to be OR not to be

fauxpas

Hi,

I have been reading this forum for a while, its always been a plentyful source of information. My business activity, or rather my menthal approach towards it has burned out and I may not have anybody with commercial and down to the ground focus for an advice, so i thought i give it a go here. Maybe somebody could look at it out of the box and give me some feedback.

My employment finished at the beginning of 2010. I jumped on job seekers ben and opened my own, one man band business. It has been a 6-7 days a week chore for last 9 months and where I am right now - in deeper debt and lots of work still to be done. I am an agent of design and print services, my approach was simple - the more doors i knock and phoncalls i can make, the more i will have out of it.
Margins are low - hoping for high turnover and good clientelle incoming flow.
The service is brill - 98% customers are returning.
...and where i am now - busy fool.
I heard million times that this is not a time to make millions, but for gods sake, I am just trying to make a living.
i have tried to increase the pricing at times, but once it happens, the phone gets quiet and i get no response on quotes i am sending.
I don't really know what to do next... I ve sent my cv with NO response. I have a deegree and my IQ is not the lowest. And i simply dont know where to take the money for next months rent.
There is more happening each week really - i meet more people, try to get commission door knockers - nobody out of 000s of unemployed want to move their arse from the couch - what an irony. Half of people approaching me/returning my call seem to waste my time. They love to have a chat, but when comes to price and terms it takes them weeks to make a decision.
I have plenty of energy to do whatever keeps me floating, but seems it is not enough. I dont know where is the mistake i make.

Does it all sounds familiar? Have You ever been in this position?
Shall I switch off the pc and turn off the phone to get job at burger flipper? I dont know.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

Hi FauxPas,

Fair play for posting such an honest, heart felt post.

It sounds like your doing a huge amount right but are in a business where customers are hugely price conscious and your competitors are in a "race to the bottom" game. IE they have already spend so much on fixed assets they are hoping to hang in the game long enough to watch the other competitors die and then slowly raise their prices to get back to profitability. It sucks, but that's the print and design industry right now (for some not all).

Ireland does have a problem that the work force is better off on a couch claiming unemployment benefit than taking a risk and trying a commission only job or in some cases lower wage jobs to get on the corporate ladder. But lets face it there is very little leverage knocking on doors and its often a difficult and thankless job. It speaks a lot of your character that you are able for it because 99% of the population aren't.

I wouldn't go to burger flipping just yet though. Make a list of your core skills and how you can add value to businesses. There's no shame in looking for a job while your getting back on your feet but maybe explore other opportunities as well. But stop knocking on doors, cold calling sucks and you've tried it - its seems to not be working. So try other approaches.

You have an existing client base. Could you up sell them other services, you can design so its probably you could fix their computers or set up a wireless network? It's obvious to us techies this is easy but my father was having an issue with his computer and not having the time myself I called in a local guy to him who charged €60 an hour (In the end I still had to fix it ironically). The point is there is still demand to solve problem. The recession brings with it opportunity. People who would have replaced a laptop now might prefer to get it fixed and defraged so they have it for another year.

Can you focus on increasing the frequency they order off you? How about referral marketing? Call them and ask them how they found your service in regards to price and did they feel they got "specific value" from your work. If they agree you did add value, explain to them that you're trying to expand your business in a tough economy and would they be able to think of 3 people they know who they think you could also avail of your, now established, valuable input. If they give the names to you, ask would it be OK if you use their name when approaching them which increase conversion chances massively.

The big thing is that if something isn't working don't keep doing it or give up. Try something else. 9 - 10 businesses fail and that just means people should try 10 businesses before they get one off the ground.

Keep the chin up.

fauxpas

hi Costume Shop,

thank you for that.

BnB

I would say 4 things that just spring to mind. You may have thought of / tried them before.

1) Look at your own costs. Have you any scope to price around different suppliers or to put pressure on your current ones.

2) As Ronan said above, take a good look at your existing Client Base. Especially ones that have dealt with you a few times and you know they are happy with your work.
Are you getting everything you can possibly get off them. i.e. Is someone buying Posters off you, but not their business cards.
Are they all aware of all the services you offer.
Are there other services that you don't currently offer, but that they use, that you could look into offering.

3) Consider the type of clients that you are approaching. There are a lot of people out there who will waste your freggin time. Try to learn to recognise them before you waste any time on them. Spend the time going after the type of customers who could possibly have regular orders. And don't be afraid to knock on the big companies doors. I don't know what your cold calling process is, but based on what I have done, I have found : You could make 20 cold calls to 20 small companies and possibly 10 of them might agree to meet you. But, in reality, they will have fregall of a budget to spend. You might make 20 calls to 20 bigger companies, and only one of them might agree to meet you - But his budget could be as big as 50 small companies put together.

4) Do your figures. Do them carefully and do them honestly. Are you getting work in and still losing money. If so, where is the money going. Don't presume anything. Make decisions based on hard facts and not assumptions. You might be able to identify certain areas of your business where you are actually making a few bob and others where you are losing that money.

The last thing I would say is, don't be too hard on yourself. It sounds to me like you have done an awful lot right here. You have built up a bit of a customer base and they are happy. There is a lot to be said for that. It gives you something to work with. Just a small bit of tweaking now and you should be able to start making money.

steve_

I can honestly say fair play for wearing you heart on your sleeve. As the guys have said your clearly in a very competitive market and maybe conventional methods are not working as well as they did before. I dont have much advice to give as iv very little experience with design, only through college work. But have you maybe thought of documenting your processes of your design work? recording the steps from your sketches to implementation? I feel something like this will maybe catch more customers. Print and design nowadays is too opaque, let customers and potential clients see your methods and thought processes show them the passion that goes into your work. In this day and age transparency is a good thing, showing clients the sweat and tears that go into your work generates confidence and belief in you and the work you produce.

You never know, if you create a nice blog or site documenting you processes for your work you might get a nice following or fellow designers or students which could generate money from the traffic alone. Or have you ever thought about actually teaching the skills you have to people as a tutor?

fauxpas

Thanks for that steve.

Yes, I will have to try it. When talking about the same every day you may loose the key point of it - it becoms obvious to you, but may not to a Client. It is a good point, thanks for that again.