Ok, back from lunch. (chili! burp!)
First, Mike, let me say that I would cheerfully exchange what passes for my 'fortune" to be 20 again with the knowledge I have now. My guess most of us would.
So ... 20 years old, decent truck mount, big city with high per capita income?
Well, here goes. I would first ...
1. Begin with the end in mind- Before I ever knocked on a door or handed out a flyer I would TRY and visualize what my mature business (and really my life) should look like in thirty years. (Heavy stuff for a twenty year old.) All too often we sort of "lurch" through life. I know I did.
2. Get my cash flow going- I would put a dress shirt and tie on (a twenty year old needs all the help he can get) and start knocking on commercial work doors. I'd promote regular maintenance cleanings to build a route that would give me a base for my next business expansion. (Or who knows. I might just focus on commercial work, add trucks and crews and build a large business based solely on regular commercial clients. There are worse ways to make a fortune.) Either way I would get enough work asap to get me off the truck by hiring a commercial night and weekend crew. (I hate doing night work myself!)
3. Work on my graphics- I would now hire an imaginative graphic artist that works cheap out of their home and sweet talk them into taking a personal interest in my company. Assuming I had decided to go into high end residential work we would design an emotional logo and I would do a classy wrap of my van with some sort of family theme.
4. Face to face, belly to belly- You haven't given me a marketing budget here Mike so I assume it is limited. Let's say 1,000.00. OK, I would print up an informational flyer about my company on high end stock and order (shameless plug here) 30 cases of FREE Spotter for Life "Spot-Out" from Jon-Don. I would work closely with Tina or Parthavi to make the four-color label perfect with my great new logo and with a high end tag line. I used to have as my slogan- "Superb carpet and upholstery cleaning- only from ..."
I would then pick upper-middle income neighborhoods, put on my starched, crisp uniform and start knocking on doors. When the homeowner answered I would hand them a free spotter bottle and my flyer, explain what it is (no pressure) and how they can receive a complimentary replacement bottle for life just by calling my company and wish them a good day. (If local laws allow it and they are not home I would securely put a flyer in their door.)
By the time I have gone through the thirty cases (720 bottles) somewhere between 2 to 5 percent of these people are going to ask me "well, since you are here anyway could you look at ..." and I am off and running with fifteen or more high end jobs. (I would absolutely slip my shoes off as I walked into their home and they would mentally swoon.)
5. Work my first clients- Those fifteen new jobs are going to get overwhelmed with my personal, dedicated service of a sort they have NEVER encountered before. So much so that they WILL start talking to their friends and neighbors. These folks are what I call Cheerleaders and being able to consistently develop Cheerleaders through my employees is the reason I was able to retire at the age of 38. But I digress ...
6. "Luck favors a body in motion". (Ripped off from my old buddy Chuck Violand.) Of course, I'm only going to be doing the spotter thing during the hours people are most likely home. So I'll also be introducing myself to high end carpet stores, builders and interior decorators. I'll also probably join business organizations, a barter club, etc.
This is all off the top of my head, Mike and now the boss says it is time for our daily hour fitness walk. (Gotta get rid of the chili calories.)
I'm sure lots of people can rip me on the above and scream that it wouldn't work in their town. Well, in that even I guess I would go broke and wind up on welfare. But you asked ...
Steve Toburen CR
Director of Training
Jon-Don's
Strategies for Success
PS What I wouldn't do is what every other starving carpet cleaner does and snarl over the low end customer like a pack of starving dogs. And whatever advertising they did ... I wouldn't. Oh yes, I would also call my buddy Bill Yeadon who knows more about marketing to women than anyone I know and i would do whatever he told me.
I'll try to post more later. Thanks for thinking of me, Mike.