wondering how to get new customers while working full time

[mmmoney]

last week due to financial reasons I accepted a full time job offer

my first business had to be closed even before it started trading because the business premise was faulty(learned a lot through this experience)

I am currently working on another business idea and in no way am I going to work at the job for the rest of my life(even though it pays well)

I am trying to work out how I can get new customers during business hours.

Anyone working full time and doing business?

any tips on how to get new customers while working full time?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Runum]

What kind of business, brick and mortar or internet?

 

[mmmoney]

What kind of business, brick and mortar or internet?

an online business

providing a new online service to businesses

but this is the kind of service(making things easier for businesses and it is very cheap) that businesses would need convincing(so in the start only online advertising or marketing would not be enough) to start using but as soon as they start they would not let go(according to initial feedback from couple of businesses)

 

[LightHouse]

Done both and still am doing both, there are a few people here that are doing the same.

What issues are you running into that hold you from getting new customers?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[andviv]

the lesson I've learned, when dealing with businesses, is that low prices turn them off. Because the stuff/service is not costly many companies simply think it is not worth their time and money. Have you tried a different pricing strategy?

 

[mmmoney]

For customers to use the service I plan to provide,they have to be convinced that what they are doing now could be done even better using my service.For this reason cold calling is essential and unfortunately I don't have time during business hours

How does it work if I plan to have a few sales people do the selling for me?

I mean what kind of commission would I need to pay them if they are working on commission only basis?

Another thing I am considering is that I would start the same service overseas first where I have a friend(who I trust and already runs few small businesses of his own) who can take care of getting customers

I will be taking care of everything else on the back end.

If I decide to go down this way,what would be the best way
to split percentage of the profits? or just give him commissions?

other than the above mentioned 2 ways i.e.
1) employing commission only sales people
2) or starting in another country with a friend taking care of getting customers(which is essentially the same as number 1 above other than the fact that I have immense trust[both in his loyalty and ability] in this friend)

is there any other option?

 

[LightHouse]

What does your business plan have written out for it?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[mmmoney]

In the rough business plan I created I was the one supposed to be doing the cold calling and meeting customers

 

[andviv]

For customers to use the service I plan to provide,they have to be convinced that what they are doing now could be done even better using my service.

Maybe your service is too complicated, or you are not explaining it in easy terms?

What if you simply start doing this for them, at no cost, show them it works and bring back the results, and if it works as you say then they will be chasing you and begging you to take them as customers... would this work for your service?

 

[mmmoney]

Maybe your service is too complicated, or you are not explaining it in easy terms?

What if you simply start doing this for them, at no cost, show them it works and bring back the results, and if it works as you say then they will be chasing you and begging you to take them as customers... would this work for your service?

My customers don't have a problem understanding the service,as soon as they know what I am offering they themselves realise how it can benefit them(I did not phrase the sentence in the above post correctly-my apologies)

Currently I am providing this service to 2 customers for free who are very happy with it and provide good feedback to improve the service.They are ready to pay almost double of what I had expected to charge them.

The problem I am having is since I got a full time job I don't have time to contact customers,that is what I am trying to address by getting sales people or my friend in another country.Please read my earlier post in this thread above

I wouldn't have had this problem if I was not in the start up stage as everything else is hands-off,I would just need to maintain the service once in a while.

would really appreciate feedback and advise from you guys/girls

what would you have done if you were in my position?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[mmmoney]

any opinions?

Since I am working full time now should

1) employ commission only sales people and what %commission should I pay
OR
2) start in another country with a friend taking care of getting customers(which is essentially the same as number 1 above other than the fact that I have immense trust[both in his loyalty and ability] in this friend)
and if I go option 2 do I pay my friend a salary,make him a (how much)% partner in the business or give him a commission on every sale he makes?

 

[moop]

First of all, it is great news that your beta testers are happy with the site.

Seeing as you have just launched this business and still in beta stage, I would advise you to avoid hiring sales people. Depending on the service you are offering, do you have to cold call? Can you perform the traditional marketing methods such as writing articles, posting on blogs etc?

Perhaps you could shed some light on what type of service it is

 

[mmmoney]

thnx moop

my service would need cold calling,the traditional internet marketing tools would not help much.

as an example lets say a restaurant takes take way orders by phone my service will allow the restaurant to take orders online as well

in the above example before it became a common thing restaurants would not have known that they can offer the online ordering service until I offered it to them.

let me add that the service I will provide has been used but I am applying it to a different niche and with some improvements.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[moop]

Thanks for the clarification.

So, your problem is recruiting clients? Coincidently, I am facing a similar problem. When my website launches, one portion of my revenue will come from a service I will provide to educators on a subscription basis. I’ve considered the possibility of using salespeople but eventually decided against it. I want to foster a relationship with my clients. I want to be in a position where I can best identify their problems, needs etc and provide them with solutions. Using sales people for recruiting would just create a wall between the clients and myself. Also, the salespeople may not be as familiar with the facets of the business as you are. Any misrepresentation of your business on their part could be disastrous for you. Recruiting clients is far too important for you to leave to someone else. That’s my opinion anyway.

Instead of cold calling, can you visit local restaurants/take-away shops to promote your service? I only ask because I think cold calling is impersonal and indicative of high pressure sales tactics, which would be a major turn off to potential clients. Personally, I would start approaching local businesses in need of the service. I would then leverage success with them to expand the clientele.

One final question: What type of revenue model will you be using? If you provide some sort of free/trial period, you might not have that much difficulty in recruiting customers.

 

[mmmoney]

the problem is the businesses I am targeting are only available during normal business hours

The service will be monthly subscription based,I am also planning to provide 1 month free trial.

if I plan to gets sales people how much commission should I pay them? - I would get these sales people to actually visit the clients.
or
if I plan to work with my friend should I make him a partner or pay him a commission as well?

or
is there any other option?

 

[moop]

Perhaps you could provide equity to your friend? To be honest with you, I would wait untill you have established a local clintelle before expanding into foreign countries.

If you must hire salespeople, perhaps you should do so on a comission basis. I would be hesistant to throw money at help untill I have a solid revenue stream first.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[mmmoney]

yes if I hire sales people I would pay them commission only(no base salary- casual workers)

How much commission should I give them?

and if I plan to start it in another country where my friend will take care of the rest,how much equity should I give him?

 

[BPA]

yes if I hire sales people I would pay them commission only(no base salary- casual workers)

How much commission should I give them?

and if I plan to start it in another country where my friend will take care of the rest,how much equity should I give him?

I recommend giving the absolute least amount of equity he will accept, 0% would be best. Unless your friend and you have agreed to enter into a partnership, then there is 0 reason for you to be handing out the equity to your company. He is an employee, pay him as such. A salary plus commission will make most people very happy while still leaving you with ownership of your business.

You can avoid a lot of headaches if your business remains just that, yours. Minority shareholders will cause unnecessary problems.

 

[mmmoney]

usually how much equity is paid if someone is just looking after sales?

and

How much commission is paid for sales people with no base salary?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[moop]

It's very difficult for members here to give you exact numbers for equity and salary. As a business owner, these are standard decisions you will need to conquer yourself.

For equity payment, the amount you provide to your friend depends on how much work he is putting in and what figure you are both happy with.

Also, what kind of business are you operaring? Are you providing some kind of service eg reservation management or, are you finding customers online for your clients?

If it's the latter, your income would be dependant on commissions and how well you funnel customers to your clients. This would make it very easy to recruit clients as you won't be charging them anything.