One of the attractions of buying a franchise in the Personal Services or Tradies category that the franchisor provides sales leads.
But what if you don’t have enough income from these leads?
The answer is to get out and hustle for business. Rather than wait for someone to give you a fish to eat, it’s time to go out and do your own fishing for business.
The idea of hunting for sales may seem daunting at first, but most people get a huge sense of satisfaction from generating their own business.
How do you go about this? Here’s our approach.
Set a goal for the additional income you want. The starting point is always to set a goal. This gives you something to aim for. It’s OK to start small - but not so small that there’s nothing to strive for.
Work out how many jobs it would take to meet this goal. Let’s say your average job is worth $250 + gst. If you want to make an additional $1,000 per month, you’ll need 4 extra jobs in a month ($1,000 divided by $250)
Think about where you could promote the business. You will probably find there are quite a few ways. You will find some ideas below.
Keep track of the number of additional jobs you obtain each month. Once you reach your initial goal, increase it to a higher level.
Sources of additional work
Previous customers. The first place to look for business is with people you have already done work for. Remind them you are there and can help them. You can do this using a flyer in the mail, or your Facebook page, or send them an email to let them know the type of work you do.
Meanwhile, make sure you are giving current customers a fridge magnet or something similar to remind them to contact you with additional needs.
New customers - It’s best to always be prospecting for new business. You’re less likely to run out of leads if you do a little each day or week. Here are some quick and easy things you can do:
Put up a sign. Good locations are your local Bunnings and local shopping centres. You might also find that other local businesses have notice boards. Your local banks may also have notice boards.
Give away leaflets. Get some leaflets printed and drop them off in the post box of neighbours when you do a job (a good target is to do 5 doors either side of your customer).
Go to networking events. Most local communities have several networking events each month. These include BNI and Chamber of Commerce. It’s a good idea to be a member of a networking group, first for some company and also because the members may know people who can use your services.
Join a sports group or do some voluntary work. Not only will doing some non-work activity help you feel good, you’ll meet people who may become customers or have friends who need your services.
If you’re confident about Social Media, Facebook and Instagram can be very effective ways to get your message out. Some of our clients get most of their leads from Facebook!