Electrical Business - Ideas?

Holly_Golightly

Hello Everyone,

A close family member has in the past year set the up their own electrical business has a result of being made redundant due to the collapse of the construction sector.

He is finding it quite hard at the moment (as are alot of ppl I know) as business is now very slow, he is a very honest and hard worker, would anyone have any good ideas of drumming up business? No job is too little or small, he has tried leaflets through doors and local newspaper adds, with some success but things have died down now again and it is very disheartening............Any ideas or advice would be great!

Cheers

woodturner

Leave some of the flyers in hardware providers and other building supply places such as plumbing and tile centers. Anywhere they would be noticed should pick up some business.

Rhys Essien

There are thousands of unemployed sparkies around the country.He should consider doing appliance repairs(fridges,washing machines etc) and offer his services in said places.
He should drop off leaflets in places like woodies that sell those timber garden sheds offering to wire them up.Places that sell elec showers etc.He needs to think outside the box.

T-rev

Definitely get an optimised website. Might cost a bit but its the first place a lot of people look now for stuff like that.

Look at new and emerging trends and technologies. I know led's are becoming quite popular in households all over, in the kickboards, ceilings, etc.

T-rev

Its all about advertising - cleverly too.

Eoin

I think that the "Entrepreneurial & Business Management" forum is a better place for this thread.

Johnny Brix

If the leaflets worked don't stop !
Also get online, facebook and there is a great free service out now called www.gettingbusinessonline.ie

Don't stop keep trying !

Chet Zar

Holly_Golightly wrote: »

Hello Everyone,

A close family member has in the past year set the up their own electrical business has a result of being made redundant due to the collapse of the construction sector.

He is finding it quite hard at the moment (as are alot of ppl I know) as business is now very slow, he is a very honest and hard worker, would anyone have any good ideas of drumming up business? No job is too little or small, he has tried leaflets through doors and local newspaper adds, with some success but things have died down now again and it is very disheartening............Any ideas or advice would be great!

Cheers

That's the key part - got to keep the momentum going! Flyers and newspaper ads = temporary effect, so no wonder thing have died down again as people tend to forget you...

Get a Facebook page up and running, get him to share it with all his friends, get them to recommend the page to people they think would have a need or an interest in his services. Be imaginative - think 'what separates me from others offering the same thing?'.

Forget newspaper ads - online is where it is at. Look at the competition on Google - who is there? How many searches are there for what he is offering? Could he carve out a niche for himself online, cleverly marketing himself where others have missed a trick? Capture people's imagination, come up with a catchy/catchier name for the business, something people will remember...

The sky's the limit really!

kennyb3

On the flyers thing - anything that comes in my door goes in the bin with barely a read.

Id be inclined to get a plain white sealed envelope and a label with dear householder (or as relevant) and have a good letter on nice headed paper. I'd be miles more likely to read that (it looks important) than a shiny flyer (which im now sick of). But others may disagree

Herbalist

take a look at www.tenderme.ie there are often people looking for the sort of service he provides on there it could be worth a try.

Facebook could also be a valuable tool. Between friends and friends of friends he could set up a company page and make sure everyone knows what he can do. A lot of referrals come through word of mouth so it can be as simple as someone needing some electrical work done and someone thinking 'well X's brother or friend does that why not give him a call'.

If there is a local hardware or electrical store it could also be worth him contacting the owners. I know I was in a dry cleaners recently and there were some business cards there for a PC repair person. I don't need one now but it caught my eye as I was waiting to collect my items and I would know where to go now if I did need one.