Building Your Business

My first business was started in a recession. We are a service based business, house cleaning to be exact. We have a web site, employees, vehicles, a line of credit, along with taxes, insurance, and bonding. Back in the 1970s my company painted houses.

People say they can do without services during a recession. At times when money is tight anyone can clean their own house. It was the same with painting because as we all know any one can paint. The difference is what your time is worth compared to what you can earn.

Web sites seem to be big here at biznik. We have more than a few web sites with domain names. It seems simple enough to have a wordpress site or build a site from godaddy. Of course we lease our house cleaning site. It's easier. My organic search placement is very high for as long as I work it, but my feeling is adwords are cheaper in the long run.

We all have a talent. It just seems to me that when money is tight it's a good time to promote that talent to others.

We can talk about pricing. The difference today is that the price needs to be reasonable to build our business and pay our bills. Pricing can be looked at as an investment. We are torn sometimes about charging less, but it's important to be fair. We are putting off a rate increase we have been contemplating rather than lowering rates.

People who compete with you will panic themselves out of business. Like I said it's important to pay the bills, it's important to get all the work you can handle, but it's also very important to come out with a stronger business. Economies change. Things always get better. Fortunes have been made even in the darkest of depressions.

Your business is cash flow. By moving money through your accounts there are going to be times of opportunity. Advertising wisely is one of those rare opportunities in a down market. As other companies, or people, cut back you have a space to insinuate yourself. Small things can have a big impact.

Just as examples, mailers, newspapers, news letters, online marketing, even adwords can get you in front of more people by virtue of the fact other people cut back. Other people or companies are also hungry for dollars so you can negotiate a better price for services. Barter is something best left to other times, but right now every body wants to trade dollars.

In the world of taking on more business it's time to consider that people are looking for work. If you are a conduit for other people to work in your field you are the hero. Networking now is one of the rare opportunities for you to excel in your field. If you can find the work, even if you just pass it on, you are the one owed the favor.

Here's what that looks like. You go out looking for work in your field and the person wants to pay less than your price. If you say you know of some one who can do the job at that price you are still the resource.

You may have less capability than another person so you pass the work along. You again are the resource, but you also become a resource for the person with more capability. A larger company can also pass work onto you that they feel is smaller than they want to take on. As an example my company has teams of cleaners. I'm happy to pass along work that is better suited to one person or a couple.  

I see articles about having a sales force, or making sales. It brings to my mind a group of people in a boiler room on the phone getting that almighty appointment. Of course today with the internet doing lead generation that boiler room may be on a server some place. Sales is a business. It's no different from any other type of business. Sales are soft in a down market.

Sales are either commission or salary. You can pay a person an hourly rate or give them a commission or combination of both. Here's the great thing, every body is looking for business right now so you can handle as much as you can get. Having a sales person, force, or presence can almost certainly pay for itself because you need the work. When you are doing well a sales person is an added expense.

Of course when there is bad news on every front and I start getting fired up about how great this is some people laugh. Really though these are the best times to build your business. You have everything to gain. You can end up the top of your field easily by keeping your head down and moving forward.

I know it's hard. The money is tight, the bills are stacking up. The kids want stuff for Christmas. The great thing is that you can make this happen. Talk to people. People love to talk about business in bad times. Everybody is in the same boat. Everybody wants to figure out how to survive. Worry about getting rich later, because if you get through these times you will end up on top. You'll be the one people remember as the one who made things happen, even in the bad times.