Opinion on Marketing

[John_Christina]

Hi everyone!

This will be the first business for us to own, but the franchise that we are buying is a company I have worked for, for 14 years. I know the business like the back of my hand, just not the owning a business piece (I worked for the corporation). Where we are opening our franchise it is a "start up" territory, only starting with 9 clients. I will be solely focusing on the business while John is still working his current job. We will not hire any employees until we have enough to where I'm to busy to do it all. We have the opportunity to market for new customers prior to our official open date.

Do you feel I/we should learn, have a solid understanding of owning the business/taxes/payroll/ etc prior to marketing and expanding? Or market right away, grow fast and learn as I/we go?

Thank you for any advise or opinions you have!

Christina and John

[Benjamin Ertl]

What type of business is this? Give me your "elevator pitch" if you will.

[John_Christina]

It is a residential cleaning service.

[David Hunter]

You won't have to worry about taxes/payroll, etc. if you don't have any customers.

market, Market, MARKET!

[John_Christina]

There are 9 customers that we will be starting with. So, we will have to learn the tax and payroll piece. Thanks for your input.

[Harold Mansfield]

Most people don't have the the luxury of choosing either or. One is not more important than the other, and not knowing either can be the kiss of death. Starting a business is wearing many hats at the same time.

Marketing is something that you should always be worried about, learning, executing, and improving on.

[DeniseTaylor]

When you own a business, you wear all hats. And regardless where you stand growth-wise, you'll be wearing all the hats at once in some way, shape or form. Setting priorities for these hats is pretty much called management.

I agree, marketing should be the first priority since you have no customers, but you will probably still have other duties with other hats even if you're small.

The best thing to do is set up a schedule (it will have to be flexible) so that you regularly wear each hat as needed. If there are areas where you're not trained, set up time to study and learn those areas. While some areas will require more time and will be your primary focus, these other areas of learning can be sectioned off so you can learn as you go.

Eventually you'll have everything rolling along, but you'll always need to prioritize.

Good luck!

[Benjamin Ertl]

In marketing, some say to market 60% to current clients, 30% to target market, and 10% to a broad market. Referrals can be your best friend, and as I`m sure we all know - keeping customers is a lot cheaper than getting new ones.

[goodns13]

Christina and John ,

Here is my 2 cents...

- In the business world, if we do not grow, then we are dying. There is no stillness. So please focus on growth also.

- While focusing on growth, I would recommend starting with the existing customers.ie. any known people to the existing clients, group discount, and so on.

- Also one more thing, instead of horizontally growing, see also for vertical growth. ie is there any other service that can be provided to the existing clients. It does not hurt, right?

Good Luck.

[paul woodall]

Christina and John,

The fact that you have 9 clients already suggests that you're not starving for clients.

For the first 60-90 days, I would focus on servicing those 9 clients (You don't want to lose them because your focusing on "getting new ones". Get to know your competition, the market you are in and how your company should be different. You should also spend this time writing a business plan. Yep. You should have one, if you don't already. I wouldn't worry about the taxes/ payroll yet but you should have a general understanding if you want to expand. Hopefully your accountant can help here.

You should develop a PLAN on what you need to do to grow. How many clients can you realistically handle now? next month? What Marketing you should do, how, where, what resources will you need (both people, money and equipment), what is your pricing model?

After 90 days or whatever time you feel, then start to put your plan to work. The death of business can also be growing too fast, losing clients, spending too much $ (i.e. CASH FLOW).

Good luck.