Cleaning 4 Profit

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FIVE Tips For The New Business Owner

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When you are just starting out it can be tough to learn everything you need to. It’s a whole new ballgame, and you are a “rookie” so to speak.

I know that back when I first started it was a bit of a learning curve. I had no experience whatsoever. All I ever managed was “myself”, that was it!

So today I wanted to touch on some lessons I learned over the years. The following bits of advice was either passed down to me by a mentor, something I read and it resonated with me or a lesson I had to learn the hard way. No matter how I stumbled across it, I hope they help you in some small way. Here we go…

Five Tips For The New Business Owner

Tip # 1 – Make Employees Feel Powerful. Studies have shown that making your staff feel more powerful CAN IMPROVE their work productivity, overall performance and job satisfaction level. I had to learn this one the hard way. In the beginning I dictated EXACTLY how the job had to be done.

This meant I wanted my staff to be a clone of myself. Do this first, do this second and so on. To make a long story short, people don’t like that. They want some autonomy. So I eased the reigns and started taking suggestions for how to tackle the job. In doing so I let the staff have some say on how to complete the job.

This made people happier and more productive in my opinion. I can’t say this works on every single employee you’ll ever have, but on the whole this approach is one that I found to be useful. People crave a “sense of control”. It also makes them take ownership to a degree, which is a good thing!

Tip # 2 – Create A List Of What Gets Done Tomorrow. I’m a big fan of waking up and knowing exactly what the days goals and objectives are. The only way this is accomplished is by creating your “to-do” list the night before. Ideally you want to get the things you dislike the most out-of-the-way FIRST, so you can truly focus on everything else.

Tip # 3 – Stay Frugal Even When You Start Making Money. Money can be tight when you first get started which means trying to make ends meet is challenging and a bit stressful at times. Eventually however your hard work will pay dividends and the money will follow. This is where many get off track!

They do so by spending money on all types of things that don’t do them any good. A small perk here or there is to be expected, but you can’t go crazy. You need to act like a new start-up all the time. My philosophy was to only spend money on things THAT MADE ME MONEY. If you are going to invest, invest not in perks for yourself, but in equipment that will generate more revenue.

Tip # 4 – Procrastination Is The Enemy Of Success. At the end of the day the only thing that matters is TAKING ACTION. Sure, it’s great to dream and have grand thoughts about where you want your life to go. In fact dreaming big is GREAT and you should do so often. Just remember this… taking action is the only thing that will yield results. So get off your butt, write down some goals and create your to-do list. If you do that you are halfway there!

Tip # 5 – Don’t Worry About The Competition. A lot of people needlessly worry about “the competition”. I’m not sure why, I mean there is nothing you can do about it. There will always be competition of some kind, so on a certain level you need to accept it. My approach was to not waste my time thinking about them at all! I wanted to focus my attention on MY OWN COMPANY.

The goal for beginners, in this regard anyway, is to just get a few customers under their belt then relentlessly try to refine their operation until it runs like a well oiled machine. Don’t go getting ten new accounts if you can’t make one happy! Get a few new accounts then create a SYSTEM for keeping them clean consistently. Once you can do that, it’s off to the races!

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  3. Great advice Tom. Can’t thank you enough.
    I ordered your Cleaning Flyers Value Pack recently and I thought WAOH, this pack contains too much for the price. Great job. Many thanks for making such money making items available to us for just a token.

    God bless.
    Anthony

  8. Hi Shakeea!

    What do you do each week to drum up business? Do you hand out flyers, do any direct mailing of sales letters and business cards, attend any networking events or ask for referrals? Once you answer that I’ll be able to better help you make the phone ring.

  10. How many flyers? You need to do a lot EACH month. Networking is a good idea. It helps you get noticed plus it’s helps you improve your skills in a lot of ways (speaking to groups, sales skills etc…).

  12. Yes… you need to give the flyers out non-stop! Direct mail works best. Every month plan on sending out as many as you can afford to. I would aim for at least 300 per month. That should get you a few calls that will lead to a job. All you need in ONE JOB to make the mailing a HUGE WINNER. A small job that nets you $250 per month in profit equals $3,000 over the course of a year. A larger one that nets you $500 in monthly profit equals a cool $6,000. Not bad for mailing a few letters!

  14. Hello Tom,
    Thanks for your continuous mentoring.
    Please, when you send direct mails for doctors’ office jobs, do you send the letters to medical groups since several doctors share the same address?

  16. Yes, direct mail is the best. I agree Mr. Watson. I followed your instructions, put in a magnet business card, and addressed it to the “office manager.” I send out around 250 and got two phone calls back. I got a ton of mail back too. HAHA. But, it was well worth it.

  17. Hi Jeremy! That’s GREAT. Stuff and mail those letters!! Anyway… yea… you do get a lot returned due to bad addresses (but that’s life). Good luck turning those prospects into customers!

  18. I am just starting my company and I was curious. Which do you suggest the letter, or calling a potential client directly?