Looking for advice, expecting a lecture or 17 :)

[RogueInnovation]

What scaling issues do you see?
I'm happy to be told I am wrong but I look at it as if you can establish measurable marketing that works and systems that are effective so it doesn't matter how quickly or slowly you grow. If everything is working in harmony and it is profitable, when you reach the ceiling for one area you can move onto another and use the same methods and same marketing(especially because not much changes from place to place in the UK).

I already have it in my head I won't be doing the work personally (not afraid to get my hands dirty if needs must) but I plan to use my contacts to fulfill the work. It's taken me a long time to realise I am much more effective at the sales side than actually doing the work. There will be tangents you can probably pivot to though so I'd not worry.

Yes, I agree with the rescheduling part. I already know, depending on the type of work there will be a deposit for most things.

Could you expand on your last point a little please?
You mean literally just call everybody I know?

Thank you

The scaling issue I see is mostly that it is so labor intensive, and it is in a reasonably competitive space so you will have diminishing returns as you get larger and can't monopolise the available work, so you can only scale to a certain size before it will plateau.

Regarding getting customers I would not blindly call everyone you know.
I'd put out a kind of "awareness" campaign to people inside your network
"Did you know?" and "Here is what he does and why it is great"
So they can share it with people who have need of your services
You know, keep it classy within your network

Outside your network you have to be even more intelligent and look for a good target audience, and figure out which audiences are best, new home buyers perhaps? Or those looking to sell and rennovate before they do to get a higher price? And find a good way to hook that crowd.

You know just common sense rational approaches so people understand what you do, that you exist, and can be relied upon

 

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[Dolf112]

The scaling issue I see is mostly that it is so labor intensive, and it is in a reasonably competitive space so you will have diminishing returns as you get larger and can't monopolise the available work, so you can only scale to a certain size before it will plateau.

Regarding getting customers I would not blindly call everyone you know.
I'd put out a kind of "awareness" campaign to people inside your network
"Did you know?" and "Here is what he does and why it is great"
So they can share it with people who have need of your services
You know, keep it classy within your network

Outside your network you have to be even more intelligent and look for a good target audience, and figure out which audiences are best, new home buyers perhaps? Or those looking to sell and rennovate before they do to get a higher price? And find a good way to hook that crowd.

You know just common sense rational approaches so people understand what you do, that you exist, and can be relied upon

So are you saying it is hard to make that sort of business a fastlane business unless you have some very unique offering and blaze your own trail in the market?
Again good tips and advice. I didn't think too much about the different types of niche inside the market.
Thank you

 

[Roli]

but the problem I have is I can't put my finger on what exactly to do.

This is a bigger problem than you think, you are keen to start a biz, and you don't know what to do, which could lead you to jumping into something that you haven't got enthusiasm for, and before you know it, another failed business.

Before proffering advice, can I ask you what your other businesses were?

 

[Dolf112]

This is a bigger problem than you think, you are keen to start a biz, and you don't know what to do, which could lead you to jumping into something that you haven't got enthusiasm for, and before you know it, another failed business.

Before proffering advice, can I ask you what your other businesses were?

The first one when I was 17 was a franchise of a property maintenance company. I got it at a discounted rate as I was an employee and I didn't know anything and it all went well at first until they started telling me to add extra services and I had no choice because it was in the contract etc.
It taught me how to manage teams and deal with difficult people.

The second one was a business where I sold dairy products and sundries to cafes and shops at wholesale prices. Within 6 months I had way surpassed what I expected to hit in the first year but the problem was I knew nothing of systems so it got to the point that if I slept 2 hours a night it would be heaven. I burned out and had to sell up. Learnt a lot about myself with this one.

The third was a cleaning services business where I had a partner. He also a sales guy but knowing nothing about systems was keen to just "Get the leads in". The mess would just be future his problem.
I set up systems, built a website, adwords campaign, social media marketing and we were generating leads at a steady rate and also were contacted by the local fire service to attend an event and asked to be in a sizable charity faire locally.
The issues came when he just couldn't see the process and wanted to just hammer every nail like a door to door salesman, we argued and I wasn't in the right mental space and I just resigned.

Apart from that I have spent a majority of my time as a sales person, self employed.

 

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[Roli]

The first one when I was 17 was a franchise of a property maintenance company. I got it at a discounted rate as I was an employee and I didn't know anything and it all went well at first until they started telling me to add extra services and I had no choice because it was in the contract etc.
It taught me how to manage teams and deal with difficult people.

The second one was a business where I sold dairy products and sundries to cafes and shops at wholesale prices. Within 6 months I had way surpassed what I expected to hit in the first year but the problem was I knew nothing of systems so it got to the point that if I slept 2 hours a night it would be heaven. I burned out and had to sell up. Learnt a lot about myself with this one.

The third was a cleaning services business where I had a partner. He also a sales guy but knowing nothing about systems was keen to just "Get the leads in". The mess would just be future his problem.
I set up systems, built a website, adwords campaign, social media marketing and we were generating leads at a steady rate and also were contacted by the local fire service to attend an event and asked to be in a sizable charity faire locally.
The issues came when he just couldn't see the process and wanted to just hammer every nail like a door to door salesman, we argued and I wasn't in the right mental space and I just resigned.

Apart from that I have spent a majority of my time as a sales person, self employed.

OK, that's some good experience there and perhaps some clues as to where you should cast your rod next.

I think the common theme I see there is that you were slave to a system that you didn't necessarily agree with, or understand. You also seem to have had enough experiences with these three businesses to get a good insight into how they work.

So that leaves you with two initial broad choices:

1. Use the experience you have to build a better service in one of the three business areas you mention above.

2. Use the experience you have in working with failing systems, to implement a better process in an entirely new industry.

As far as option 1 is concerned, I personally am a services guy, I tried my hand at products but just didn't have the enthusiasm (or knowledge) to see it through, so I would tend to lean towards either the property maintenance or cleaning services; or even mash them into one.

Option 2 is potentially the more lucrative, there are common problems in every industry, and sometimes the solution from one is transferable to another. You may find that in these three businesses you've been involved in, that there was a way to solve a problem that to you was obvious, but nobody else seemed to be doing it.

On top of that, you may realise that the solution you've thought of, can be transposed to other industries and nobody has thought about it.

The most important things to think about before your decision are scale, and enthusiasm.

Scale - Can whatever you chose be scaled up from a local one man business, to a national, through to multi-national and global?

What are the economies of scale? - Is it something that can grow using its own profits, or are you going to need investment at various stages?

Enthusiasm - Being passionate about something is not a prerequisite to having a successful business, but being enthusiastic is. Without enthusiasm you'll get out once the going is slightly hard, let alone tough. So most of all, take your time, because once you choose, you'd expect that that's you for the next few years at least, so don't rush into anything just because you're keen to get started at something.

So in summary, I would try and use the experience of the property maintenance and cleaning company, and try to use what I knew about the common problems in those businesses, to build a better one.

Remember, the owner of this forum didn't invent something new, he just took an existing service and improved the hell out of it.

 

[Dolf112]

OK, that's some good experience there and perhaps some clues as to where you should cast your rod next.

I think the common theme I see there is that you were slave to a system that you didn't necessarily agree with, or understand. You also seem to have had enough experiences with these three businesses to get a good insight into how they work.

So that leaves you with two initial broad choices:

1. Use the experience you have to build a better service in one of the three business areas you mention above.

2. Use the experience you have in working with failing systems, to implement a better process in an entirely new industry.

As far as option 1 is concerned, I personally am a services guy, I tried my hand at products but just didn't have the enthusiasm (or knowledge) to see it through, so I would tend to lean towards either the property maintenance or cleaning services; or even mash them into one.

Option 2 is potentially the more lucrative, there are common problems in every industry, and sometimes the solution from one is transferable to another. You may find that in these three businesses you've been involved in, that there was a way to solve a problem that to you was obvious, but nobody else seemed to be doing it.

On top of that, you may realise that the solution you've thought of, can be transposed to other industries and nobody has thought about it.

The most important things to think about before your decision are scale, and enthusiasm.

Scale - Can whatever you chose be scaled up from a local one man business, to a national, through to multi-national and global?

What are the economies of scale? - Is it something that can grow using its own profits, or are you going to need investment at various stages?

Enthusiasm - Being passionate about something is not a prerequisite to having a successful business, but being enthusiastic is. Without enthusiasm you'll get out once the going is slightly hard, let alone tough. So most of all, take your time, because once you choose, you'd expect that that's you for the next few years at least, so don't rush into anything just because you're keen to get started at something.

So in summary, I would try and use the experience of the property maintenance and cleaning company, and try to use what I knew about the common problems in those businesses, to build a better one.

Remember, the owner of this forum didn't invent something new, he just took an existing service and improved the hell out of it.

I'd like to start by saying I was hesitant to post this thread because I see a lot of posts about people who just come to the forum to ask people to make decisions for them. I have to say though it was definitely the right choice. Every comment has been valuable.

Thank you for that incredible insight.
I have many ideas to value skew in ways that nobody else is doing but I'd need the profits first. (In a services business)
I'm not keen on the thought of investment at all. Lack of confidence I think is the reason.
I think for me personally I would like to mash multiple things together simply because word of mouth is the undeniably most powerful when it comes to services so casting the net a bit wider to start with may help build that customer base. The conflicting thoughts to that are either becoming an expert in one thing or following one course until successful and also keeping it simple are phrases I hear a lot.

In terms of scaling I have no idea what the barriers are past national but I didn't really think too much into that because getting established locally will be no mean feat. Conflicting thought here, "mental masturbation"

I'm slowly starting to see the lines between acting and doing due diligence.

Thank you again.

 

[WJK]

Have you done this type of work before? How can you hire people if your aren't an expert at doing the job? How can you know how much time your workers should spend? How can you make a plan for handling problems? What about the days that your crew doesn't show up? Are you going to do the work?

I already have it in my head I won't be doing the work personally (not afraid to get my hands dirty if needs must) but I plan to use my contacts to fulfill the work. It's taken me a long time to realise I am much more effective at the sales side than actually doing the work.

Being the boss sounds very sexy. It's not. You work longer and harder than anyone else. They finish work and go home. You stay and make have make sure that everything is ready for your crew tomorrow.

What counts is how much $ you left on Friday night after all the bills are paid. The rewards can be great -- or you can be left holding the bag. I started out doing the work myself and added people when I had more work than I could do. I still do the selling, but I can still jump in a do anything that needs to be done. And, yes, I'm girl...

 

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[Dolf112]

Have you done this type of work before? How can you hire people if your aren't an expert at doing the job? How can you know how much time your workers should spend? How can you make a plan for handling problems? What about the days that your crew doesn't show up? Are you going to do the work?



Being the boss sounds very sexy. It's not. You work longer and harder than anyone else. They finish work and go home. You stay and make have make sure that everything is ready for your crew tomorrow.

What counts is how much $ you left on Friday night after all the bills are paid. The rewards can be great -- or you can be left holding the bag. I started out doing the work myself and added people when I had more work than I could do. I still do the selling, but I can still jump in a do anything that needs to be done. And, yes, I'm girl...

I don't know whether the way you wrote that was intended to touch a nerve, but it did haha!
At first it put me on the defensive.
It's more because you sound like a problem finder rather than a problem solver in your post, but I'm sure you meant well.

My initial thought was can Richard Branson fly an aeroplane if his pilot is sick, but I'll answer sensibly.

Yes I have done the work before myself.
Yes I ran jobs with teams of subcontractors and managed it all.
Yes I have multiple contacts.
Being the boss doesn't sound sexy at all, sounds like a lot of sacrifice for long term gain.
Thank you for your input but I think you missed the point of my original post and I'm also not sure what gender has to do with anything?