just a thought, but if you did do residential, I'd show the occupier what came out of the gutters - I presume that it's usually fairly bad. You want them to become your ambassadors almost so if they can have a bit of knowledge about it and recount to their friends/neighbours how necessary this is to get done then that might help your sales.

 

[Cotswolds Power Clean]

Yep, already do that

Seems I am doing all the right things, just business is slower than I expected, does make me wonder if there just isn't a big enough market for it?

 

[Gordon544]

I have found that a new business starts with a bit of a flurry, then things die down a little. I agree with what the other posters say. If you have got it in your heart, which it seems you do, keep up the marketing and be patient.

 

[alexdigital]

Have you been out networking? it's a great way to build up contacts make relationships. It's a slow burn though. Don't got out to sell, go out to build relationships.

 

[fairdealworld]

The start of the school summer holidays tends to be a very lean time for a lot of businesses including my shop! It's a great time to be selling ice cream or running an airline or hotel in a nice area and doubtless various other businesses thrive at this time of year but for many of us it is a distinctly 'down' time.

There are all sorts of reasons but it includes a lot of people going on holiday. Parents not on holiday trying to be economical at the start of the school holidays when simply being off school is a pleasant novelty for many children, later on they'll be shelling out to stop the cries of 'I'm bored'. Pleasant weather also makes many people feel more happy and relaxed and less inclined to worry about things which need to be done, you know who cares about getting their gutters cleaned when they can sit out in the back garden after work. Many parents WILL be paying for a holiday now knowing that they can't take their child out of school and that leaves less or nothing for anything else.

In retail, or at least my sort of retail, this is the time of year when you deep clean the shop, organise and maybe decorate, plan towards the coming busier time and, most of all focus on promoting the business with a view to busier times ahead. This may be the only option for you too i.e. focus on planning and promoting as you don't have a shop to deep clean or reorganise.

 

[rob_james]

It's summer - I haven't thought 1 second about my gutters in 3 months.

But come November I know I'll be out in the rain, clearing out October's leaves - up to my elbow in it.

I'm sure business will pick up come winter - you are the aspirin to my gutter headache, I won't take you until I need you.

On a related note, as you send leaflets, check out our service snalmal.co.uk - you can limit your leaflet sending only to new residents. We also do a "data only" option for half the price, if you just want a list to deliver yourself.

 

[NickGrogan]

I would forget about leaflets/flyers and start knocking on doors.

When we moved into our house, we wanted a window cleaner. Several companies dropped flyers through the door, we got a local magazine which I'm sure had some adverts in and I never quite got around to doing anything about it.

Several weeks later, the guy that cleans next door's windows knocked on the door. Hired on the spot, using still using them 3 years later, never checked out any one else.

We probably need our gutters cleaning,(yes, I've had flyers about it) but until someone knocks on the door, it isn't happening.

 

[Cotswolds Power Clean]

Would really like to avoid cold calling on peoples doorsteps if I can help it to be honest. Though if I have to I will, just personally I HATE it, and from leaflet dropping the amount of signs saying no doorstep sellers etc I can only assume most people do as well.

 

[M-CLEAN UK LTD]

We are trying to go the other way, from commercial to high end residential.
I wandered around Alderley edge a month or so ago and leafleted some very big houses, with a decent leaflet, no responses.

I know a chap in Hull who puts out 20 000 leaflets per month and he is busy on that and they are to all kinds of houses. He pays for the distribution.
I have 20 000 leaflets minus what I have given out and now we are busy on the commercial again and they will sit now till February next year.

There is a period between March and September for the residential pressure washing and the leaflets should start going out just before then and continue throughout.

I think you have been lucky to have the initial response because leaflets need to be put out in larger volumes and it is a low entry service, people thoughts are - why pay you when they can do it themselves, with a yellow B & Q machine.

I had a chap phone me up, he had a large patio and driveway, a good days work. I gave him my price he replied 'I'll do it myself, it may take a few days but it will be done'.

From my price he rated his time at less than 15.00 per day. I quoted 250.00 and guaranteed it would be finished for his house viewing (it was for sale) the next night.

It is a difficult market but you are doing the right thing by offering multiple services, look at adding window cleaning to the service, with water fed poles and pure water.

You have a picture on your site that shows the words power wash - that is from someones website that I know and it has been cropped.

It is easy to take your own work photos and to replicate so I don't see why you would do this. You have another picture that shows an American house, again take photos of English properties and use them on your website. The steps photograph is on just about every pressure washers website.

Make it different, better and stand out.

If you want a couple of pointers PM me and I will help you out

Rob

 

[Paula Cohen]

There have been some good ideas shared here already & plenty of tips about leafleting. A couple of things I would add ... Someone mentioned networking & I know a lot of tradesmen who pick up consistent business through networking. Generally speaking you need to join a group and attend consistently so that you build strong enough relationships for people to refer business to you. There's nothing to stop you trying out 3 or 4 local groups though - if you find one you want to join, then great, but you might still make some useful connections anyway without going as far as committing to join if you don't really have the budget for that right now.

I'd also look at potential partnerships - who else offers a service that your own target customers are likely to need but which isn't in direct competition with you? What's the thing your own customers are most likely to buy or have done, just before they decide they need your service. Build partnerships with other local businesses and you can hopefully all provide each other with some leads for new business.

The seasonal element is also likely to play quite a part in what business you pick up right now, as a couple of people have already mentioned, so make sure any advertising or marketing you do focuses on the right work for this season.

Local papers & small local magazines often like 'good news stories these days so see if you can come up with a nice story about why you started your business and you might just be able to wangle a bit of free press too.

 

[M-CLEAN UK LTD]

Paula

'Wangle' - great word!!!

Rob