I'm just about at ground zero, Need help with getting things rolling

[john1]

Hey guys, I have read and read on the forums (including the recent marketing post from Pat) about how to get things going for business.

What do you do when you do all that and still nothing? Customers say nothing but great things about their products and my service but don't really become repeat as often as i need them to be.

I have been in my home based business for 5 years the end of this month and the past 2 have been nothing but struggling to me and is only getting WORSE.

When i first started i did only online forum advertising and word of mouth and i was steady. I'm doing that now, along with social networking, direct mail, vehicle advertising, following up with customers and the whole nine it seems and i'm DEAD. I tried to join local networking groups but there is already sign companies in there and there can't be more than one industry per group.

The past 2 years have made me very nervous that i will run out of money saved and lose my home. I am honestly down to about $3,000 in my bank account which is chump change to what i used to have when things were rolling. This all is 100% real and i am desperate for business.

Nobody is hiring locally to try to keep cash coming in and jobs are few and far between.

If anyone can truly help me out i would greatly appreciate it. I have print/cut capabilities as well as regular cutter capabilities so i can do a wide range of work.

I just need to get things going but it seems no matter what nobody is interested at all and things started out good for me and are now bad (kinda reversed on how they should have been)

Thanks so much for your thoughts.

 

[iSign]

ok, first I will express genuine sympathy & for what it's worth, I'll state the obvious that you are far far far from being alone in the situation you describe. I can say that because I am also in a situation I would guess to be as precarious as your own.

The rest of my post will try to be short & to the point, because I just at dinner at my shop & have to go back downstairs and work several more hours... and it will be blunt and direct, because that helps me try to be short & to the point...

If you are losing money in a home based business, quit wasting your time marketing & find a job. If you don't have employees (just a guess here, so sorry if I'm wrong) and don't have a commercial rental obligation, how are you not making money? Do you have tons and tons of equipment payments to make? Otherwise, I would think you must not be making signs more then 10 hours a week, so you should have time to get a job.

Hey, I know that sounds harsh, but losing a home is harsh too. I mean, in my case, if it was lose the house, or lose the business... I'd drop the house like a hot potato, because I need the opportunity to work & I've invested 13 years in this business & this leased shop space... and I'm staying pretty busy... but not where I need to be..

So, I guess I'm saying at this stage, if marketing is NOT working, you have been trying to bail water from a leaking boat & you are sinking.. it's probably too late to explore better bailing methods.. it's time to forget about boating & think about swimming, or surviving, or some pretty damn good out-of-the box ideas to jam something in those leaks.

I negotiated a 40% cut in my equipment lease payments. The first 2 times I asked I got nowhere. The third time I asked when they would be picking up their sign equipment. Seriously! It worked... I also negotiated a 25% reduction in rent too...

Lastly, I hope you are trying to get a mortgage modification. That is a huge pain, but I think you need it, and if it takes a good deal of your attention in the next several months, you probably stand to benefit far more from those efforts then from attending a business leads meeting (which I ain't knocking... I go to one... but i also have a modification application on file)

anyway, good luck. Can you rent the place & move for awhile? Can you fall back on any previous job experience? Can you merge or sell the business? ...I mean ask yourself what happens if things don't get better? If you are as close to the endgame as you sound, you need to plan that game instead of just running the same plays.. TIME TO PUNT!!

 

[john1]

All my machines are paid for, i'm only losing money because there is no jobs coming in and rent is due. I currently rent at the lowest rate in the area. Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[FatCat]

John, have you investigated your local competition? Are they busy or slow, what kind of products are they selling and what are their prices?

Also, have you talked to your local vinyl suppliers, sales rep, etc? What are they saying about your area and yourd competition. They may not paint you a detailed picture but usually will say things like "ABC Signs is hanging on by a thread." or "123 Sign Co. is going gangbusters". This should give you some indications about how everyone else is doing. Take that information and use it to your advantage.

You have my sympathy as it is hard out there for everyone. However, I can't quite understand how you can't make enough to support yourself if your equipment is paid for and you run your business out of a home with the lowest rent in the area. If you're in a very small town then this is understandable and a possible solution is to branch out into other areas to a larger customer base. If you're already near a medium to large city, then you really need to look at your products and your pricing.

Please post back with more details. I'm sure there are others here that may be able to help.

 

[Jon Aston]

iSign may be on the money. He certainly raises what are appropriate questions.

When I start consulting with anyone, I begin with a situational analysis that relies heavily on SWOT - analyzing your company's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It's a terrific, simple way to bring alot of perspective to the present situation. It is always insightful, can sometimes be enlightening... and is always a reliable foundation for building sound business strategy.

I highly recommend you conduct a 'SWOT' of your company. Focus first on strengths and weaknesses - from the perspective of customers in the marketplace. This is not a 10-minute excercise. Dig deeper. Be careful to challenge any tendency for opinions/assumptions versus facts. What opportunities can you leverage from your company's existing strengths? What threatens your business if things stay as they are? What new threats can you anticipate? Review your analysis. How can you test any remaining assumptions/opinions?

It is impossible to tell from the summary above, but my spidey sense is telling me that you may only need to fine-tune your approach to begin to turn things around.

John, I'm pretty sure I offered you the FREE, no obligation, 90 minute consultation that I offer everyone... and you turned me down on the basis that you can't afford my services and don't want to waste my time. I both appreciate and respect that - thank you - but I can also afford to not worry about it. If your pride is in the way of accepting "charity", then get over it: In my experience, every gift of kindness has a way of coming back in some surprising way.

 

[Jillbeans]

I have been there.
It's absolutely terrifying.
When it was happening to me a lot of sign forum folks said it was my attitude, but it was hard to be positive when I was so broke I was forced to charge my groceries on a credit card.
You know what actually worked?
I got a "real" job!
It forced me to become more organized somehow.
I worked very hard there, even got "employee of the month" status in very little time.
And just like work piles in when you plan a vacation, I got so busy I had to quit my "real" job and go back to signs full time.
The regular pay helped me over the hump though.
I have been steady ever since, with the usual slow times here and there.
The "real" workplace still begs me to come back every time I go there (hardware store)
I do signs for them, too.
Love....Jill

 

[TheSnowman]

I was in your shoes last year, but I wasn't sure "what else I did". This is all I've ever known other than another family garage door business I did for 10 years before this. Luckily, they were in need of someone for those few bad bad months where nothing was coming in, and I was able to barely get by. The things that did seem to come in were bad customers, bottom feeders, and all I wanted to do was get out as fast as I could and find a real job. I couldn't find anything (not that I looked TERRIBLY hard) that was near or around my "alley".

I was just forced to keep at it, and work with what I had for a while, and try and keep up on payments. This summer came, and we had a GREAT year, got the equipment paid off, and now things are looking up. We're already starting to slow down I assume for our annual "slump", but I am confident that I can still get through. Hang in there till you can find another job to supplement it, like Jill said, and maybe you can get back in the game full time some day.

 

[Mosh]

Drive around and look for crappy signs. Go in and sell them a new one.
Pretty simple I would think.

 

[Gino]

I’ve heard this sort of thing from many shops in Maryland. I don’t know if you’re all from the same area, but it’s not much different ANYWHERE, USA.

I truly believe most of us….. are, were or going to feel the pangs of this economy. Some just longer than others. As iSigns and Jon pointed out, you need to get your priorities straight. Wanna loose the house or eat some pride and look elsewhere for a part-time or even full-time job until the business can support itself again.

It’s easy to say hang in and keep your prices up and whatever other macho thing one can muster up, but it takes a smart individual to act on your problems and come out unharmed. Don’t become a statistic and just go down in flames in this economy…. physically go out and like Doug said, start looking for income in any form.

As far as ideas on what to do….. while you’re out looking for any work, when you see a sign in bad repair, stop and tell the guy you’ll do his sign for a certain price.

• Pick a starting day and target sandwich or pizza shops on a Monday.
• Go to auto repair shops on a Tuesday.
• Go to local grocery stores on Wednesday.
• Go to hair salons and barber shops on Thursday.
• Go to construction and real estate places on Friday.

You have no overhead or payments other than mortgagee and utilities…. you’re way ahead of most people in that respect, so do your signs all weekend long that you collect during the week. Don’t tell people you’ll get their signs to them too fast… create a backlog and collect deposits.

In no time you should start to see light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[preston]

John,
A lot of good advice and I would defiantly take Jon Aston up on his offer.


You said you looked into networking groups but have you checked out your local chamber of commerce? Some chambers are useless but a lot are a good and a great way to network with other local businesses and they do not have the “only one from an industry” restriction.


I do not know what kind of equipment you have but I will say that you need to start thinking outside the box. I first started doing something that most would never think of. I actually started as hobby making high visibility decals for RC Helicopters. They were nothing more than cut vinyl made to fit on the canopies and tail fins of remote control helicopters. I started making them for me and then for some of my flying friends. That eventually led to a worldwide distribution of my decals. I would sell them as a “set” that included the vinyl panels for the canopy and tail fins. These where offered in bright colors as the intent was to give the RC pilot a way to see their helicopter better in flight. When I finally moved on from that part of the business I had distributors in the UK and Australia plus all the sales I did in the states. I even sold sets to China. I was the first to come up with this concept and then a few others joined in making decal sets. At the time I sold them for $20.00 to $30.00 a set depending on the helicopter model and it took about 3 feet of vinyl to make them. Bottom line was an out of the box idea got me started. I now mainly screen print textiles (t-shirts and such) for others who sell them and do banners but I started with a vinyl cutter and a stupid idea. If you have a vinyl cutter I can tell you how to take literally scrap vinyl and use it to make decals for RC model helicopters. You can then sell them on Ebay and then a few other places I can point you to where you can get the word out. It would only take a few sets a month to pay the rent.


There are a lot of ways to make money with your equipment besides the traditional signage business. Think outside the box.

 

[BobM]

If you've been in the business for 5 years and are committed to keeping it going, I would pick your top ten "repeat" customers and "drop in" on them to see how they are doing. Assuming you have built a relationship with them, it would give you an opportunity to see how they are doing in this economy and ask if they have any needs or if they would recommend you to some of their contacts.

I think we are all guilty of being so busy at times that we forget to stay connected with our customers. Sure we take care of them when they call, provide a good service, charge fair prices, but we sometimes lose the "connection". The "connection" is you caring about your customers and them caring about you. Small business people usually will help other small business people as most of us are out on the same limb and most appreciate being asked to help and if nothing else to share a business story. Misery loves company, so doesn't success.

Schedule some time on the road. Plan on doing sales calls every Tuesday and Thursday between 11:00 and 1:00. Try sticking to that schedule for a month and see if it doesn't help you get re-started. A couple of hours away from a one man shop can do wonders for your attitude and can make being in business fun again.

Don't expect that by going out once or twice that your world will be better. You have to keep at it week after week.

Also it would be a good idea to see how your price structure compares to other shops in the area. Are you too cheap, to high, have great pricing on some things and poor prices on others. Don't be afraid to talk business, ask your customers questions, like, how are you surviving this economy. As a home business your overhead should be quite low and you should be able to compete. I'm thinking that you have lowered your prices and are working harder to survive when you should be "working" your customers. A difficult thing to do, but they are in business and they know how you feel. Some will only want to listen for a few minutes and not offer anything back. That's OK. Work on the ones who seem interested and are willing share a story.

 

[btropical.com]

time for a vacation , step back for a long weekend and then come back fresh . Gorilla market every where , fliers in laundry mats , golf courses , beer cig stores , get a booth at the flea market , signs on telephone poles < use a ladder so competition can't take them down , hit the auto salvage yards see if they need signs . , learn to pinstrip cars hit every dealership , hit every boat yard in town give them a sample sign so they can sell you........ if that don't work get a tow dolly and start scrapping cars on the side and get a part time job at a restaurant so you get paid and you can eat free till things get

 

[Pat Whatley]

When things hit bottom for me I rode around until I spent an afternoon driving around taking pictures of businesses that needed new signs or window lettering or vehicle lettering. I took the pictures back to the shop, did a few layouts for each and put together quotes for them.

I'm a HORRIBLE salesman and I know it. Having the layouts and everything ready to discuss played to my strengths. I would go in, find the owner, tell him right off the bat that I was the worst saleman he was going to meet so I didn't want to waste his time trying to talk him into buying a sign. I'd give him the layouts (stuck inside a cheap school folder with a business card) and ask him if he'd take a look at what I could do for him when he got a free moment.

About half the time they'd actually laugh and give me a few minutes. I learned that if I could get them outside to look at their old sign with me I had them hooked.

I'd say I got about 10% success from it but that 10% was enough to keep me busy. Most of the jobs were in the $300 - $600 range, not a lot but it was something and a lot of them led to more work in the coming months.

 

[binki]

...I'd say I got about 10% success ...

i would say 10% conversion rate is good for cold calling.

 

[Bannerday]

When you enter a business, do you have the actual traffic volume that passes by the storefront?

States list that info. Here it is for Maryland
http://www.sha.maryland.gov/Traffic_Volume_Maps/Traffic_Volume_Maps.pdf

Unless they're on a small street, you should be able to find the info.

I find owners are impressed when you give them hard numbers about their own location. It make you look thorough and professional.

If they're not in the market for anything major, try to sell them a simple window sign, if the have the space for it. It's not much but at least it shows them the kind of work you can do and can be the start of better things.

 

[BigfishDM]

Pick up the phone and start quoting as many jobs as you can, when your done then make another 100-200 calls. The business is out there but its not just gonna fall in your lap. You have to work harder then the next guy and find a way to get more business. CALL CALL CALL CALL then CALL some more. Pick up your yellow pages and call every liquor store, flower shop, local business and ask what you can do for them. Halloween is coming up see if any stores plan on running any specials that you can help with. Dont give up!!!

 

[Jillbeans]

If someone calls me trying to sell me something I never buy it, I think that's a nuisance.
I would not cold "call" people on the phone.

 

[BigfishDM]

If someone calls me trying to sell me something I never buy it, I think that's a nuisance.
I would not cold "call" people on the phone.

So he should just wait by the phone and wait for people to call him??? I strongly disagree with you on this one. If you need business you have to go out and find it or else your never gonna get it. Calling people is one of the best ways to get business. Obviously your going to get alot of rejection no matter how you solicite and if your good on the phone and know what your talking about you have a really good chance.

 

[Jillbeans]

When someone bugs me on the phone I flat out will not buy from them.
Maybe that's just me.

I can see the sense in physically going to meet a person but not phone solicitation.
I only cold-call (in person) when there is only one moldy pork chop in the fridge and a dried up block of cheese.

 

[BigfishDM]

When someone bugs me on the phone I flat out will not buy from them.
Maybe that's just me.

I can see the sense in physically going to meet a person but not phone solicitation.
I only cold-call (in person) when there is only one moldy pork chop in the fridge and a dried up block of cheese.

I would bet alot of money that if you were to cold call 100 constuction companies vs visiting them in person you would get more business from the cold calls. A cold call could be to set up an appointment to go see them in person but why waste the gas on people who may not buy from you in the first place? A cold call to determine if there is a possibility is more efficient.

The one thing I cannot stand is a walk in solicitor, I will at least take a few seconds on a cold call to see what they are selling and if I dont like it I just hang up. Just my opinion though