Pitching To My Own Dad About His Business

[mbRichard]

G'day Fastlaners,

To get straight to the point, I have been studying Marketing for a solid couple of months to a year and have a great idea of how I can successfully market a product/service online. Having run my own short clothing lines and having learnt from my own mistakes already.

Long story short, my dad had lost his job about 3-4 years ago - and after being unemployed for 3-4 months, he decided to franchise out a Cleaning Business. He had paid a couple grand - but in return he gets clients (which they take about 15% cut each client) and provide him with the tools needed for the job.

Now, it's 2 and a half years later, my dad has been doing the exact same thing - 1 Assistant, 4-5 clients per/day - no plan for scaling his business, no plan for breaking away from the franchise and starting his own thing, no plan for spending a dime on marketing.

I had made a Marketing Strategy for him (Google, FB w/ Ads, Google Ads) all which would cost $500 - $1000 - but in my eyes is an extremely worthy investment.

The only problem is, my Dad knows nothing about marketing, nor does he think he needs to spend any on marketing - even when I have told him the incredible potential of scaling his business. I don't have a track record - but I am 100% certain I can make him the best Local Cleaning Service in our area due to the low competition.

Not that it matters too much but my dad is Asian - and extremely stubborn. I am 19 - still in Uni.

How would you go about convincing your own family to take their business to the next level? I have seen my parents work tirelessly (working 6 - 7 days a week) for the past 3 years and I can see a very good opportunity for his business to explode.

Any advice would be amazing.

 

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[jon.a]

Can you test it cheap and pay for it for him?

 

[mbRichard]

Not at the current moment because I am putting most of my funds towards a business of my own.

My initial thought was that a Website with FB Ads would be the way to go - this allows me to get SEO locally which would attract a lot of traffic. I don't have the money upfront for that - nor does he want to spend more than a couple of hundred dollars.

Unless there's a more efficient way - right now I am using as much free traffic as possible

 

[Mr. Gray]

You have to remember it's his business and not yours.

Everyone has their own truth. Your truth is that marketing on FB will work (I agree with you). His truth is that marketing doesn't matter.

You have to ask him what matters to him in his business.

Does he want more customers?
Does he want to spend the time hiring more people?
Is he prepared to scale?

Even though you truly want to help your day and you know what you have can help him, you may not be able to. People can only be helped if they want it.

 

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[mbRichard]

You have to remember it's his business and not yours.

Everyone has their own truth. Your truth is that marketing on FB will work (I agree with you). His truth is that marketing doesn't matter.

You have to ask him what matters to him in his business.

Does he want more customers?
Does he want to spend the time hiring more people?
Is he prepared to scale?

Even though you truly want to help your day and you know what you have can help him, you may not be able to. People can only be helped if they want it.

It's a little frustrating though. He wants more clients but he does not want to spend on marketing? I literally told him - marketing is what will get you the clients.

My parents always complain due to Finances. Even though he might not want to be helped right now, I feel like I am obligated to push him to do this not just for his sake - but for our family's.

 

[Mr. Gray]

It's a little frustrating though. He wants more clients but he does not want to spend on marketing? I literally told him - marketing is what will get you the clients.

My parents always complain due to Finances. Even though he might not want to be helped right now, I feel like I am obligated to push him to do this not just for his sake - but for our families.

A leader has to lead from the front. He has no idea how marketing can work for him. From what I read I'm assuming he doesn't know anyone that has been successful with marketing online. It helps people to believe something if there are success stories they've read or seen.

You have to take the initiative and use your money to show him how it's profitable. If you won't do that then you don't care about your family's financial situation.

 

[scottmsul]

This is a good resource, courtesy of @Andy Black:

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...ut-selling-adwords-to-local-businesses.76947/

 

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[Iammelissamoore]

You have to remember it's his business and not yours.

Everyone has their own truth. Your truth is that marketing on FB will work (I agree with you). His truth is that marketing doesn't matter.

You have to ask him what matters to him in his business.

Does he want more customers?
Does he want to spend the time hiring more people?
Is he prepared to scale?

Even though you truly want to help your day and you know what you have can help him, you may not be able to. People can only be helped if they want it.

Also it's possible that eventually when you get your business going and he actually sees that scaling and success coming in from your business, then he may feel convinced that he should follow-through with what you are doing so he can experience similar with his business.

When we are opened to the vision that TMF and Unscripted have, along with our mindsets to alter with the times, it's easy for us to recognise that entrepreneurship includes risks, but they are risks we take because we are learning - we are acting, assessing and adjusting as we go along with these risks. Entrepreneurs see risks as opportunities not threats.

When my dad found out that I was leaving my (secure - ha) job to start my business, he was furious, but, I didn't intend to work a job for 40 years of my life that would still leave me scraping to make ends meet long after I retired, he simply saw risks and harm; I saw opportunities, even with all the risks involved, I strictly saw opportunities.

 

[CareCPA]

[...]
You have to take the initiative and use your money to show him how it's profitable. If you won't do that then you don't care about your family's financial situation.

Seems a little harsh, but I agree with the general sentiment. Get some cash (part time job, flipping items, whatever it takes), and put the cash towards showing your dad what is possible.

 

[Joe Cassandra]

Now, it's 2 and a half years later, my dad has been doing the exact same thing - 1 Assistant, 4-5 clients per/day - no plan for scaling his business, no plan for breaking away from the franchise and starting his own thing, no plan for spending a dime on marketing.

Most likely because his mindset is still "employee." Which is okay...he's worked at a job for awhile I'm guessing.

But, if he doesn't have to go out and sell, sell, sell because the franchise sends him clients...he's not going to change his mind. Whether you believe it or not, as an entrepreneur, you have to sell all the time. No getting around it.

His first step should be:

--> After he cleans a house, ask the person he just cleaned ---> "Is there any of your neighbors looking for a house clean at the moment?"

Or,

---> Bring to the appts. cheap little cards that say "____ was able to offer a free room cleaning to any of their neighbors, and they wanted you to have it." Ask the client for permission to drop these in their mailbox or such.

Spitballin' ...the key is he needs to start selling first and then he'll become more receptive to marketing later on.

 

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[mbRichard]

Thank you all for your replies, I really appreciate the guidance.

@Mr. Gray - You are actually right. There is massive potential there, and if i'm not willing to spend my own money for my dad to open his eyes and see, then I'm only being selfish.

As for experience and a track record, I have successfully landed my first client for my Marketing Agency. That will be the start - my client also has told me the potential of referrals if I am able to do a good job in which I highly believe I will be able to do. That'll give me a good testimonial to pitch to him.

I think I finally got him, he told me give him a couple of months to save some funds and he will pour it into establishing his online presence! But if I can pitch to him the success my first client is having, i'm sure I can get him to do it sooner rather than later.

"A leader has to lead from the front." No other words have resonated with me the way that sentence did.
I appreciate all of your input, thank you guys

 

[SparksCW]

I worked for my dad for over 10 years and eventually ended up "2nd in command"

He was stuck in the past, out dated branding, no clear business plan, no goals other than that we just had to make money for the boss, the whole company wasn't the way I wanted. We were always struggling and no one was ever happy. There was no leadership, no unified direction, just chaos.

But nothing would change.

If we got busy then we were "too busy for marketing" if we were quiet then we "couldn't afford marketing". There was no importance given to online marketing methods, it was just a "go and find work, no budget, just find it". It was all very up and down.

There are quite simply only three routes here. No ifs, buts or maybes. Pick a route and stick to it.

1. Put up and shut up. It's his business, his money on the line and it'll be done his way.

2. Put your money where your mouth is. Whether it's money, time or both, if you have a potential invested interest in the business then crack on by yourself, this will ONLY work if it yields results. People tend not to argue things too much if you're bringing in plenty of money or if you put your money where your mouth is to prove something out. This obviously only really works with family businesses or a business where you trust you'll get rewarded for achieving. There are so many things I COULD have done to push the business more towards the way I wanted it with no resistance, but I didn't, and if I did, and those things produced results in terms of £$£$ then the resistance would have slipped away more and more.

3. Go and do it for yourself if you think you can do better...

At the end of the day it's his business, not yours. He risked his money getting into the franchise, he's spending his years of his life working towards the unknown, you have plenty of time to do business or get a job, he'll be nearing "retirement" and as such has a lot more to lose than you.

It'll cost peanuts to get a decent website up and running, get some cards made up for clients to hand to friends as already suggested, get a Facebook page on the go, get people leaving Facebook reviews etc, get joining loads of local groups and doing regular posts, make cleaning videos to show off on Facebook, get fliers to drop through doors around the houses of the clients.. all these things are free/cheap but can have a massive impact on the business. As soon as you PROVE that some of the clients area coming in from Facebook advertising then you'll find it easy to get a Facebook advertising budget....

Just bear in mind there may be more issues to this than you see, if he's busy 6/7 days a week working hard then can he actually handle more clients? How about you help out a couple days a week? put your "wages" towards Facebook advertising, grow the business with him and self-fund it from physically doing the work with him.

I spent years trying to change my dad and his business but it wasn't until I left the business that I realised I should have either just done it, and got results or I should have respected what he's done and that it's his business, and moved on which is what I eventually did.

Anything else is just talk.

 

[Raoul Duke]

This would be a great place to start. @IceCreamKid

GOLD - Making Money For Dummies (And In a Crowded Market)

 

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[mbRichard]

I worked for my dad for over 10 years and eventually ended up "2nd in command"

He was stuck in the past, out dated branding, no clear business plan, no goals other than that we just had to make money for the boss, the whole company wasn't the way I wanted. We were always struggling and no one was ever happy. There was no leadership, no unified direction, just chaos.

But nothing would change.

If we got busy then we were "too busy for marketing" if we were quiet then we "couldn't afford marketing". There was no importance given to online marketing methods, it was just a "go and find work, no budget, just find it". It was all very up and down.

There are quite simply only three routes here. No ifs, buts or maybes. Pick a route and stick to it.

1. Put up and shut up. It's his business, his money on the line and it'll be done his way.

2. Put your money where your mouth is. Whether it's money, time or both, if you have a potential invested interest in the business then crack on by yourself, this will ONLY work if it yields results. People tend not to argue things too much if you're bringing in plenty of money or if you put your money where your mouth is to prove something out. This obviously only really works with family businesses or a business where you trust you'll get rewarded for achieving. There are so many things I COULD have done to push the business more towards the way I wanted it with no resistance, but I didn't, and if I did, and those things produced results in terms of £$£$ then the resistance would have slipped away more and more.

3. Go and do it for yourself if you think you can do better...

At the end of the day it's his business, not yours. He risked his money getting into the franchise, he's spending his years of his life working towards the unknown, you have plenty of time to do business or get a job, he'll be nearing "retirement" and as such has a lot more to lose than you.

It'll cost peanuts to get a decent website up and running, get some cards made up for clients to hand to friends as already suggested, get a Facebook page on the go, get people leaving Facebook reviews etc, get joining loads of local groups and doing regular posts, make cleaning videos to show off on Facebook, get fliers to drop through doors around the houses of the clients.. all these things are free/cheap but can have a massive impact on the business. As soon as you PROVE that some of the clients area coming in from Facebook advertising then you'll find it easy to get a Facebook advertising budget....

Just bear in mind there may be more issues to this than you see, if he's busy 6/7 days a week working hard then can he actually handle more clients? How about you help out a couple days a week? put your "wages" towards Facebook advertising, grow the business with him and self-fund it from physically doing the work with him.

I spent years trying to change my dad and his business but it wasn't until I left the business that I realised I should have either just done it, and got results or I should have respected what he's done and that it's his business, and moved on which is what I eventually did.

Anything else is just talk.

I understand the aspect of "his business" - and it only makes it harder that he is stubborn (well it runs in the family). In terms of issues - they can be easily solved with discussion and with the golden question - how can we scale this business.

He does work 6/7 days a week, but because of the overwhelming amount of applications I put out for a 'Cleaning Job' - I believe there is a massive potential to teach, train newbies who can work under the wing of my dad for a couple of months to learn the trick of the trades - then spend on marketing to get those people clients and start creating 'teams' - well that's what I think is possible at this current moment.

Results is probably the biggest thing. I guess I am lacking the experience of being a full fledged digital marketer - since I have only studied it but have not actually implemented anything that actually "works".

I'm sure I will figure it out, because at the end of the day it's either I will help him scale his business, or I will retire him myself when I become financially free.

 

[mbRichard]

This would be a great place to start. @IceCreamKid

GOLD - Making Money For Dummies (And In a Crowded Market)

Literally the first comment explained my situation exactly, thank you