Advice on scaling a service business, thoughts on eCom,SaaS?

[martinz1995]

Hi all, I currently have 2 businesses and am still working 4 days a week part time to fund these businesses. I am very grateful for the opportunity to be in this forum and would love to hear any advice you can recommend if you have experience with these:
1. Social media agency - only about 200-3k p month revenue.
2. Cleaning business - 300-500-1k p month revenue.
3. SaaS CRM (in development)

The thing I realised is that while it is okay money, in order to really make more I would have to scale them which means more hiring and marketing. The other thing is that some clients don't stay and leave after a few months so even if I have a few that stay long I would have to continuously market in order to protect myself in case other clients leave which means very unstable income at times. E.g. at one point my social media agency was at 3k per month but the client left and now I'm at 200 p month. Same with my cleaning business. So I think it'll take a long time before I get to 10k+ per month which is my goal.

So my question is; is it just harder to scale a service based business vs eCommerce or SaaS for example? I guess every business model has pros and cons but what would be the fastest way to scale? I'm looking at SaaS and eCommerce because these seem much easier to scale and automate - I don't have to manage multiple staff AND clients.

Scaling plan - Cleaning - easy to market, low profitability, need at least 200 clients per month to get to 10k+ p month
Keep in mind for my cleaning business I am currently handling most enquiries via phone and email and I only have 1-2 cleaners (who can only clean in a specific location radius nearby) with about 10+ clients atm. I am currently building a Zapier automation so I don't have to keep doing this but for staff hiring etc. I'd still have to test staff, train them, manage equipment costs etc. Unless I hire a VA, maybe that can work.

So I am planning to scale by first filling up the roster for 1 cleaner within their location radius (if it's too far they won't go for it) --> Use cashflow to buy more equipment --> hire more cleaners, fill their roster for their different location and repeat. This is gonna take a long time to scale.

Scaling plan - Social Media agency - hard to market, higher profitability, need 5 high ticket clients to get to 10k+ p month
My plan for this is to build up some more clients (for social media), build my personal brand and then use the cashflow to put into some ads so I can land higher ticket clients (paid advertising, email marketing). Then once I get to capacity, hire a VA to automate all this.

Please let me know if you have any tips or advice. Thank you very much God bless

 

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[MakeItHappen]

1. Social media agency - only about 200-3k p month revenue.
2. Cleaning business - 300-500-1k p month revenue.
3. SaaS CRM (in development)

Sounds like you are all over the place.

The thing I realised is that while it is okay money, in order to really make more I would have to scale them which means more hiring and marketing. The other thing is that some clients don't stay and leave after a few months so even if I have a few that stay long I would have to continuously market in order to protect myself in case other clients leave which means very unstable income at times.

That's the difference between an expert and an entrepreneur. All the competitors who have become as successful as you desire had to do it. Every business has a churn rate higher than 0%. That's normal and happens to all other businesses in your industry as well.

So my question is; is it just harder to scale a service based business vs eCommerce or SaaS for example? I guess every business model has pros and cons but what would be the fastest way to scale? I'm looking at SaaS and eCommerce because these seem much easier to scale and automate - I don't have to manage multiple staff AND clients.

There is no right answer to this.
What business can you build where you have a competitive advantage? What business is able to solve the most problems?

In theory, it is easier to scale a digital product vs. a physical product vs. a service business. But there is also more competition if you compete with a SAAS nationwide vs. with a service business in a local market. And you also have to look at what business matches your skill set the best.

need at least 200 clients per month to get to 10k+ p month

The market doesn't care. Focus on solving problems. Are you good enough and is the pain in the market big enough to solve problem X for 200 clients?

 

[jclean]

Now I know having shiny object syndrome is heavily frowned upon but the wedding photo/video industry is really declining. Marriages are declining and with the rise of smartphones, demand has also decreased a lot.

As a hedge against this, I am considering starting another business, one that isn't super high maintenance such as software (which I have some experience in coming from a software and marketing background) or even a YouTube channel to hedge against the declining market.

It seems like you've been looking for a while what exactly you want to do as a business.

What I'm about to say is basic and boring but important:

1) Focus is the key... pick 1 business/sector and go all in

2) keep at it long enough

3) your ambitions need to be bigger,
10k a month is reached quickly (I have read threads here of people just starting a cleaning business who had achieved this within a few months).

4) stop looking for something easy.... nothing is easy in business


I have been in business for 10 years myself and am finally starting to get some traction.
The first few years are trial and error and implementing what you learn along the way.
Now it's starting to get more strategic and fun....

 

[martinz1995]

Sounds like you are all over the place.

That's the difference between an expert and an entrepreneur. All the competitors who have become as successful as you desire had to do it. Every business has a churn rate higher than 0%. That's normal and happens to all other businesses in your industry as well.

There is no right answer to this.
What business can you build where you have a competitive advantage? What business is able to solve the most problems?

Yes I agree that's a good point. My goal is just to choose a model that lets me get there fastest.

In terms of a business where I have a competitive advantage - I don't really know to be honest. I don't even know much about cleaning and I have a marketing background with some knowledge of SaaS. What business is able to solve the most problems - well in terms of scale I'd probably say cleaning.

I'd just rather have a few high paying clients VS thousands of low paying clients. It is more efficient that way.

In theory, it is easier to scale a digital product vs. a physical product vs. a service business. But there is also more competition if you compete with a SAAS nationwide vs. with a service business in a local market. And you also have to look at what business matches your skill set the best.


The market doesn't care. Focus on solving problems. Are you good enough and is the pain in the market big enough to solve problem X for 200 clients?

Very good point - I would say SaaS is harder to market vs a service business. As for what matches my skillset the best - I would say I know more about SaaS than cleaning but when compared to other SaaS out there, what I know does not compare.

100% I think I can succeed, and I always ensure clients are happy. My point is just that it is more efficient and that I can get to 10k+ p month faster if I choose something like a social agency or SaaS VS a cleaning business (in my opinion).

Cleaning is very low margin, a lot of managing people who are in and out of this industry. Many cleaners are international students just looking to make some money for bills. However it is extremely easy to close clients because demand is quite high.

A social media agency tends to be higher margin - but harder to close clients. I only need a handful of clients to get to 10k per month and from there I can hire a VA to automate most of it so I can scale further, so I much prefer that more than others cos managing multiple clients and staff is quite hard to do unless I automate it (which I'm trying to do).

SaaS is very high margin but not as much per client as a social media agency in most cases - I can't say much on marketing cos I haven't actually done it but I would assume it is probably quite hard to stand out vs so many other competitors.

At this point I'm happy to try all these different models and see what happens but I am focusing on the agency + SaaS because I really don't enjoy managing multiple clients + staff. However if I do manage to successfully automate it and scale it quickly then yea I would definitely continue with cleaning.

 

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[martinz1995]

It seems like you've been looking for a while what exactly you want to do as a business.

What I'm about to say is basic and boring but important:

1) Focus is the key... pick 1 business/sector and go all in

2) keep at it long enough

3) your ambitions need to be bigger,
10k a month is reached quickly (I have read threads here of people just starting a cleaning business who had achieved this within a few months).

4) stop looking for something easy.... nothing is easy in business


I have been in business for 10 years myself and am finally starting to get some traction.
The first few years are trial and error and implementing what you learn along the way.
Now it's starting to get more strategic and fun....

1. I would definitely like to focus on 1 business however most of those that are rich and escape the slow lane have multiple streams of income. My focus is technically on 1 business but I have others when I have some time or as side projects.
3. I don't really think 10k a month is reached quickly to be honest - those are rare cases most cleaning businesses are not able to get there as quickly within a few months.
4. I am not really looking for something easy, I'm looking for something I can scale quickly. Yes I agree, the first few years are trial and error then once you can deliver services well and automate it then that's when the real growth happens

 

[Pat Cush]

Pick 1 thing out of those three

Go extremely deep on said thing

Why are you building a SaaS CRM? Literally makes 0 sense

Stop chasing money, provide value, and provide it at scale

(I'd pick the cleaning business to scale)

 

[business224]

Great question. I am in a similar predicament with a real estate agency. I have built it to over 6 figures however scalability is hard.

Building a human resource system is the hardest one to scale up to big income. However it is the best to get cashflow as the competition is usually highly fragmented and investment capital to start is typically low.

Software is a excellent game and honestly one of the best ways to build massive wealth. However with big rewards come big risk. It’s also more likely to fail and bankrupt you if you are investing large amounts of capital into development.

If you are a developer by trade this may be different.

The social media agency is interesting to me. I have heard stories of people building some large agency’s. However it’s highly saturated and to add real value I feel you must be good and offer more value than the next guy. Consumers are getting more savvy.

I would not look for” easy”. I would focus on scaling either the social media agency or cleaning business until you are making real money to invest into software ( 15k net plus per month). From there it may be wise to take that cashflow and build something more fastlane.

Or maybe not and by that point you have figured out your human resource system and make your cleaning business fastlane by franchising or building teams .

 

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[martinz1995]

Pick 1 thing out of those three

Go extremely deep on said thing

Why are you building a SaaS CRM? Literally makes 0 sense

Stop chasing money, provide value, and provide it at scale

(I'd pick the cleaning business to scale)

Why should I pick 1 thing out of the three? I am focusing on 1 main thing with 2 other options.
What do you mean why am I building the SaaS CRM? It is something that is in demand and I have experience in. It makes perfect sense.

 

[martinz1995]

I would not look for” easy”. I would focus on scaling either the social media agency or cleaning business until you are making real money to invest into software ( 15k net plus per month). From there it may be wise to take that cashflow and build something more fastlane.

I'm definitely not looking for easy, I am looking for speed but if there was an easier option out there why wouldn't I choose it? Each of the options have pros and cons but my emphasis would just be on scaling as fast as possible. I don't believe in just going for something quick like a MLM or get rich quick scheme but I am saying if there are easier options out there why not choose them?

But yea I definitely agree that either the agency or cleaning business would be best for cashflow (although the SaaS can also be used for cashflow but it is really intended to be sold) which could be invested into the SaaS which probably has the best opportunity to be sold at a high multiple.

 

[Johnny boy]

Nothing wrong with doing more than one thing if it works for you.

I have the personality where doing more makes me do more. Not enough stimuli and I turn into a lazy vegetable.

Know yourself and what works for your personality.

One will give you lessons in the other and it can help you.

For lead gen I would read 100M leads by Alex Hormozi, great book.

I’ve made like 10 changes to my company because of it.

 

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[jclean]

Nothing wrong with doing more than one thing if it works for you.

I have the personality where doing more makes me do more. Not enough stimuli and I turn into a lazy vegetable.

Know yourself and what works for your personality.

One will give you lessons in the other and it can help you.

For lead gen I would read 100M leads by Alex Hormozi, great book.

I’ve made like 10 changes to my company because of

I love your posts but i disagree
Keep in mind what OP said 4 days a week part time to fund these businesses. I am very grateful for the opportunity to be in this forum and would love to hear any advice you can recommend if you have experience with these:
1. Social media agency - only about 200-3k p month revenue.
2. Cleaning business - 300-500-1k p month revenue.
3. SaaS CRM (in development)

You can do much more but focused on 1 business.

There's a reason you focus on just cutting grass and nothing else.... especially the first few years.
The systems you have built are all related to lawn maintenance

The challenging and fun part for you now is the franchise model. (Making it fastlane)

 

[Johnny boy]

There's a reason you focus on just cutting grass and nothing else.... especially the first few years.
The systems you have built are all related to lawn maintenance

Haha funny you say that.

Posts will be coming for each of the other things I do.

 

[jclean]

Haha funny you say that.

Posts will be coming for each of the other things I do.

Looking forward to it

 

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