Marketing A Small Start Up

Marketing A Small Start Up

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cRaigAl205

Original Poster:

264 posts

122 months

Sunday 14th September 2014
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Hello all,

I'm in the process of setting up a small architectural design practice with my partner - focusing predominantly on all aspects of residential design. We are fairly realistic about the slow growing nature of the business, and are in the fortunate position that we won't starve while get it off the ground, we are undertaking a slow roll out, the website is now live, the LLP setup, insurance and bank accounts etc in place, but the next big undertaking is marketing. We have a few leads based on word of mouth/previous jobs, but that isn't going to sustain us for ever.

I was wondering if I could pick your collective brains on what would be the best areas to focus our marketing efforts (both time and budgetary- obviously we don't want to spend a fortune on marketing to begin with but some costs are a given) As I said, the website is live, and I have 'submitted' the site to all the big search engines, but that is as far as Ive got with regards to an internet presence.

I was wondering what you would recommend the next stages are? look into SEO, online adverts and the such, or more local, paper based advertising etc. We foresee our work to be predominately small scale residential work- extensions, redesign and the odd new-build. We are local to Somerset, but willing to cover a larger area, as this scale of design doesn't usually require repeated site visits.

If it would help, I can provide a link to the site for comments etc, but I don't want to post it up straight away and be accused of spamming etc!

Cheers, and looking forward to your thoughts

Craig

Marcellus

7,111 posts

218 months

Sunday 14th September 2014
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Surely in your line recommendation has got to be the biggest source of "leads" so as opposes to marketing i would have thought investing time and resources into developing these would be money well spent.

FreiWild

405 posts

155 months

Sunday 14th September 2014
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Marcellus said:
Surely in your line recommendation has got to be the biggest source of "leads" so as opposes to marketing i would have thought investing time and resources into developing these would be money well spent.
Which incidentally is a form of marketing. Thus you, as you quite rightly said, should invest in it.


said:
We foresee our work to be predominately small scale residential work- extensions, redesign and the odd new-build. We are local to Somerset, but willing to cover a larger area, as this scale of design doesn't usually require repeated site visits.
I am of course not in your industry, in fact take my thoughts with a grain of salt as I am still a student, but here goes anyways.

What I would do, first off, is getting it crystal-clear whom you want to be targeting in particular. Second thoughts should go to your unique selling point. Why would anyone choose you and not someone else?

Spending part of your marketing budget on answering these two questions in detail would be a good start.

I assume even in small scale residential work we are talking about quite high risk, high involvement decisions on the part of the customer. Therefore the focus for you should IMHO be 100% to build trust. Having a very professional website certainly is a prerequisite. However word of mouth is your single best asset when trying to earn the trust of new customers.

Following are a few ideas that came to my mind. It is all a very rough cut, but I hope it is of some use.

Spend money on keeping your old customers on hand, do not let them forget you. The benefits I can see to this is that you might get some repeat business out of them or if someone they know needs some work done they will readily recommend you. Of course this is a long term strategy and you need to get some new customers in rather quickly.

As a short term strategy I would certainly go the way of local advertising. Advertising online is all well and good, but if it does not have a local connection you might find yourself quoting for projects that are far away when you could better focus your resources on something local and with a possibly better margin. Paper-based advertising sounds reasonable, maybe get some brochures printed up that direct people to your website and leave them at your local garden center/hardware store.

Also do not forget about social media. It might sound a bit buzzword driven but with social media I think you might have a good chance of showcasing your work to a greater audience and maybe connecting with other local business and/or institutions.

Marcellus

7,111 posts

218 months

Sunday 14th September 2014
quotequote all
Perhaps invest in developing relationships with some builders, builders merchants, planning officers, etc etc etc

cRaigAl205

Original Poster:

264 posts

122 months

Sunday 14th September 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for the feedback guys. I think our 'niche' is high quality, while being personable and approachable. While not fully fledged architects (there are a number of hoops to jump through, we are both training as such, and can therefore provide more of a design eye and quality, which similar architectural design companies perhaps don't. We also have direct hands-on experience of construction, ie, self build, whereas often our profession are accused of designing things which are expensive and sometimes impossible to build! To begin with, we would like to focus on residential design, providing a quality service, with an eye for design, while keeping budget and build-ability in mind. Basically bridging the gap between "cheap and cheerful", say surveyor-drawn designs, and more expensive/conceptual Architecture (with a capital A, if you know what I mean..)

The brochure is perhaps a good idea- not something I had immediately thought of (perhaps assumed it was too oldschool!) but perhaps a nice crisp and concise leaflet or similar in locations such as you suggest, garden centres/diy sheds etc might be a good shout. I will go though our builders contact list, and perhaps research a few more to try and build a relationship with.

Cheers,

Craig


sa_20v

4,108 posts

230 months

Monday 15th September 2014
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Re online, think about how people currently look for an architect. Examine what results display on SERPs for terms like 'architect in Surrey' or 'looking for an architect'. Chances are you'll find these kind of sites above the fold (and this is probably where most of the users land up):

http://www.mybuilder.com/architects/in/uk
http://www.localarchitectsdirect.co.uk/architects-...

If these are a little too lead gen for you, try really tightly targeted marketing via Facebook, scan Twitter for relevant Tweets in your area and contact people directly, assist people (nothing more) on relevant forums (use xyzpractice as your username so they can contact you outside of the forum), use Adwords search network for localised searches and display network to deliver your message on relevant websites (even sub-sections of sites). I also suggest getting on the likes of elance etc. Free local listing sites may assist with free traffic.

Offline, I would approach estate agents, builders (you can target groups like these via LinkedIn advertising btw) and anything relating to house alterations - asbestos inspectors perhaps? Incentivise these people to put your name forward (whether monetary or not).

Re message, I would personally start with understanding current barriers in your industry. I'm now on my fourth architect, problems range from architects not having the knowledge/vision to design anything but a basic brick extension (I would guess their normal bread and butter and why the UK's housing stock looks so st), not having confidence in architects pitching for work (no suggestions on visit, poor portfolios and some without websites), not being listened to (I asked for a seriously large garage, ended up with a single one on plans - wtf!) and not taking into account current building costs (mine are double the initial budget laid out...).

If you need someone to bounce ideas off feel free to PM me - although don't be surprised if I beg for 'vision' on my own projects as I kick architect number four to the curb! biggrin

Moominho

893 posts

139 months

Monday 15th September 2014
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Also add the website address to your profile in Pistonheads...

jonnydm

5,107 posts

208 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
Social media is free. Plenty of professionals post a lot on PH and I certainly see some getting business out of it eg. Sarnie on the Finance forum. I'm sure there are lots of forums to give architectural advice but that's probably not cost effective. Twitter / facebook could certainly be a decent bet if done well and you get the odd share from friends.

The suggestion above about investing time working on relationships with local builders, surveyors etc. has got to be a good one and in the right area possibly estate agents too. If you're going into a new niche, perhaps worth doing one job at a reasonable rate with the caveat that you can use lots of pictures etc. In the right area where people are always having work done, that could work out well.

Potentially more long winded but free routes include doing some sort of media activity - seem to be loads on TV shows all the time.

Lexual

510 posts

212 months

Monday 15th September 2014
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Hi, if you do decide to use any printed marketing materials such as brochures, leaflets, business cards, signs and banners etc, or if you need anything like printed/embroidered clothing then please get in touch. I have supplied to a couple of PHers who will vouch for the quality and very competitive pricing I offer.

You can find my details on my profile or email me directly on oliver@event-print.co.uk

Regards.

chonok

1,126 posts

234 months

Monday 15th September 2014
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I run my own architectural services company (just like yours) and started out about 3 years ago.

What I will say was it was very difficult at first to get enough work in to pay just my wage, so paying two wages from the beginning will be difficult, althouh I did start mine in the beginning of a recession!

I think all of the above advice I good, you need to concentrate on getting your name out there Locally and doing a good job.

Just don't expect it to happen overnight.

Maybe also try your local BNI.

And don't give up! Eventually you'll probably find yourself in the same position as me and struggling to cope with the amount of work, although I suppose there is only one of me!

cRaigAl205

Original Poster:

264 posts

122 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
Thanks guys. Some really good suggestions, some of which we probably wouldn't have thought of. (its easy to get focusing down on say, getting the website up and running, or researching insurance, setting up the LLP erc, and then losing track of the next step)

We've already got some really nice business cards printed up, so tomorrow's job is to pop into the local estate agents, introduce ourselfs and start building bridges smile

Nice to hear someone has made it work, Chonok! As I mentioned in the first post, we are fortunate that we wont starve while setting it up, as our mortgage is paid by lodgers, and a little left over to live on as well - so any wage we make from "the business" is a bonus smile (assuming we keep overheads low, but I think that is given for a small start up such as this) Like you say, hopefully soon enough the two of us will be able to handle a workload better, and bounce ideas off one another and help to keep fresh and motivated.

Thanks again everyone, any more suggestions keep them coming. smile I'll certainly be popping back into the business section more often, as I'm sure I will have more questions as the business grows. Also, it goes without saying, if anyone in the South West needs any design work.. drop me a line wink

Craig

chonok

1,126 posts

234 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
No problem and good luck. Nothing better than the satisfaction of working for yourself!👍

davepoth

29,395 posts

198 months

Monday 15th September 2014
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jonnydm said:
The suggestion above about investing time working on relationships with local builders, surveyors etc. has got to be a good one and in the right area possibly estate agents too. If you're going into a new niche, perhaps worth doing one job at a reasonable rate with the caveat that you can use lots of pictures etc. In the right area where people are always having work done, that could work out well.
That. I'm sure there are a few builders who would like to be able to offer an "architect designed" extension at a very small premium. It'll get your feet under the table and give you something to put on the website too.

johnfm

13,668 posts

249 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
davepoth said:
jonnydm said:
The suggestion above about investing time working on relationships with local builders, surveyors etc. has got to be a good one and in the right area possibly estate agents too. If you're going into a new niche, perhaps worth doing one job at a reasonable rate with the caveat that you can use lots of pictures etc. In the right area where people are always having work done, that could work out well.
That. I'm sure there are a few builders who would like to be able to offer an "architect designed" extension at a very small premium. It'll get your feet under the table and give you something to put on the website too.
They're not architects (yet).


cRaigAl205

Original Poster:

264 posts

122 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
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Yep, as above, 'architect' is a legally protected title which you cannot use until fully qualified. We only have the final hoop to jump through in order to qualify, but other than the title, there is nothing preventing us practicing in the mean time.

jonnydm

5,107 posts

208 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
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I don't know a great deal of specifics but I'd assume high end stuff would pretty much always have an architect involved and the lower end would be simply builder and perhaps structural engineer?

Would seem to be a gap for those with a decent budget who want designer elements but don't really want to pay a great deal above building costs.

The way I see it, unless you're doing a few small but quirky jobs at low rates until you become an architect 'proper', the only route to really expand is by becoming a building company under the guise of being a designer and taking control of everything.

singlecoil

33,309 posts

245 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
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jonnydm said:
The way I see it, unless you're doing a few small but quirky jobs at low rates until you become an architect 'proper', the only route to really expand is by becoming a building company under the guise of being a designer and taking control of everything.
This is the way I would handle it. Advertise for building work, do the designs and get building firms to quote you for doing it. Add your costs and profit to that, and away you go.

jonnydm

5,107 posts

208 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
singlecoil said:
jonnydm said:
The way I see it, unless you're doing a few small but quirky jobs at low rates until you become an architect 'proper', the only route to really expand is by becoming a building company under the guise of being a designer and taking control of everything.
This is the way I would handle it. Advertise for building work, do the designs and get building firms to quote you for doing it. Add your costs and profit to that, and away you go.
The key to this model (aside from what you actually offer) is branding. There are many building firms around, some who are very good but you are not and don't want to be one of them. Smart uniforms for builders, signwritten Smart cars for yourselves and sleek branding / advertising to be used on hoardings. An 'estate agent' style sign in a front garden 'A&B Building contractors Ltd' isn't what you want. Large glossy boards or scaffold sheets declaring 'AyBe Design - London' is.

cRaigAl205

Original Poster:

264 posts

122 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
Certainly, the long term plan would be look into forming some kind of design and build company, either employing/subcontracting out work, or going into partnership with a builder, but I think in the short term building a reputation/experience and contacts by doing smaller works will be fine. In the first 1-2 years we will certainly look into at least one of us finishing our training and qualifying as an architect, which will broaden our range of work, being more attractive to those who want the title associated with their project.

Well, we popped into several local, and independent estate agents today, they all responded positively, and some seemed genuinely enthusiastic at the prospect- they really liked the idea that we mentioned we would be happy to attend their clients second viewing at prospective properties, and provide sketch schemes and visuals with a quick turn around- the 3D visualisations seems to be a really strong hook.

I've also got a facebook page up and running today, so we can start growing our social media presence. smile


Thanks again for your help guys

Craig

Edited by cRaigAl205 on Tuesday 16th September 18:09

andyb28

761 posts

117 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
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As others have said, Word of Mouth works fantastically for small businesses. Something else for you all that I read a while back, which is bang on the money. It basically said, don't try too hard to get new clients in, focus instead on the ones that already like you and work to raise the services / products you supply them up. It's so simple and obvious and easily missed.

I realise this is out of most of our leagues, but still kind of interesting.

Recently, I went to the cinema and there was an advert for the Outlander PHEV, which I thought was quite a cool car that I had never heard of before. Then when reading a review, I saw this below.

"You’ll need a good memory to recall a television ad for a Mitsubishi. The Japanese firm’s UK distributor spent £6 million on advertising in 2012; in 2013 it was £8m. Neither budget was big enough to fund a TV ad campaign.

This year, though, the marketing spend is £20m, and Mitsubishi's ads will be back on the small screen. Suddenly, it has something to shout about: the Outlander PHEV plug-in hybrid SUV."

So, maybe the reason I never thought of a Mitsubishi for the missus is £6-£8m just doesn't go far in the world of advertising.