Really no support? or am I being blind?

[AdamH_LWG]

I'm 19 and I have been running Lakewood IT Support for 2 years now, I don't come from a wealthy family, in fact my family is pretty poor.

I have got the business to where it is today by shear hard work and I mean working 24hours a day on the website alone, it leaves me with no time to get out there and talk to businesses and clients.

Why is there no support for small businesses? its an endless battle with time and money, my business plans are now outdated and I have no time to redo them as I'm constantly doing jobs that could be outsourced if I had the funds.

I'm currently half way through moving to London, and this has left me with no cash what so ever. So I talk to the banks and no the business is to new, I'm to young and what ever else they can make as an excuse to not support small businesses.

I feel my business has so much potential but no funds to get it where it could be going, I need marketing and SEO, online shop and even employees but how?

How did everyone else find the finance to start their business, and before you ask I work 28 hours a week part time in the evening to fund the business to the stage its at now.

 

[Somecamel]

Hi and well done for getting to where you are today.

If you don't have or find the time to go out and get new business you won't have a business to come back to. cut down on working on your site and get out there and sell. All the time and effort you have put into this will be wasted otherwise.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Sometimes it's better when the banks say no. I have been in that situation a few times in the past but you get through it and it makes you a hardier and more resilient business person.

Don't give up

Best Wishes

 

First off, well done, as you are clearly hard working and committed.

However, I feel you need to take a step back and look at how you run your business (or climb into your mental helicopter, as some would say).

You have been running your business for 2 years - plus working part time, yet you still have no money - this does suggest that the business itself is fundamentally unviable - and expanding an unviable business doesn't make it better!

Only a guess, but I think you are probably spending a lot of time on the 'techy' parts of the business, which you clearly enjoy, at the expense of front-end revenue creation, which perhaps you don't. You might want to consider finding a business partner who complements your skill sets.

You have mentioned out-sourcing - this shouldn't be a cash drain as your costings and credit terms should match or better those of your out-sourcers - this again is a great way to expand our business without the need for premises and payroll staff. (Take a look on the retail forum - a shop is probably not the route for you to go).

Finally, if you are really confident of your business you could put together a mini crowd-funding plan, where you ask friends and family to invest small sums in return for equity and medium-term returns. This is a great way to test your business plan, too.

Good luck wit the business.

Mark

 

[Dymo King]

So I talk to the banks and no the business is to new, I'm to young and what ever else they can make as an excuse to not support small businesses.

To be fair the banks aren't there to support you, they're there to make money for themselves - ie. in this case by loaning companies money - but only if they expect to be paid back. Perhaps they've looked at your business and decided that there's a high risk they won't ever get their money back (2 years of dedicated hard work and you have absolutely zero money - unless you can show them a realistic plan as to how you'll invest the loan into something that will generate enough cash to pay them back and run the business why would they risk their money?)

How did everyone else find the finance to start their business, and before you ask I work 28 hours a week part time in the evening to fund the business to the stage its at now.

Start small, reinvest profits to grow the business, don't take a salary until the company is big enough to afford it...

 

[AdamH_LWG]

Thanks for the replies, it has been uplifting to hear your comments.

I think I'm aiming a little to high, and as you guys say I'm skipping the important bits to keep the tech website part going.

The trouble I have is advertising and I started the business in Herefordshire, a tiny market town so getting out there and talking to people wasn't easy but I've still done it and 90% of my business comes from word of mouth. I still make a healthy living and with part time work I pump pretty much all the cash straight back into the business, I've recently invested in remote support services and its already paid for its self.

What I want is SEO and bigger marketing but its just so expensive, with SEO costing 1k a month its just not realistic for small business.

When in London I want to go all out and push the business more than ever, but I sometimes over work and find myself feeling crap when I'm not getting the sky high results I want.

For now I'm going to listen to your comments and lower my targets and keep going, like I said the business is doing well but with living costs and investing all the money back into the business it seems like its not making anything.

 

[Consultant sea]

You can get professional SEO training courses and then do a lot of it yourself (if you get the spare time) . I would focus more on sales/marketing as your business can survive and adapt better with lots of sales going on and with having a poor structure. If the structure is perfected but no sales then it's real hard. I think most business owners these days are grinding it out night and day to get what they want. Just have to make sure your not focusing on working as a support guy and more time focusing on being a business man. Easier said than done.

Good luck

 

[Chris Ashdown]

I think you are trying to be all things to all people on one web site

This approach may put people off as they see the site selling PC's, Offering IT support, Virus removal and so on

If I am right then the most profitable should be IT support for businesses and that could be better handled by a seperate site and well justify premium prices, businesses want solutions yesterday or getting back online or server up ASAP and won't ask about costs

PC's a very hard market but better on a different site

Home PC support again specialise on this with different site

All sites far easier to SEO,

IT will normally be local so even better SEO

People believe TV adverts unfortunatly, Banks are Businesses not company support agencies or charities, they make their money by selling their services, they caught a cold buying and selling silly loans and now by popular demand only lend to people who they are sure can make it work and pay them back, so now government want them to both lend more money but also go back to only lending to safe bets a impossible situation for them

Good Luck you sound like you are doing the right things, but big city is not paved with gold, you might be better staying where you are with far less competition,

 

[Dymo King]

Also, if time is your problem, you should concentrate on the most profitable things, and ditch the things that take a lot of time but bring little money in. And that includes customers - some will always take up more of your time than others, so don't be afraid to dump them and spend the time looking for more profitable customers that are 'lower maintenance' instead.

I know that seems stupidly obvious, but when you're spending long hours constantly firefighting against the relentless list of 'things to do' it's easy to lose sight of.

You need to take a step back, analyse where all your time is being spent, and which activities are making you money, and then adjust your priorities accordingly...

 

[Galmac618]

Is your business generating regular income? If it is you may be able to use your accounts receivable book as collateral for a loan. But before you take on any debt, you should incorporate the business into a stand alone company so that the debts belong to the company, not you personally. Also though, have a long hard critical look at the business and determine if its really going to yield the returns you think it is, or will you be pouring your money into a black hole. If there is a lot of competition in your field £1000 a month may not be enough to make a difference.