When u get slow, do u start to second guess yourself?
- Thread starter hanks75
- Start date
Curtis Pennington
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- Jul 12, 2008
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- 1,537
Are you tracking your history with these ads?......is your competors doing something your not?...are you social network.....do something that allows you to meet folks... gym,church,commerce,kiwana,boosters, golf etc. etc. more ya do more ya meet, more people know whay ya do. ( sorry on a soapbox) Do I second guess myself, no ...not if your sucessfull before with your current advertising...right now rez is down cuz school starts in a week. People are shopping for school,meeting new teachers...not cleaning there floors.
Mo info bro...
Mo info bro...
Jim Martin
Supportive Member
If you are second guessing yourself............then that is why you are probably slow.........
Bjorn
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don't forget to have a Hanuka cleaning specials in the Villages
TimP
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Based on profile of zero years in I'd have to guess you're starting up.
If that's true then you have to understand that you're work is cut out for you to get your business going. It should be what you're doing when you aren't sucking rug. I've been going near about 4 years now and I'd say less than half of people who get their carpet cleaned don't know about me. But that's a guess. I'd say I've spent more than 10% of my gross marketing in the first two years. Last year and this year I've cut back. Next year I'm going w/o yellow pages or any advertising what so ever. I doubt my yearly income will suffer any and if it does it wont me more than what I'd spend on advertising. Referrals are what is going to make you, so when you get a job do a fantastic job.
Anyway get out there and put your face in front of people. Make sure everyone knows that you're in the cleaning business. Also realize that you aren't going to start up and be busy every day with jobs. It takes time.
But to answer the question you asked. When I get slow I do begin to question. But this summer has made me realize that there is no need because once you get a customer base they will call you when they can or they are ready. It seems many of my customers are ready in the hot freaking summer and I suppose I'll survive. Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy with the amount of business I'm doing. I've decided that there isn't a lot more work out there and it's going to be a part time thing. I've based this decision on population and average income of my work area. (40,000 people max and average family income of 35,000 in a 20 mile diameter)
If that's true then you have to understand that you're work is cut out for you to get your business going. It should be what you're doing when you aren't sucking rug. I've been going near about 4 years now and I'd say less than half of people who get their carpet cleaned don't know about me. But that's a guess. I'd say I've spent more than 10% of my gross marketing in the first two years. Last year and this year I've cut back. Next year I'm going w/o yellow pages or any advertising what so ever. I doubt my yearly income will suffer any and if it does it wont me more than what I'd spend on advertising. Referrals are what is going to make you, so when you get a job do a fantastic job.
Anyway get out there and put your face in front of people. Make sure everyone knows that you're in the cleaning business. Also realize that you aren't going to start up and be busy every day with jobs. It takes time.
But to answer the question you asked. When I get slow I do begin to question. But this summer has made me realize that there is no need because once you get a customer base they will call you when they can or they are ready. It seems many of my customers are ready in the hot freaking summer and I suppose I'll survive. Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy with the amount of business I'm doing. I've decided that there isn't a lot more work out there and it's going to be a part time thing. I've based this decision on population and average income of my work area. (40,000 people max and average family income of 35,000 in a 20 mile diameter)
Jay D
Member
Umm I'm not sure, a maybe. !gotcha!
Zee
Supportive Member
TimP said:
Aren't you the one Tim that was just recently saying that you are backing out of this industry and going to school? Maybe you were saying school full time and do carpet cleaning only part time/weekend basis.
Did anything change or you still planning to give up full time cleaning? Did you hit a good ad campaign that started working well?
Art Kelley
Supportive Member
hanks75 said:
Yes. In the middle of winter when it is slow I question my very existance. But I get over it.
TimP
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Zalan Szabo (zee) said:
You have to clean full time to give it up, 8 hrs a day 5 days a wk 12 months a year don't happen for me. I'm not giving up my business. I am planning on going to school part time this next year till my truck is paid for then school full time for just over a year and get to what I can. My classes are in the evenings. I just know I'll have plenty of time for school while school is in based on the past 3+ years. I probably can find someone part time if I had to anyway when i start full time, I might just get off the truck all together who knows. I may just sell my stuff off depending on how I feel at the time. As of now I can't predict the future
Right now I'm busy just cause everyone seems to decide to clean all at once. I haven't advertised or nothing all year. All I have is a small yellow page add that's costing me $170 a month. But like I said I've done over 40% of what I did last year in the past 6-8 weeks or so. I've had maybe 4-5 days off in the time period. But I know it's going to come to an end soon.
Desk Jockey
Member
NO, never it's "Damn the torpedo's FULL Speed ahead!"
Yes of course I do, I even second guess myself when we're busy.
Are we spending too little? Are we spending too much? Are we targeting the right people? Are we using the right message? Using the right vehicle for the message? What's my competition doing? Does it appear to be effective for them? Are we losing market share? Should I transfer all the money into an off shore account and beat a fast path out of here and go party with Joe Harper? :shock:
Then we get busy and I have other problems more pressing and I don't worry about it again until we slow down again. :mrgreen:
and I'm too fat, too old, too ugly and don't have Joe personality or his source for roofies.
somewhat amus
Ryan
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Chris Adkins said:
Richard beat me to it. Second guessing yourself is what makes you a biz owner. Sitting back doing nothing, however, is different (not saying that you are.)[/quote:10k78q2k]
I get what your saying, but I wouldn't call it second guessing.. maybe always trying to improve. I think arragonce is almost a good thing in this business sometimes.
Desk Jockey
Member
Uhhhuh an arrogant person would..............................Oh but not that you are one................but you're pretty damn close though!
:mrgreen:
Brian R
Member
You should always be vigilant in checking your ads and evaluating them. Is that second guessing? Probably. I 3rd guess and 4th guess and so on.
Since marketing is always changing, your ads should also be changing. Will you make the right decisions? Do you stick with what's worked for the past 20 years :roll:
a true business owner is always involved in this aspect of the business, everything else is secondary.
Since marketing is always changing, your ads should also be changing. Will you make the right decisions? Do you stick with what's worked for the past 20 years :roll:
a true business owner is always involved in this aspect of the business, everything else is secondary.
