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Would appreciate advice on a business opportunity...

Successful Steve

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Hello Fastlaners,

I joined the community a while ago but mainly read all the great advice and take notes and rarely ever post except for an introduction a while back.
About me: I own a security company myself and have done well with it but have reached some sticking points.

On to my question:
I moved into a high end community last year that has upper middle class to entry level millionaires living in it.

All the homes/townhomes being built are all custom made and brand new.
I painted my garage and did the Polyurea Epoxy coating and now have become the go-to guy that everyone asks how I did it and if I could do their garage, etc.

I also do all my own work pretty much - cut grass, house maintenance, plus I even cook food and create custom drinks for all the community events and parties in the community and have become a sort of celebrity in the neighborhood along with making fantastic connections with some very rich and successful people.

So it gave me an idea of a side business I could create...
I created a brochure to put on all the new homes being built that would basically offer everything: House Cleaning, Landscaping, Complete Garage painting and flooring, Party Setups and Custom Drink Creations, etc.

But I feel like it would take away from my security business as well as I don't know how confident I am in doing Garage flooring on other peoples homes. I did a very good job on mine but I see the imperfections and mistakes I made everyday whereas others don't see that. They just see how good it looks superficially.

There are about 10-20 homes being completed every month, and there's going to be about 3,000-5,000 homes once the whole community is finished over a 5-10 year period.

So....
A. Would you even trust a guy who puts a brochure on your door that says he can do everything. Landscaping, house maintenance, house cleaning (I wouldn't do this of course, I'd hire someone, they have complaints from the current cleaning person), garage finishing, painting, party planner and setup (everyone already asks my wife to do this because she's good at that), basically hiring someone to do most of this, etc.?
B. Should I specialize in the main moneymaker which would be the garage finishing to look more like an expert in something instead of trying to do everything for everybody?
C. Or am I just wasting my time when I could be focusing on finding ways to reach out to the ultra rich to get clients through my security business which is my main goal anyways and stop reaching for low hanging business opportunities?

Thanks for any suggestions.
 
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Atu

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Hello Fastlaners,

I joined the community a while ago but mainly read all the great advice and take notes and rarely ever post except for an introduction a while back.
About me: I own a security company myself and have done well with it but have reached some sticking points.

On to my question:
I moved into a high end community last year that has upper middle class to entry level millionaires living in it.

All the homes/townhomes being built are all custom made and brand new.
I painted my garage and did the Polyurea Epoxy coating and now have become the go-to guy that everyone asks how I did it and if I could do their garage, etc.

I also do all my own work pretty much - cut grass, house maintenance, plus I even cook food and create custom drinks for all the community events and parties in the community and have become a sort of celebrity in the neighborhood along with making fantastic connections with some very rich and successful people.

So it gave me an idea of a side business I could create...
I created a brochure to put on all the new homes being built that would basically offer everything: House Cleaning, Landscaping, Complete Garage painting and flooring, Party Setups and Custom Drink Creations, etc.

But I feel like it would take away from my security business as well as I don't know how confident I am in doing Garage flooring on other peoples homes. I did a very good job on mine but I see the imperfections and mistakes I made everyday whereas others don't see that. They just see how good it looks superficially.

There are about 10-20 homes being completed every month, and there's going to be about 3,000-5,000 homes once the whole community is finished over a 5-10 year period.

So....
A. Would you even trust a guy who puts a brochure on your door that says he can do everything. Landscaping, house maintenance, house cleaning (I wouldn't do this of course, I'd hire someone, they have complaints from the current cleaning person), garage finishing, painting, party planner and setup (everyone already asks my wife to do this because she's good at that), basically hiring someone to do most of this, etc.?
B. Should I specialize in the main moneymaker which would be the garage finishing to look more like an expert in something instead of trying to do everything for everybody?
C. Or am I just wasting my time when I could be focusing on finding ways to reach out to the ultra rich to get clients through my security business which is my main goal anyways and stop reaching for low hanging business opportunities?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Is it possible for you to do a calculation? If you already know security business you can say how much you can learn. What will be the value of your time when you shift to garage flooring (even when only managing an unperfect employee)?

A: Everything is sitting in emotions of your potencial customers. How many brochures are they getting every day? How are you going to differentiate yourself from other brochures? Can you run this business by only walking around, talking to people and showing them your garage (if all the homes are near-by)?

B: Being specialized is the path to perfection. Can you just walk around the neighbourhood, talk to everybody and sell them high-margin securities?

C: How do you want to position yourself? As I-can-do-it-all for low money? Or maybe as an entrepreneur who owns a few businesses: If you buy an insurance from one of my companies, the second can do your garage flooring on discount?

And best wishes :)
 

Successful Steve

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Is it possible for you to do a calculation? If you already know security business you can say how much you can learn. What will be the value of your time when you shift to garage flooring (even when only managing an unperfect employee)?

A: Everything is sitting in emotions of your potencial customers. How many brochures are they getting every day? How are you going to differentiate yourself from other brochures? Can you run this business by only walking around, talking to people and showing them your garage (if all the homes are near-by)?

B: Being specialized is the path to perfection. Can you just walk around the neighbourhood, talk to everybody and sell them high-margin securities?

C: How do you want to position yourself? As I-can-do-it-all for low money? Or maybe as an entrepreneur who owns a few businesses: If you buy an insurance from one of my companies, the second can do your garage flooring on discount?

And best wishes :)
 

Successful Steve

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Thanks for the advice. I like how you added I could do it all for low money or specialize in one aspect of it to create another business.
 
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Bekit

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It's a general copywriting rule of thumb that you should have only one call to action per advertisement.

Otherwise, people will be overwhelmed and confused.

I think it'll also dilute the power and effectiveness of your pitch to have such an assortment of unrelated services in one flyer. There's a risk that people will think, "Jack of all trades, master of none."

So maybe I'd try launching the services one at a time.

Start with the money maker and then branch out from there with additional flyers that offer other stuff.

If you're a locally known celebrity, make sure you make that human connection prominent. They've probably met you. Or their neighbor has. So you might say, "Hey, it's Steve, the guy who creates custom drinks for all the parties in the community. We probably met at XYZ event, or if not, look for me at the next one. So listen, 20 of the neighbors have asked me to do their garage floors the way I did mine, and I just wanted to let you know I have some openings in my schedule if you want yours done, too. Benefits of an epoxy floor are XYZ. Price is $X and you can set it up by calling XXX-XXXX."

Then, a month later, you send the second one. "Tired of your cleaning service? Get the same quality that the whole neighborhood loves and trusts for epoxy garage floors. Now offering house cleaning. Etc"
 

minivanman

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It's a general copywriting rule of thumb that you should have only one call to action per advertisement.

Otherwise, people will be overwhelmed and confused.

I think it'll also dilute the power and effectiveness of your pitch to have such an assortment of unrelated services in one flyer. There's a risk that people will think, "Jack of all trades, master of none."

So maybe I'd try launching the services one at a time.

Start with the money maker and then branch out from there with additional flyers that offer other stuff.

If you're a locally known celebrity, make sure you make that human connection prominent. They've probably met you. Or their neighbor has. So you might say, "Hey, it's Steve, the guy who creates custom drinks for all the parties in the community. We probably met at XYZ event, or if not, look for me at the next one. So listen, 20 of the neighbors have asked me to do their garage floors the way I did mine, and I just wanted to let you know I have some openings in my schedule if you want yours done, too. Benefits of an epoxy floor are XYZ. Price is $X and you can set it up by calling XXX-XXXX."

Then, a month later, you send the second one. "Tired of your cleaning service? Get the same quality that the whole neighborhood loves and trusts for epoxy garage floors. Now offering house cleaning. Etc"

I had no clue this was a general copywriting rule of thumb but I'll tell you what..... this is exactly right on the money! To this day I always tell people to never put more than 1 business on any type of advertisement.

When I had my house cleaning businesses, if we passed out 1000 flyers today and I only advertised house cleaning, we would get calls over the next 10 days. If I passed out 1000 flyers with house cleaning and carpet cleaning or house cleaning and office cleaning...... 0 calls every time!

Now I know it's not just something that happened to me :)
 

Scalr

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Hello Fastlaners,


So it gave me an idea of a side business I could create...
I created a brochure to put on all the new homes being built that would basically offer everything: House Cleaning, Landscaping, Complete Garage painting and flooring, Party Setups and Custom Drink Creations, etc.

...

So....
A. Would you even trust a guy who puts a brochure on your door that says he can do everything. Landscaping, house maintenance, house cleaning (I wouldn't do this of course, I'd hire someone, they have complaints from the current cleaning person), garage finishing, painting, party planner and setup (everyone already asks my wife to do this because she's good at that), basically hiring someone to do most of this, etc.?
B. Should I specialize in the main moneymaker which would be the garage finishing to look more like an expert in something instead of trying to do everything for everybody?
C. Or am I just wasting my time when I could be focusing on finding ways to reach out to the ultra rich to get clients through my security business which is my main goal anyways and stop reaching for low hanging business opportunities?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Sounds like an exciting time with several opportunities coming up.

Would I trust a brochure? Maybe. So, how can definitely get their attention and not feel like you are selling something to them? You want to help them, right?

Think about the people. What are they going through right now? They moved to a completely new neighborhood. What are their problems? How can you help them solve those?

Here is a thought: You could create a brochure or an on-boarding guide
-- Welcome to the Neighborhood --
Here is what you need to know about our town...

Then provide a link to a landing page for regular updates. I know, that's a whole different business. But with that many people moving in it is a great option to build a hyper localized email list. Then from there you can upsell all these services if needed. Maybe ask the people what their biggest issues are and go from there.

Just some thoughts. On the services side, I would stay focussed on ONE. What goes through their mind when they just moved in? Maybe the Party - "Epic Housewarming Party"
 

Johnny boy

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Post ads and see how much demand you can whip up from it. It sounds like people really want it already. Teach someone how to do the coatings and pay them to start doing them.

Get a business formation and license, build a website and post to craigslist, be listed on Google My Business, put up bandit signs around town, and partner with realtors to get in touch with everyone who's buying a new house in your area. Create a referral program and pay people for getting you more customers. Get leads from Home Adviser as well. Make a video of your services and show it as a facebook ad to every new homebuyer in your area. That'll work better than you can imagine I bet.

Hire some more people to perform the services. Make the workers independent contractors who only need the coating and some basic tools to take care of the work. No physical location needed, no trucks or anything for you to provide for them. Just the basic tools. Have your customers sign basic agreements so you don't get cheated by the workers and have the workers sign non-competes and start advertising in multiple locations and hire once there is demand. Do it in your town first and then start really doing it remotely.

For inspiration in running a middleman service business using independent contractors, look up the company "lawnstarter". They are the middlemen of the lawn care industry. You'd be the middleman of the garage coating industry. They use marketing and sales best practices to sell better than the competition, and use contractors that suck at the marketing and sales to sell them back the work they stole away with their sales and marketing skills, arbitraging the difference. Like a lead-gen company but slightly more involved with the actual work done. It's easy to scale. I thought about structuring my company like theirs but I see a better opportunity building up a business that actually does the work as well. Still very scalable.

I would stay away from doing "everything". You'll be the town's favorite person, but that's lame. Starting a business is about saying yes to everything. Scaling a business is about saying no to everything.
 

Successful Steve

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It's a general copywriting rule of thumb that you should have only one call to action per advertisement.

Otherwise, people will be overwhelmed and confused.

I think it'll also dilute the power and effectiveness of your pitch to have such an assortment of unrelated services in one flyer. There's a risk that people will think, "Jack of all trades, master of none."

So maybe I'd try launching the services one at a time.

Start with the money maker and then branch out from there with additional flyers that offer other stuff.

If you're a locally known celebrity, make sure you make that human connection prominent. They've probably met you. Or their neighbor has. So you might say, "Hey, it's Steve, the guy who creates custom drinks for all the parties in the community. We probably met at XYZ event, or if not, look for me at the next one. So listen, 20 of the neighbors have asked me to do their garage floors the way I did mine, and I just wanted to let you know I have some openings in my schedule if you want yours done, too. Benefits of an epoxy floor are XYZ. Price is $X and you can set it up by calling XXX-XXXX."

Then, a month later, you send the second one. "Tired of your cleaning service? Get the same quality that the whole neighborhood loves and trusts for epoxy garage floors. Now offering house cleaning. Etc"


You confirmed what I was thinking. Thanks
 
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Successful Steve

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Wait , why has the security business plateud?

I own an Executive Protection/Bodyguard company protecting CEOs and Diplomats.

I’m still doing well, but mainly as a sub-contractor. So I get a piece of the pie, a nice piece not to complain, but I’m focusing on getting the whole pie and trying to focus on breaking into the high net worth individuals and the ultra rich in the Emerging International countries.
 

Successful Steve

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I own an Executive Protection/Bodyguard company protecting CEOs and Diplomats.

I’m still doing well, but mainly as a sub-contractor. So I get a piece of the pie, a nice piece not to complain, but I’m focusing on getting the whole pie and trying to focus on breaking into the high net worth individuals and the ultra rich in the Emerging International countries.


I also had a child so had to cut back on my travel and looking to get into some local stuff simultaneously and look at different business opportunities bc security is very long hours and lots of time away from home.
 

Successful Steve

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Sounds like an exciting time with several opportunities coming up.

Would I trust a brochure? Maybe. So, how can definitely get their attention and not feel like you are selling something to them? You want to help them, right?

Think about the people. What are they going through right now? They moved to a completely new neighborhood. What are their problems? How can you help them solve those?

Here is a thought: You could create a brochure or an on-boarding guide
-- Welcome to the Neighborhood --
Here is what you need to know about our town...

Then provide a link to a landing page for regular updates. I know, that's a whole different business. But with that many people moving in it is a great option to build a hyper localized email list. Then from there you can upsell all these services if needed. Maybe ask the people what their biggest issues are and go from there.

Just some thoughts. On the services side, I would stay focussed on ONE. What goes through their mind when they just moved in? Maybe the Party - "Epic Housewarming Party"


I like the onboarding idea. My wife is great at networking and already gets the contact numbers of the females and introduces me to the males when we are out walking or going to the events. I never thought about asking what issues they have another great idea. Thanks
 
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Successful Steve

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Post ads and see how much demand you can whip up from it. It sounds like people really want it already. Teach someone how to do the coatings and pay them to start doing them.

Get a business formation and license, build a website and post to craigslist, be listed on Google My Business, put up bandit signs around town, and partner with realtors to get in touch with everyone who's buying a new house in your area. Create a referral program and pay people for getting you more customers. Get leads from Home Adviser as well. Make a video of your services and show it as a facebook ad to every new homebuyer in your area. That'll work better than you can imagine I bet.

Hire some more people to perform the services. Make the workers independent contractors who only need the coating and some basic tools to take care of the work. No physical location needed, no trucks or anything for you to provide for them. Just the basic tools. Have your customers sign basic agreements so you don't get cheated by the workers and have the workers sign non-competes and start advertising in multiple locations and hire once there is demand. Do it in your town first and then start really doing it remotely.

For inspiration in running a middleman service business using independent contractors, look up the company "lawnstarter". They are the middlemen of the lawn care industry. You'd be the middleman of the garage coating industry. They use marketing and sales best practices to sell better than the competition, and use contractors that suck at the marketing and sales to sell them back the work they stole away with their sales and marketing skills, arbitraging the difference. Like a lead-gen company but slightly more involved with the actual work done. It's easy to scale. I thought about structuring my company like theirs but I see a better opportunity building up a business that actually does the work as well. Still very scalable.

I would stay away from doing "everything". You'll be the town's favorite person, but that's lame. Starting a business is about saying yes to everything. Scaling a business is about saying no to everything.


That was a lot of gold nuggets in your post. Thanks. I never even thought about Home Adviser or your example of the Lawnstarter Company. I’m surprised there is not one of the same for Epoxy garage coatings yet. The only company I could find who even does anything remotely close and I live in a high population metro area and that’s Monkey Bars Storage and they specialize in hanging storage racks in your garage not the garage coating itself. That’s just an upsell. And they charge crazy amounts of money which is why I decided to do the work myself. I didn’t even consider taking it that far. It’s very hard work dealing with an acid coating so you have to wear protective gear then multiple priming and painting. But I wasn’t even thinking about scaling it outside my neighborhood at the moment so thanks for the vision.
 

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