Truer truth hath never been truthed. 
Although Kevin, you do occasionally make it sound like your way is absolutely, positively the ONLY way that makes sense.
We all tend to do that though.
Okay say youāre going from 0-200 clients at any price point. What do you feel is the best/fastest way to get there?
Probably not the best way, but the fastest way would be to buy an existing company with 200 employees. Good luck finding a window cleaning company with 200 employees. I doubt any fishy franchise has that many employees.
There is probably a good reason why you donāt see huge-mega window cleaning companies. My guess is that the quality suffers a lotā¦ among other reasons.
I was talking about 0-200 clients, not employees. Because the person that started this thread went from 0-200 potential clients while getting paid before he actually had to do a job, with 0 to little risk to him. By risk I mean paying for 3000 flyers,postage, list and not getting anything back on it. Where on the groupon youāre paid in advance without laying any capital to get in front of people.
I agree with you that the fastest way to get to 200 clients is to buy an existing business. But Iām looking at a marketing avenue. There are a few that I can think of that come close to Groupon, but I still think itās slick.
Oh, then for sure Groupon. If low price is acceptable in this condition.
Thx Michael
Nice use of the word ātruthedā.
My enthusiasm can lead to sweeping statements, well said.
Okay lets say at $150/per man hour. Going from 0-200 clients lets hear your best plan? Unless itās Groupon.
Don,
Iād say it is Hard work that will put you over the top. The law of averages comes into play with alot of this. Do Groupon at a reduced rate of pay, have those 150-200 clients always expect the service that you did originally for the same low price,
OR, send out 10,000 postcards, at your REGULAR higher rate of pay, and get the industry average of 1.5 percent to respond and buy, and have 150 profitable customers.
Thereās all kind of wayās that people go about to get customers. I agree with Kevin, I donāt go after big numbers of customers, I go after customers that I can charge BIG numbers too! Why get a ton of clients at a low rate and work like a madman to do them all, when you can get a smaller number and work reasonable hours and make much more money?? We all are in this game, to make money and be able to take better care of our families right?
Every one is different thoughā¦ I know which oneās I go afterā¦
Charlie
Charlie, If Iām hearing you right the best way you would know how to get to 200 well paying clients is through Direct mail?
Whoops! Your right. I didnāt read the whole thread and I incorrectly read āclientsā for employees. Sorry, my mistake.
I personally donāt like the whole Groupon thing for many of the same reasons Kevin and Charlie mentioned.
I donāt see a need to expand your company so quickly either. I prefer slow and steady high caliber customers that will use my service again and again at my regular price. I dislike have different prices for different customers.
To me the groupon thing is kinda like winning the lotto and taking a reduced lump sum. Sure itās money in your pocket up front but your still losing money in the end.
If all you really want is money up front, then perhaps you should consider a loan. Then take that money, invest it in new equipment and really start rockin and rollin.
And hard work. There isnāt a get rich overnight option you seem to be looking for. 200 well paying customers isnāt going to come easy and will require hard work.
Figure out what your market wants more than anything.
Obsess and fixate over that priceless differentiating thing, and then saturate your brand with it.
And then, yes, target specific neighborhoods with direct mail, and make sure your website is ready to rock, to support your new, perfectly positioned brand.
I would also consider trying media unique to the market segments Iām chasing.
And come in high and hard from day one, price-wise.
To get away with charging high prices, you need to do more than take āmassive actionā.
As hard as Volkswagen tries, they will never sell Beetles for $100K, no matter how much āmassive actionā they take.
You need to re-engineer your entire company (and brand) to deliver massive value, much more so.
This is why I do the Kitchen Table Consultation thing.
It takes time, and careful planningā¦and THEN testing, measuring, and THEN massive action.
Iām not looking for a get rich quick scheme. I just see a lot of people hitting there heads against walls and Iām in the growth/strategy business. Iām making a point that there isnāt a business right now that can do what Groupon does for people.
So youāre against having a basic, premium and deluxe pricing packages?
Itās no risk thatās why I like it. They donāt say āhey give me 7 grand and hopefully you get a 1% response rate.ā They say "hey you get half of all the money we can bring in for you.(But it has to be done right using packaged pricing,upsells, consistent follow up )
Youāre missing the whole point on the risk and scalability of it.
So if Iām hearing what youāre saying is buy new equipment and the customers will come. That sounds like what they said in the field of dreams, āif you build it they will come.ā Which I think only happens in movies.
Well I have been reading this thread all day 
lol yeah i should get out more. However it seems that we are missing vital information to find out if the groupon is ālongterm beneficialā is not in the equation, like how many of the 200 are going to be repeat customers at full price in the fall or next season. Dont you think?
So if Iām hearing you right direct mail, correctly positioned with a converting website is the best way you know to grow a business?
What are you talking about here, can you give me some examples?
I agree with you, if 0 of the 200 remain as customers this is a waste of time. If 100 of the 200 remain as clients I think Groupon is real valuable.
