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View Full Version : Would Your Service Business Use This?



GreaterVisibility
07-18-2009, 09:32 PM
Okay, so I have my own service businesses, but my wife takes care of the cleaning business primarily, and I handle the mobile detailing service on the side. However, I'm not really able to physically handle the detailing business anymore, as detailing cars in high humidity and 90+ degree heat while standing without any shade on blacktop parking lots is going to kill me one day. If nothing else, the dehydration usually results in me getting huge headaches and feeling terrible for the next 24 hours or so after a detail. Yes, I drink as much as I can but it never seems enough. Anyway............

So, I have been trying to figure out what I WANT to do in business. I'm good at cleaning, detailing, painting, etc., but I want to use my brain to do something. I'm tired of just doing physical labor, as the lack of a mental challenge bores me to tears. In doing this thinking, I thought back to the one regular j-o-b that I really enjoyed. I was a marketing manager for a home improvement company, and was involved in telemarketing, print ads, radio ads, door to door canvassing, and the like. In my own businesses, I've had to create websites, market them to some degree, deliver flyers, network, etc. It is something I actually LIKE to do. I hate cleaning, but I'm really good at it, so it has always been my fall back plan. I don't mind doing it every once in a while, but can't handle it day in and day out. My brain slowly dies doing that.

Now, I have to figure out how I can get involved in marketing like I did. I love the creative aspects and challenges. I want to start my own business doing some negotiations with other businesses to collaborate on things. I want to see if I can get local print mediums to give discounts to a group of services businesses that I'd like to form. I'd like to take those services businesses and give them opportunities to have websites built for themselves, to have flyers delivered, ads placed, and the like. I'd like to call on their customers and help them get repeat business, design direct mail campaigns for them, and get really creative to help them obtain more business. I'd like to have my own website wherein I featured one business from a variety of service fields, and have those companies pay me for marketing them and give them exclusivity. I'd like to give them a chance on my site to not just promote their business, but to tell about themselves, to foster a spirit of community, and hopefully that will lead to more trust than the freebie craigslist ads people so often use, surrounding themselves with scammers and spammers.

So, what do you think? Would your small service business pay to have someone do the things above for you? Does anyone have any ideas that I could implement, suggestions from their own experiences, etc.?

Thanks in advance for your help. I need to find something to do that taps into my love for small businesses and that doesn't involve mind numbing physical labor all of the time. I'm not afraid of hard work, it alone just doesn't tap into my mind and allow me to express my creativity and/or passion.

Mike

Steve B
07-18-2009, 10:24 PM
Why don't you hire detailers and you spend all your time doing the marketing for your own business?

GreaterVisibility
07-18-2009, 10:55 PM
Why don't you hire detailers and you spend all your time doing the marketing for your own business?

I've tried to hire detailers for my mobile business, and it is a mess. People beg to work for me, say that they desperately need a job, then don't show up, complain about where the jobs are, expect me to pick them up and drive them around, etc. I can't find anyone that will pay attention to the detail needed even if they do want to work.

It doesn't matter anyway, because detailing is very inconsistent in our area. People don't take care of their cars here like they do elsewhere, and they aren't willing to pay as much as could be had elsewhere. I'm one of the few mobile detailers that has been around for the past 4-5 years or so. Most have come and gone. It doesn't seem to lend itself to full time work here.

Now, with that said, I've had some great ideas, but even in those cases the people that I've gone to with them don't seem to give me a chance. I spoke with St. Matthews mall about setting up there and doing a quick detail/car wash for people as they shopped in the mall. They could come out to a clean car. Sounded great, until the people at the mall waffled on the idea and we've fallen out of contact. Other malls have done the same. It is just depressing to try and get this area interested in taking care of their cars. Why pay for a detail when you can hit the $5 car wash and have your car "waxed"? As long as the kids still fit in the back seat and the roaches haven't carried them off, it doesn't quite need a detail yet. Oh, and don't even get me started on the winter months. People then have decided that there is no use getting the salt solution off of the car, as it will just snow at some other time in the next month or two, and it will happen again. So, why bother even washing the thing. I talk with people on detailing forums about the business, and between the economy tightening people's wallets and this region in general, detailing is slowing even more.

Another example is that the Louisville Bats organization contacted me to take care of the players cars. I was PUMPED, so excited to have that opportunity. You know how many cars I've done in close to 3 months? TWO!!!!! Two freaking cars, and one is the contact that I have there who called me about it. He can't get the players, who have nice rides and need them taken care of, to care about it. I set up out there one day for those two cars, and that was it. The team went on a losing streak and apparently when they do they tend to get ticked off and refuse to use any services at the park that they have to pay for. They are very tempermental. Good grief!

It has been so frustrating, because I've been close to so many big things with my detailing business, but can't get anyone to let me pull the trigger because people here just don't care about taking car of their cars that much.

I know how to get in front of people, and how to market. I know how to sell, I just don't have a product that will sell very well in our market, and it shows by all of the detailing shops that are gone. MAYBE, if I had a nice place in a good location to work from, it might afford me the opportunity to grow, but that's a chance I'm not willing to take. I don't want to get into a big lease on a garage only to find out that, once again, the area won't support it.

People spend money. We can get cleaning jobs anytime we want. They'll take care of their home, just not their cars. We can't even get our cleaning clients to take care of their cars.

Mike

vangogh
07-18-2009, 11:25 PM
Mike all businesses need marketing so yes I would say there's absolutely businesses out there that could use your marketing services. I think you'd want to begin by deciding who you see as your market. Seems like your thinking small services based business. Next figure out what kind of marketing a small service based business wants and needs and give it to them.

Everything you mentioned is something a small business might want. I'd suggest setting up your website, open your proverbial doors for business, and start building a client list. There's definitely a market for what you want to do. Just get out there and start getting people to hire you.

As far as having your own products to sell you can always try your hand at affiliate marketing. Generate traffic to someone who does sell a product in exchange for a cut of the sale. There are many people who make a living only selling other people's products.

Spider
07-18-2009, 11:48 PM
See this thread - maybe something there you can create -- http://www.small-business-forum.net/traditional-marketing/1725-whos-blame-look-mirror.html

GreaterVisibility
07-19-2009, 12:20 AM
See this thread - maybe something there you can create -- http://www.small-business-forum.net/traditional-marketing/1725-whos-blame-look-mirror.html

Oooh, thanks for that. I am a different type of person, and I know it, so I like to look for unique ways to do things. I know, as a person that's had my own small businesses, how much it stinks to pay money for advertising that doesn't work. I was already thinking of doing something on a commission type basis to lessen the blow. I've even thought about going completely commission and putting my money where my mouth is. In other words, I'll front the cost to advertise your business, and you pay me larger commissions on what I get you. It would depend on the type of advertising, I would think, but it has been on my mind.

Let me add that although I've thought about this, it doesn't mean I'd be crazy enough to go strictly on a commission basis. I do believe that the purpose of advertising is sales, not just putting your name out there, whatever that means. In the end, it is about bringing more money into a business. Advertising, marketing, whatever, it is all sales to me. That said, I wouldn't be likely to front money for big mailing drops or newspaper ads or anything like that. However, I might be willing to get creative with ads for my own website that showcases the services of others and front that in hopes of future commissions. Tracking such would be the hard thing, so it may not be feasible.

I think about all kinds of things. Some good ideas, some terrible, some doable if I only had this or that, etc. I have a million ideas, not that it means anything if I don't follow through on the good ones.

I'm currently doing some work in trying to help a photographer that takes excellent photos but is terrible at presenting himself in business to turn things around on the hopes of future commission. I just love working with small businesses, period. I love exchanging ideas and trying new and creative things. That is my passion, and my goal is to monetize it and find work in something I love.

vangogh
07-19-2009, 12:34 AM
I'm currently doing some work in trying to help a photographer that takes excellent photos but is terrible at presenting himself in business to turn things around on the hopes of future commission.

Ok, you're in business. Now instead of hoping for a commission down the road, charge people for your services and build a client list. You can work on the hope of eventual commission for a couple of people at first as a way to start building a portfolio and to gain testimonials, but the sooner you start charging for your work the sooner you'll be making money.

Steve B
07-19-2009, 08:06 AM
O.K. so car detailing isn't going to work. But my point is you can hire someone to do the operations portion of whatever business you start and you be the one that does all the marketing and administration of it. You could own multiple small businesses and just be the guy that markets them and hires the business managers to run them. It sounds like you could have the area's largest home cleaning business if you put your marketing passion towards it.

Finding good employees is tough, but not impossible. I'm guessing you didn't check with these employee's previous employers. They didn't become slackers overnight. It's a PIA to get a good employee, but it certainly can be done. I have four of them - I wouldn't give any of them up for the world.

Also - I think you're giving up too early on some of your ideas. The Bats may have had a losing streak, but they have the second best record in the league. They are 29 and 18 when at home - so they should have been in good moods a lot. Also, they don't have a single player on the team from Louisville, so surely they might come from places that appreciate a clean car. Maybe the team should pay to clean the car for the player of the game or the winning pitcher.

In Shelbyville (small town just outside of Louisville) we've had the same detailer (Dalton's) in business for at least 6 years (as long as I've lived here). They also rent U-hauls, but when I tried to sell him advertising he said he had all the detailing business he needed. My point is it takes a crazy level of persistence to get things established.

Patrysha
07-19-2009, 11:56 AM
Yes, small business owners will pay for this type of service. At least they do around here. My business is doing just that...it takes time to get established as any business does...but there is a market for it around here and I am sure there is elsewhere too.

As soon as I have a few solid campaigns working here I am thinking of selling the plans to other areas...

GreaterVisibility
07-19-2009, 12:07 PM
Also - I think you're giving up too early on some of your ideas. The Bats may have had a losing streak, but they have the second best record in the league. They are 29 and 18 when at home - so they should have been in good moods a lot. Also, they don't have a single player on the team from Louisville, so surely they might come from places that appreciate a clean car. Maybe the team should pay to clean the car for the player of the game or the winning pitcher.

In Shelbyville (small town just outside of Louisville) we've had the same detailer (Dalton's) in business for at least 6 years (as long as I've lived here). They also rent U-hauls, but when I tried to sell him advertising he said he had all the detailing business he needed. My point is it takes a crazy level of persistence to get things established.

Well, it isn't so much me giving up on the idea, actually. I was never given an opportunity to promote this inside the clubhouse myself, it was up to the clubhouse manager that deals with the players. I didn't have that access. Believe me, I haven't given up. I went as far as printing up some discount cards like some other businesses do for the Bats players and organization just a week ago. I left them with the clubhouse manager, with no response. I've tried everything in my power to work with them. There isn't that much season left anyway, I was only going to be working with them on home games, and they were picky and only wanted their cars done within the first day or two of the homestand. So, if it rained on one of those days, they'd decided not to do it. It wasn't just me, either. They hired a mobile hairdresser to come in and cut hair for the players, and if she was to come on Saturday, they'd all go Wednesday and get haircuts, then wonder why she wasn't coming on Saturday. The players just do what they want, when they want, and if you aren't in their line of vision when the mood strikes, then you don't get the business. They are very impulsive in their buying moods, with no planning.

As far as the guy in Shelbyville goes, it appears from googling him that he has a fixed location. That is what I've thought about myself, but I don't want to incur the debt for such an establishment. I've never gone into debt for any of my businesses, and refuse to do so. I'm not going to put my personal life and finances on the chopping block for a business idea. I'm glad that the guy is doing well, but my business is mobile, so I survive wholly on my marketing efforts. I don't have a building that people drive by anyway with signage on it to promote me. Also, I wonder what the level of "detailing" they do is. There are all types of detailing, from quickie tunnel wash details that are very inexpensive (but you get what you pay for), to hand detailing by a professional like myself, and even levels above what I do whereby paint correction is done with machines. Regardless, his operation is on a different level than mine, from what I can tell, and isn't really comparable to trying to survive as a mobile detailer.

In the end, I don't really want to hire employees. I don't want to fool with the taxes and insurance and payroll and all that good stuff. That just isn't me. My whole life I've worked best on my own, and I have to admit that I don't play well with others. People usually defer to me anyway and I end up doing all of the work, so I might as well go it alone and cut out the headaches. I'd rather work toward my strengths, not my weaknesses. My strengths are more along the lines of working with others by promoting them, not by working directly with them day in and day out. I have adult ADHD, and my mind goes constantly and in a million different directions, so helping a bunch of different types of businesses fits well, where one day I help a roofing company, the next day I work with a photographer, the next day I market for an electrician, etc. I have to find something that fits with my disorder and my interests. Spreading myself out over something that allows me to do something I have a passion for (marketing) and working with businesses that I can identify with (small service businesses) fits my strengths much better than taking my own business and growing it singularly with focus and by working with others, both weaknesses of mine.

Mike

GreaterVisibility
07-19-2009, 12:25 PM
Ok, you're in business. Now instead of hoping for a commission down the road, charge people for your services and build a client list. You can work on the hope of eventual commission for a couple of people at first as a way to start building a portfolio and to gain testimonials, but the sooner you start charging for your work the sooner you'll be making money.

I haven't just been working with this photographer, either. I have a friend that is a mechanic, and I've been bringing him work for years. He now has gone into business with another guy and they have a shop now instead of working from home, so I see an opportunity there to market. Recently I had a roof put on my house due to some storm damage. The business did excellent work for me at a really great price, and I talked them up wherever I heard someone needing roof work. I know that it resulted in at least one roof job, probably two. And I did that without compensation, just because I liked the guy's work.

I'm online all the time, and on forums that are local. I see people requesting referrals for this or that, and I like to have someone to refer them to. That is just one way that I can help companies that I've already been doing, and I've pointed people to helpful service businesses many times.

I've been marketing all my adult life. Whether for my own businesses, of which I've been into everything from cleaning to painting to detailing to electronics repair, or for other businesses by referring good services to people needing them. I know a lot of people in business for themselves, and have a good base to start from.

At this point, I just need to figure out exactly what services I want to offer, which ones to charge for up front, and what I might be able to make commission on as well. I like commission where applicable, because it offers the chance for greater payoff for me in the end, and less risk for the business up front. That said, I do need to make SOME money up front, but not all of it.

vangogh
07-19-2009, 02:16 PM
At this point, I just need to figure out exactly what services I want to offer, which ones to charge for up front, and what I might be able to make commission on as well.

Yep, that's exactly what it sounds like. It's probably a good idea to take a few days think about the services you want to offer and maybe build a site for yourself. Seems like you already are started in business and now need to set things up how best you want.