Discussion
Two words... Stream and Revenue 
Ok, so my business is new and I could be wrong but this was the one thing I wanted from my business when I started it up. If you can put together a plan to generate revenue that'll cover your overheads and salary each and every month then any additional sales are a bonus. If you can spread your sources of stream quite widely you stand a much greater chance of weathering whatever life throws at you.
Ok, so my business is new and I could be wrong but this was the one thing I wanted from my business when I started it up. If you can put together a plan to generate revenue that'll cover your overheads and salary each and every month then any additional sales are a bonus. If you can spread your sources of stream quite widely you stand a much greater chance of weathering whatever life throws at you.
Seany88 said:
Anyone care to share their tales and tribulations of starting up a new company? How it was built, how did you slowly bring in customers and increase business etc?
My bus. partner and I left our previous company and jumped in to the deep end. We left in Nov 06 with nothing and have spent 5 hard months braking down doors.
One customer when we walked through the door said to us (and I quote) "There is no point you being here because we have already decided to buy xxxx from yyyy. Would you like to leave now?".
1 month later we have an order in the bag and he is moving mountains for us internally to enable us to deliver. We both can not believe it. I have no doubt now they will be come our best customer.
The days, weeks and months have been short. There is never enough time to do anything!
We are building up a customer and order base at the moment and currently at 7 months on the business plan after only 4. Good news all round for us anyway.
Seany88 said:
I'm looking for motivation and thought it might help others too.
Make 100% sure you are 100% sure. Understand it will consume 100% of your physical, mental and emotional time.Be 100% honest with your self and your business partner 100% of the time.
If you are serious then I would expect you to have:
- Done a business plan and sounded it out with experienced people who will give you HONEST advice.
- Sounded out a few customers
- Sounded out prices from any suppliers
If all the above is looking good, what are you waiting for?!
The only final piece of advice I have is also summed up in 2 words: Flow and Cash. Doesn't matter a jot how big the top line is, how much you have invoiced... its what's in the bank that counts.
At the moment, i'm not prepared to give up my day job for it, am hoping to run it alongside until it takes off (if it ever does).
My business is not really hands-on (with no suppliers either), but how do you draw in customers when you are a new company with no provenance or other clients on the books? I'm struggling to think of the best way to tackle this. Any suggestions?
My business is not really hands-on (with no suppliers either), but how do you draw in customers when you are a new company with no provenance or other clients on the books? I'm struggling to think of the best way to tackle this. Any suggestions?
My Business partner and I haven't quite done the whole hog risk everything you have business start up. We bought an already successful town centre bar that had ben very neglected its still doing fine and we understand that every single peny we mae for probably a good 6 months will have to be reinvested, however we ket our day jobs so are not reliant on the business to make a penny.
A different way of doing things, very stressful trying to avoid the sack from your day job when dealing with everyone. I would advise if possible to keep yourself a few grand to live on in the first few months, just incase your new venture has a slow start
A different way of doing things, very stressful trying to avoid the sack from your day job when dealing with everyone. I would advise if possible to keep yourself a few grand to live on in the first few months, just incase your new venture has a slow start
V8 EOL said:
Seany88 said:
I'm struggling to think of the best way to tackle this. Any suggestions?
Put a good story together and go and see them. Make it as risk free for them as possible (100% payment on acceptance ect) and don't give up.
Thank you, you have given me some ideas already. This is where special offers come in right
Seany88 said:
V8 EOL said:
Seany88 said:
I'm struggling to think of the best way to tackle this. Any suggestions?
Put a good story together and go and see them. Make it as risk free for them as possible (100% payment on acceptance ect) and don't give up.
Thank you, you have given me some ideas already. This is where special offers come in right
Do you have a plan to have the business generate a monthly income in the absence of fresh sales?
BliarOut said:
Seany88 said:
V8 EOL said:
Seany88 said:
I'm struggling to think of the best way to tackle this. Any suggestions?
Put a good story together and go and see them. Make it as risk free for them as possible (100% payment on acceptance ect) and don't give up.
Thank you, you have given me some ideas already. This is where special offers come in right
Do you have a plan to have the business generate a monthly income in the absence of fresh sales?
Its not that sort of business so no. In fact in a way it is self-propagating once it gets going its just getting that ball rolling so to speak.
I know i'm being quite cagey and cryptic with this but i will reveal all once the website is built and company registered then ask for opinions again.
Edited by Seany88 on Tuesday 27th March 22:37
Seany88 said:
I am a Pharmacist by profession but am interested in business and hoping to start a few ventures in the near future, but the daunting task of trying to make a success of these is very scary to me, having no business/economic background myself.
I'd recommend doing one thing at a time. Trying to start "a few" ventures is really inviting trouble. If any of your ideas are not sufficient to provide you with a living by themselves I'd suggest that they aren't worth bothering with in the first place.
Oh and IMHO, if you are providing services, business plans are vastly overrated. Selling is everything. You can have the best business plan in the world which will have precisely zero value if you cant sell.
Best way to sell when you are starting out:
- Be COMPLETELY OPEN AND HONEST. It's the single most important part of selling in my opinion. Most people with serious money to spend can spot a bullshitter a mile away.
- Use your small size to your advantage. Be more flexible and provide lower total cost than your competitors. They have bigger overheads; use that against them.
- Make use of your personal network, but dont rely on it in the medium to long term.
dabeeeenster said:
I'd recommend doing one thing at a time. Trying to start "a few" ventures is really inviting trouble. If any of your ideas are not sufficient to provide you with a living by themselves I'd suggest that they aren't worth bothering with in the first place.
True, and I am taking one at a time in order of which is most likely to make me a millionaire! I'm not launching into it as it will be very much a hit and miss thing as no matter how good I think it'll be, it ultimately will depend on whether the market decide to use my services or not!
dabeeeenster said:
Best way to sell when you are starting out:
- Be COMPLETELY OPEN AND HONEST. It's the single most important part of selling in my opinion. Most people with serious money to spend can spot a bullshitter a mile away.
- Use your small size to your advantage. Be more flexible and provide lower total cost than your competitors. They have bigger overheads; use that against them.
- Make use of your personal network, but dont rely on it in the medium to long term.
I do plan to provide better services than competitors by being more focused in my area, but how do I attract people to an online service that cannot conduct its business solely by being online?
I've just re-read that last sentence and it sounds like i'm trying to rewrite the market and i'm not, but I kind of am. I cannot attract customers solely online, as the majority of customers I would expect to gain through word of mouth and recommendations. I will have to advertise in relevant newspapers and other media but what would entice you to try a different approach to something that has been done the same way for hundreds of years? i.e. ebay?
Seany88 said:
I do plan to provide better services than competitors by being more focused in my area, but how do I attract people to an online service that cannot conduct its business solely by being online?
I've just re-read that last sentence and it sounds like i'm trying to rewrite the market and i'm not, but I kind of am. I cannot attract customers solely online, as the majority of customers I would expect to gain through word of mouth and recommendations. I will have to advertise in relevant newspapers and other media but what would entice you to try a different approach to something that has been done the same way for hundreds of years? i.e. ebay?
I've just re-read that last sentence and it sounds like i'm trying to rewrite the market and i'm not, but I kind of am. I cannot attract customers solely online, as the majority of customers I would expect to gain through word of mouth and recommendations. I will have to advertise in relevant newspapers and other media but what would entice you to try a different approach to something that has been done the same way for hundreds of years? i.e. ebay?
Sean, drop me a mail if you want some help with this side of it. It's something I have a little experience of helping companies with.
I started off with a low risk strategy. I had always done odd jobs for various businesses I had personal relationships with. When I decided that I was bored at my main job, I slowly delegated much of my responsibilities and then asked if I could come in just 2 days a week through my new company. They were happy and the income from this gave me the security to continue. At that time I also had another company who took me on in a similar way.
Unfortunately a combination of the security this income provided along with the time they consumed meant that I couldn't really develop the business as a separate entity and over a year later I was still working for just a handful of people doing the same sort of thing and adding no intrinsic value to the company.
Since then a few things have happened, including losing one of the 'secure' clients when she sold up. This jolted me and I used the freetime to develop the business and I'm much better off for it now.
A business will only give out what you put in. True you get the odd person who gets a jackpot idea, but in 99% of cases this doesn't happen. If you are not devoting your all to it, don't expect quick results. Nowt wrong with a slow burner, mind.
Unfortunately a combination of the security this income provided along with the time they consumed meant that I couldn't really develop the business as a separate entity and over a year later I was still working for just a handful of people doing the same sort of thing and adding no intrinsic value to the company.
Since then a few things have happened, including losing one of the 'secure' clients when she sold up. This jolted me and I used the freetime to develop the business and I'm much better off for it now.
A business will only give out what you put in. True you get the odd person who gets a jackpot idea, but in 99% of cases this doesn't happen. If you are not devoting your all to it, don't expect quick results. Nowt wrong with a slow burner, mind.
I started off doing bits on the side while working full time, then dropped back to part time when I won my first decent contract, then took a career break as more work came in and finally jumped ship when I won a chunk of work that I projected would allow me to live for 12 months. Low risk, but did the job. I have never regretted it, even when sat working with my wife at 2am to meet a 9am deadline, or being frustrated that I can't tell the tosser client where to go because of the business they bring in. Grin, bear it dig deep and keep going.
You will get lots of good advice here, at a much more sophiticated level than I can give, but one thing I have noted with starts ups with people (like me) who knew nothing at all about business is their inclination to be overly optimistic on early sales and paymnets being made on time (you need to do the homework and not just pluck figures or in 3 months you may have no cash) and their failure to remember the legitimate costs of business that should be recorded and accounted for (EVERY mile, pen, stamp, light bulb, piece of software, meal on business time when away, therm of gas used to heat the ofice, relevant magazine subscription, business book, taxi, train fare etc etc etc).
I monitor my finances on a daily basis each morning so that I know what has been paid, what is due to go out and watch that any spare funds we have are not sitting not earning interest (even for a few days). I have also developed a simple Excel sheet that calculates profits and corporation tax payments everytime I input £2 for a bus fare.
I would echo the thing about good customer service. We have our ups and downs with clients but one thing they can never say is that our CS is below par, and even if they don't like your prices or indeed you, their business head will buy a service/product that does what it says on the tin every time, when it says it will be done and which stnds behind it's service. My wife is the strong one with this: checks and double checks, organises when things are due, checks the work of our own suppliers which will reach the client and makes sure that when we do the client a favour they quietly know it.
Get a good acountant.
I am just starting Elise car hire in Spain, (see my other posts) being in a similiar position I would say, think hard, do your homework, make sure the business has the potential for growth, (You dont want to just buy yourself a job) But above all, I promise you, for every one person who says something good about your plans, you will have 20 saying negatives, the key is to listen to these negatives, learn what they have to say, but dont let them deter you. Here's one of my favourite quotes. Determination will win, the other favourite is "You cant pull your socks up, if you aint got any on" Best of luck
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