New business - need advice

[savi0r]

Hi guys. So, i started my own business servicing printers and copiers. I have about 9-10 years of experience and can handle the majority of equipment that is given to me. I am located in a town of aproximately 15000 people and i am kinda the only tech in this area with experience in servicing printers and copiers. I kindly ask you for any good advice for me. I read all the topics about business and i found a lot of great info there. But, my main guestion is this : how do you advertise this business? I mean, i have the lowest prices, the best service and i am true to the client. I am fair, i don't lie and my word is my most important asset. So, i was thinking :
1. Making flyers and passing them to office's who have this equipment.
2. Sponsored advertising on facebook.

I know that i can help a lot of people in my area. And, what is an aproximate timeline for a business like this to grow? For those of you who are self employed, how much time did you need for your business to make decent profits? Any good advice can help me now and i would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you

[JR2ALTA]

Befriend a local IT company. You recommend their services and they recommend yours.

[copyman]

Get a website that is hosted so you stay on 1st page of google, bing, etc. Also make sure the hosting company has you on social media, facebook, etc.

The reason I say to have it hosted is their job is to constantly check analytics, keywords, etc. and keep you on first page. This way when someone in your town or surrounding area types in "copier or printer" repair you will come up. Many of these hosting companies will also design the website for free.

Flyers aren't a bad idea if you have the time. I would put a coupon on the flyer. When I first started I offered 1st service call free just to get my foot in the door.

Best of luck

[charm5496]

city should have a chamber of commerce. I would start knocking on there door ASAP. Get to know as many business owners in the community as you possibly can.

[JrTech]

Hello to all. Congrats on stepping out on your own. This is the best place to get the tech help that is needed because we are all over the world. Yes Chamber of Commerce in your town should have monthly breakfast or meet and greets for business owners. Also attend some of the events going on in the local area and get your name out there. Make deals with IT, other companies to service what they dont, when in a customers location have a few stickers on hand and get lost going to the bathroom for a site survey. If you put together a FaceBook get a young family member who is familiar with it to set it up for you and from there you can advertise as well. Example "FB requests get 20% off" many things you can do. One thing I can recommend is not to use the clowns that market for you and take $40 a call. Had a few people in that situation and racked up lots of bills. Everytime someone calls your online number weather or not it is for copiers, as soon as you mention the word "copier" you get charged for the call weather or not you take the service call. Dont do yellow pages unless your business is geared towards a retirement community using a rotary phone, its expensive and good luck if they put you in the right category.
Do some small marketing at local sporting events, like a water/shade tent at a high school football game, Girl/BoyScouts events. So much opportunity to get in touch with local peeps in your back yard. Churches and non profits can work out deals as well. If a Church doesnt have the money to purchase a new machine but needs to copy the weekly church bulletin, make a friend at the local print shop to work something out and in trade get some advertising out of it. No matter who you are or what job you posses most go to church and to have your name on the bulletin shows you care about the community. So many things out there just be careful and do your research before you get sucked into any marketing.

I am in the same boat as you and I do not do any advertising but rely soley on my name in this area as I repair just about anything out there. If I cant I will find someone who can, as I want that customer to call me for anything, even a coffee maker, IT work, paper shredder, just to say hi. Doesnt matter what they call me for, I just want them to call me. Once they call me I own that call

Hope this helps.

[Iowatech]

Cultivate a good relationship with quality dealerships in the area, if they exist there anyway.That way if you need assistance they will be likely to help you.

[savi0r]

So much good advice here. Thank you all. I am thinking of making 2 kinds of flyers : 1 for offices, where they have some printers, copiers and one for the vast majority of people who own a printer at home or have just one printer in a small office. The deals are different for this 2 situations, with more discounts and advantages for big offices or company's. I am planning on visiting the big company's in person, as i can respond to any questions the customers has on site.

[charm5496]

Just remember to make promises that you can live up to as business owner and do not bury yourself in non profitable work that will take away from the relationships that you are trying to build with everyone in town. Knowing that you are one of there own will get you in the door and help you out a ton with it being a small town.

Do you have a warehouse or area you can store equipment, parts, supplies and things of that nature? If not I would put that on your "to do" list. Also you will need to start making contacts for purchasing parts, supplies and equipment as well.

The group of folks in here have a ton of knowledge and can usually help you out in a timely manner, but if you need faster responses you may want to have a group of folks who can provide you with that type of support via text or email.

[Leebs14]

The number 1 thing is to pick a name and a logo and use it on everything you produce or advertise on. The exact same logo/name used consistently across everything will help you get noticed and remembered.

The previous comments are all good especially forming links with IT company, I would also add a local office furniture and stationery supplier as people buying paper will be using printers.

A good website and good SEO will help. Flyers are good but time consuming. Check out networking events, I go to a weekly networking event and easily get about 10k worth of business from warm
Introductions from the other members. Check out the link below to see if there is a group near you and go and check
It out

BNI International - Business Networking and Referrals (http://www.bni.com)

Good luck


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[pbbsinc]

Find a source for low count, off lease machines, since that's most likely what you'll be selling, at least at first. Stick with your favorite brand & pick a few of that manufacturers most reliable & popular boxes. When you have spare time, go through them & get them sale ready. Chances are that, at first, most of your sales opportunities will come from the customer who calls you for a broken machine & decides he'd rather upgrade than go with the expensive repair. If you can come back later that day with a replacement machine, the deal is probably yours, & that $500 repair just became 5, 10, or 20 times that.

Totally agree about a consistent logo & a professional website. These will have the biggest impact in making you appear high-tech & more professional than anything else. Get a bunch of shirts embroidered with your logo. Even if your a one man show, it makes you look like part of a team.

Good luck... It's a wild ride!

[savi0r]

I have a facebook company page. I have a warehouse were i keep machines, parts, toners, etc. I have suppliers for parts and machines. Most of my clients say that i have good prices. I have a company logo established. What i do not have is a website. That is a good ideea. Anyway, even if it's a small town, my business is new here. How would you penetrate a market like that? Very low prices until you get a cusomer base or maybe free first calls or estimates? I have the majority of tools i need to establish a good business here and i know i can help a lot of people. I just don't know the method to enter a new market.

[theengel]

I didn't do any advertising. All I did was put up a website and do some follow-up SEO work.

But I've always had some good publicity ideas--I just never followed through on them. For example:

Run a local contest. You might employ a web person to set part of it up. Tell users whoever submits the best video of "Office Spacing" their printer will get a new machine. You'd have to have a way for people to submit their videos online, and for other people to view the videos (and maybe vote on them). You could probably get some spots with local radio personalities to talk about it (make sure you have some interesting anecdotes to talk about). Every person who submits a video will be giving you their contact info (they've now become a prospect).

[pbbsinc]

We had a local competitor do something similar once... They had a radio campaign where they asked people to write in (before internet was big, so I'm sure it would now be a website page) & tell them why their copier was the biggest & worst piece of crap out there. They hired a local crane company & set up right near the highway with banners for the radio station, the copier dealer, & the crane company flying from the arm of the crane. The winner got a brand new copier, & their old machine was hoisted & dropped in the parking lot.

I'm sure, like you said, that they had a big pile of leads out of it, not to mention an enormous amount of exposure.