Small Business need help finding clients. Tips?

find the local blethermouth and pay them in some way to sing your praises [meal out works well] . disabled[but mobile] people are often good types for this , often love doing it too

I do too bro!

You can do resi work, some powerwashing, etc and make more than enough…I’m finding that the storefront work is slow to build up. So many cheap workers out there…I started only going to brand new businesses before anyone else gets there…been working out pretty well.

Don’t worry…You’ll ALWAYS have gas (and coffee money!)

Jesse
Atlas Window Cleaning
North Carolina

Definitely. But on the flip side, what little Storefront I do, I tend to keep.
I suspect it’s mainly because WE SHOW UP.
They are treated as a scheduled account as opposed to “I’ll go there when I need the money.”

I think with cheap labor comes fickle labor, for some reason.

But like I said, I don’t do a ton of storefront, in the grand scheme of things.

Yep…Well said!

Jesse
Atlas Window Cleaning
North Carolina

Look into doing residential homes. Look for homes with 20-40 windows. This should get you 500+ a week on 2-3 days of PT work . My friend does this and works great for him .

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[MENTION=38434]Walshscleaningservice[/MENTION], you’ve got some good advice here and I agree with most of it. Focusing on resi will give you the best bang for your buck.
developing a commercial route is a good idea but it’s labor intensive and the average ticket is usually quite a bit lower than resi.

my advice- save your pennies and have a couple thousand decent looking fliers printed. then pound the pavement in the neighborhoods that have disposable income. when you can make contact with the homeowner, use the skills you already have developed in your volunteer work. they will serve you well.

just curious, where you located?

If I understand you correctly, your time is more valuable to whomever you volunteer for, than actually giving them money? Where do you spend your volunteer time, I would like to learn more about this organization.

+1

I can’t knock anyones priorities, it’s great that you volunteer.
But 70 hrs/mo could really help push you to a point where you could write a bigger check.

…well said.

Good idea my friend. I guess my biggest concern is building up resi work. Because homeowners at best want me twice a year right? So building up enough of those jobs to keep me busy all year? I know it’s possible I just don’t know how. Thanks everyone for your advice and input.

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Why not get in tight with some maid services? Give them 10% of whatever your job is and they’ll refer you.

Most maids in my area are at about $125-150 per clean. Most small-med houses are about $100-150 for windows so the maids effectively increase their profit by 10% by doing nothing more than mentioning you.

You’ll find that the beauty of residential is that you can pretty much set your own hours. Volunteer in the morning? Schedule a house for the afternoon.

Route work is more tricky because the restaurants have to be done before they open or in that narrow window between lunch and dinner and storefronts don’t want you there when they’re busy and doctors/dentists want you there on the day they’re closed.

Hey,
Saw your post this morning and couldn’t help but chime in.
I was in your exact position last February. I moved to upstate NY from California and I had just learned the trade, had just got married, and I am very involved in my 70 hr a month work.
Try not to be discouraged by any rejection that you face while selling from store to store. It’s going to take some time and work, but you CAN do it!
I’ve found that small businesses/ mom and pop shops are usually more likely to respond well because they don’t have any corporate red tape to deal with. They also generally have a better attitude toward and appreciation for fellow small businesses that are working hard to make it, so in my opinion that gives you an edge over the bigger window cleaning franchises and companies out there.
Have some businesses cards printed out (very inexpensive to do) and hand them out to everyone, anywhere you are!
I’ve also found that getting your business into any free local classified’s and registries (craigslist, yelp etc.) helps too…

Don’t give up and feel free to ask for any other tips or support! We have your back man!

Are you a “pioneer?”

Have you checked into area networking organizations? I’m here in Denver. I recently joined one, great way to get referrals.

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I am indeed.

I’m in Marietta OH. Interesting. I have not? How do they work?

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I joined BNI (Business Networking International). There can only be one type of business in the group. So there would be no competition. Meet once a week for an hour and half. Where you can give a 30-60 second(depending on size of the group) commercial for your biz.

You’ll also need to allow time for networking outside of weekly meetings for one on one with other members. You’ll do this to see how you can best refer each other.

There’s more to it, but that the basics of it.

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I’ve thought about joining…have you gotten any business out of it? It’s pretty expensive if it doesn’t do much ($550 a year, I think)…but well worth it if it gets business, of course.

Jesse
Atlas Window Cleaning
North Carolina

I just joined and have broke even. Winter has just started. So I’m not expecting much for next 3 months. But there’s a guy in the group that I have recently cleaned his windows. He just told me he has five other homeowners wanting me to come out in the spring. That will be at least $1500. Also, the home cleaner in the group gave me a referral, that’s worth $300. I have her wanting to schedule next available nice day I have open. So there’s great potential.

I am fortune to be in a group with 45 members. It’s a showcase and founders award chapter that generates over a million dollars in referrals a year. Also, what’s worth the entry and annual fee is a knowledge I’m gaining from other business owners in the group.

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Sounds good. There’s a pretty good group here. I went to one of their meetings, but they meet at like 9:30 AM, and that cuts into my cleaning time waaay too much…Still tossing the idea around though

Jesse
Atlas Window Cleaning
North Carolina

Wow that is a late start. I thought the same. But then I heard “Making money is killing my business.” Made total sense to me so I signed up.

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