Own your own business? Marketing tips pls

Hello,

As some of you are already aware, I am slowly and carefully venturing into the scary world of self-employment. #My go-live date is April.

What I need from you good-fellows are tips for sucessfully and economically marketing my new business.

I do not have a product to sell, my product is my time. I am an IT Engineer, I aim to specialise in emergency break fix situations and offer solutions.

Heres the tricky part. Its out-of hours support (not many offer this) - so the businesses Im aiming at are hotels, clubs, casinos, taxi firms, factories, haullage depots, car hire places, etc - basically anyone whos business works beyond 6pm.

I eventually aim to go to normal hours of work and get someone to carry on the out of hours stuff for me, but that is phase x somewhere else down the line.

Any ideas / comments from people in the know, especially those whove started there own business, irrespective of industry, all are welcome.

Many thanks

There are huge amounts that could be said about this and I'm happy to give you any advice I can but perhaps the best thing is just to feed off a few pointers.

What is said above is all relevant, but bear in mind that clients such as garages, taxi companies etc represent a higher debt risk too - they are notorious for it.

However, they key to successful consultancy isn't so much the amount of work you actually get, as the amount of assurance you sell to your client.

So - the biggest single asset to you is to get your client base on retention fees.

Hence - you propose a structure of support that covers the hours/days that you're able to provide it.  You then offer remote assistance as a form of support (dial-in or VPN) with appropriate security controls in place.

You then sell the retention fee to the client on the basis that you offer more than a fix service.  You'll advise, you'll offer telephone support and you'll do weekly or however frequent system checks - i.e. preventative maintenance.

Without wanting to go into too much detail and whilst it isn't my main occupation, I offer a similar service but to some large clients.  Basically they pay me an annual retention fee that guarantees my advice and knowledge when it is needed.   I advise them on things such as IT recruitment, IT purchasing, etc and act as an intermediary for any major purchasing decisions they are making. 

It didn't start like this though - it started offering something similar to yourself (although my client base was that of much bigger companies and I admit that helped a great deal - but you still have demonstrate your capability and ability to achieve the results they want).

The bonus?  They still pay if you attend site, or for anything beyond which the retention fee covers. 

With clients of the size you're talking about you need to set your fees carefully - and probably a monthly amount.  But you can sell it on the basis you are removing their IT worries.

It works very well for me but I have been doing it for many years and don't underestimate the value that professional qualification will bring (which you may well have for all I know).  I have previously qualified as an MCSE and MCSD, but still spend the vast majority of my spare time ensuring I am as up to speed as possible with the latest developments.  It might be different for you with the scope and scale of your client base (I don't envy dealing with them I must admit!) but if you approach it properly there is no reason for it not to work.

Just be wary and don't under price yourself.  There is a danger of wanting to get the first name on the books - but its no good to you if it isn't at the price you know you're worth.

I presume you've taken Consultants Liability insurance too - even if you are only fixing, you'll need it.  Don't, whatever you do, try to do the job without it.  I have known people think they won't need it and then bang...a fix goes wrong...a database goes up in smoke....the client sues.  Bankrupt.  Payouts on such incidents are usually frightening. 

If I can help any further, just drop me a PM.

Well what can I say, the first three responses were better than I could ever have hoped for, especially considering they are on a generally off-topic forum such as a BMW one.

Thanks to FulliAuto, Coasting and Spokey for your valued input.

As Coasting has mentioned, my initial plan was to do this on a retainer basis, charging the client a small fee per month which would entitle them to a "escalated" response as per an agreed servicve level (SLA) if you like..... .i.e . "If you sign up to contractual support, I promise to be there within 4 hours, otherwise you have the option of normal support, for which priority will be determined by seriousness of the incident, and ultimately determined by us (me).

Also to expand on Spokeys point regarding somebody to take care of Marketing; I have a business partner who is providing premises and financial assistance (if required) for a small cut, he is someone I know and trust, and has had previous marketing experience. His remit will be the ongoing generation of new business, marketing, and service level management. In other words a CRM bloke, very client facing who makes sure the customer is always kept "live" and informed about our company.

Sorry If im droaning on, just got back from the pub, something that will soon be a not so regular priviledge.

Will probably be dropping you guys PM's in the next few days.

thanks again.. Adam.

Anyone else who can expand on the above .. .feel free.

the guys above have mentioned everything i would have put foward..

one of the most important things to consider [but is often overlooked] is do i become a sole trader or a ltd company ...the buisness that you are in 100 % WARRENTS TO BE A LTD COMPANY .

you cash flow in such things as what you want to do will ..and could leave you in to what banks .call overtrading..because its a type of biusness that could and will roket .ie there wont be a steady increase in buisness.trading for 1 st 3 months then .as word gets about it rockets ..[well thats the plan ] then you have to start being a juggler with £££ ..but it keeps you on your toes.

being ltd  will leave you in a safe situation if it all goes wrong ....dont listen to anyone whos says its hard work being a ltd co....its not .its tax effeciant .and you can pay yourself directors loans ..loan the company any assets it may have as  a tax relief ..etc etc ..[pm me if you want to know more on tax issues ]

only stress being ltd      because i see so many ordinary good hard working peaple in taters if it went wrong .they lost cars houses marriages etc to the pressure they was in.my first biz was in the motor trade at the age of 19 ..i had ten guys working for me .and more dodgy motor trader taking me for my cash .then i care to rember however it was a good learning curve .and it put me in good stead for spotting the con man out there in my later years ..

and just rember        ...see your goal and its there pass or fail .you will never not know until you have tried it ......and dont listen to peaple who say it carnt be done .they are conditoned to and trained in there ways .to say no ...and they will only stop you

.just my 2 pennys worth     ..THE BEST OF LUCK TO YOU  i like to see peaple get on and improve what they have rather than sitting on a wall waiting for it to come to them  

kbannon wrote: Mailing Lists? What type do you mean? Surely you dont mean spam type mailing lists!!!

Good grief no ... I just want a small database of names, addresses, tel. numbers of relevant people within the companies I am targetting so I can send them a little mailshot then follow it up a few days later to check wether or not they filed it under B1N, and if I could help them or not.

Spoke to Mr PMA (above) last night, was very helpful, he suggested the yellow pages as a cheap way of doing it and calling up to get the name of the relevant person.

Stephen .. firstly what happened to the Curchill Dog? I might have him back if youve finished with him! 

Anyway, if I could do this, I reckon I would be subtly dropping it into the conversation with a select few. The ones I had a good relationship with directly (i.e better relationship than your employer has)

You will be in a better position to go-it on your own than I will, as all my clients are internal, and you will know which ones (clients) you want and which you don't.

After-all, we all suffer the un-pleasable numpties that ring up day after day with the most trivial of problems, good if you can charge for them, big waste of your valuable time if you cant.