Who has a biz plan for this year

[Jeremy]

Integrity Check!

 

[XTREME1]

how is you business doing J? It is good to see you again. I didn't hit my mark of $150 k last year but think I will bury it this year

 

[Askal]

My new approach to business is to be..... wait a minute to let this sink in............ the biggest small business I can. The bigger a business gets the less efficient it gets. the bigger it gets the less personal it gets. Both are death for a service business. I plan to grow as much as possible but retain the advantages of being small. When I can no longer be a small business with all of its advantages then I will stop growing. If you do it right then you can be very profitable. All it takes is a plan and the commitment to keep to the plan. I set into motion my strategy for the possible upcoming "recession" a while back and we will go through it like a storm trooper. We will mow down our competition as things get tough if in fact they do. I just love being in business and winning. While the others are reacting to changes in the economy we will be motoring along on our merry way following our plan.
Al

 

[Chads]

Is it wrong I have never really made a business plan all i know is that I want the biz to get off the ground and pick up as much biz as i can without getting it to big for my pants. :?

 

[Jeremy]

Yeah... You're ACEin' up BIG TIME, Sir. Fix yourself.
Seriously, take the time to plan out your sales targets, marketing plan, and major purchases now so you have a framework of just what the hell is supposed to be going on in you business. It gives you a standard by which to measure success & progress. Do yourself a favor & spend a day or 2 on it. You'll be glad you did.

 

[Scott]

My new approach to business is to be..... wait a minute to let this sink in............ the biggest small business I can. The bigger a business gets the less efficient it gets. the bigger it gets the less personal it gets. Both are death for a service business. I plan to grow as much as possible but retain the advantages of being small. When I can no longer be a small business with all of its advantages then I will stop growing. If you do it right then you can be very profitable. All it takes is a plan and the commitment to keep to the plan. I set into motion my strategy for the possible upcoming "recession" a while back and we will go through it like a storm trooper. We will mow down our competition as things get tough if in fact they do. I just love being in business and winning. While the others are reacting to changes in the economy we will be motoring along on our merry way following our plan.
Al

Excellent advice, Al.

Magazine publisher, author, and philanthropist Felix Dennis, (he founded and published many extremely successful magazines in the UK and US including Popular Computing, Blender, Stuff, Maxim and The Week) says "Think Big, Act Small".

As our companies grow, it does indeed become increasingly difficult to maintain that small-company image of caring. Hiring and training our team members to care first and clean second has helped us with the oftentimes difficult balance, as well as having an excellent follow-up routine to ensure the customer is completely thrilled with us. If they're not, for some reason, it's important to provide the "Act Small" service that only a caring company can accomplish.

Regarding recessions - our services will always be needed, whether we're in a good or bad economy. When I say "our services", I mean the services we cleaners and restorers provide. What I've seen in our 5-year, one-state recession is that the weak companies tighten up or go away and the good companies at least tread water or even grow a little, and some a lot. The big gains for all aren't there as they were, but the work is still there in the right niches.

Scott

 

[Jeremy]

The big gains for all aren't there as they were, but the work is still there in the right niches

.

Good point

:!:

 

[Ken Snow]

My only disagreement with you Al is that you imply the larger business issues as fact vs a danger. Like Scott and his bus we make a huge commitment to "acting small" even though we have 150 employees (that really is small in the bus world, just not carpet cleaning). I would also say that your comment about inefficiency is completely opposite of my perception but maybe you meant it in ways I am not thinking of. Our size gives us buying efficiency in almost every category of expense and gains efficiency in vehicle miles driven as the routes are tighter compared to when we were smaller.

I applaud you for your determination and decision to model your business the way you do and hope that you can also applaud larger companies that are maintaining high customer service standards.

Ken

 

[XTREME1]

Here is 2 cents from me. The most important thing about any business no matter the size is that the owner or owners has to work their business. You can have managers and plenty of employees but you need to be onsite as much as possible to let your customers and your employees know that you care about them and your business. I used to run a large business and when I saw businesses around me fail it was because the owners pockets were getting lined and suddenly had more important things to do.

You have to work your business

 

[Steve Toburen]

Great thread and even with all the differing viewpoints above my take on it is ... ALL of you are correct. That is the beautiful thing about this industry. Each of us gets to CHOOSE.

The problems enter in when we don't make a conscious and deliberate choice but instead drift along. It is so easy to get complacent and/or impulsive and lose sight of your goals. (If you even have any.) Such a shame because I don't know of a better business to serve as a vehicle to attain your definition of success.

Steve Toburen CR
Director of Training
Jon-Don's Strategies for Success

PS You don't have to "get big" to be successful. However, you DO need to start charging more for your time and labor if you are not going to "clone yourself" through hiring employees. The best way to control the inevitable growth that comes with giving giving personalized Value Added Service is to keep on raising your prices.

And please don't give me the tired old excuse that "I am already the highest priced in my area." Given the current sad state of most carpet cleaners setting your prices "just a little higher than your competitor" just means that you will suffer in lower middle class poverty instead of going broke. You wouldn't let your competitor work on your Truck mount- why do you let them set your prices?

 

[bob vawter]

Ya..i believe that i will put an answering system on my phone to catch those pesky callers. while i'm away..instead of jus using my caller ID.....

 

[Askal]

Well put Ken. It was the danger I was referring to but it seems to be very prevalent. and you are right about the economy of scale in being more efficient. We try to do that as much as possible (private label goods, purchase in bulk etc) even tho there are only 6 of us. I guess my biggest fear is not being able to "know" my people.
Greg, that does not have to be the case regarding being on site everyday. I take about 16 weeks of vacation a year and most of my people take 3 pd and 3 w/o pay. Sales are actually higher during the periods I am gone. I think it is because they want to show off that I am not indispensable!
Al

Ps For you Steve T Too right mate, many different ways to skin a cat.

 

[XTREME1]

you don't have to be onsite all the time. You do need to be there enough to provide a secure feeling in your business and know what is going on. I was out of my businesses physically most of the time because of several locations but I had a presence and knew what was going on all the time. So I think you missed the point of needing to work your business. Maybe you don't but most people need a presence in their business