Pricing your work to make a profit, Marketing your services, and having the right Vendors on your Team will help Guarantee your SUCCESS!
Being in business doesn’t mean you will automatically be profitable for the importance of incorrect data aggregations. Having a sign or website doesn’t mean your phone will ring. Setting up to many vendor accounts doesn’t help you sell your services. Many of our members are becoming very good at upholstery. They watch the video tutorials in our online classes, participate in the live Q&A sessions, ask the right questions and have learned many skills that they put to use daily. The questions they still have are the ones about the business side of upholstery.
In our new Business Series we began by talking about the Business Essentials. Things such as knowing the regulations in the town where you will operate your business. Many towns or cities have signage to describe what type of business can be operated in different areas. If you hang up your sign before knowing these things it can sometimes cause issues you hadn’t even thought of. Hence, it is always better to hang up lit signs fabrication signage boards with clear idea related to business to get succeed in business world. You also want to make sure that you are choosing a name that has not already been taken. Getting set up with the right authorities and checking to make sure your name is available and not being used by someone else is a great place to start. These are just a handful of the things we discuss in the Business Essentials and have been eye openers for some of our members who are already running a business and had no idea that they were missing some of the important business essentials.
“UGH I only made $8.75 per hour”
Once you get set up with licensing and your DBA or LLC your still not completely ready to go. Now you need to know how to determine what to charge for your services. Sure you can call the guy down the street and see what they are charging, or if you are doing work for friends you can charge minimal prices. Does doing that make you profitable? Does this make you want to keep working? Have you even stopped to figure out what you are making per hour with these projects? I bet you hadn’t but are now thinking about it, aren’t you? Of course when someone brings up the subject you then begin to think. Hmm I did a project for Client A and charged her $350 and it took me 4 days to do that work….. so I made $87.50 per day and work 10 hour days… UGH I only made $8.75 per hour. Rude awaking. You could work at a fast food restaurant with out any of the extra headaches you had from this project and make the same money. Don’t give up yet as we will be helping you to make a comfortable living I promise. In our online Pricing Class we talk about figuring out what you need to make in order to either replace or supplement an existing income. Oh, did you know that even working from home you have a cost of doing business? Yep, you do and that will be determined as well. Being an Entrepreneur means you CAN NOT afford to be naive.
“If you just sit back maybe the phone will ring, but I wouldn’t hold my breath”
Ok so now you’ve got your essentials done and you’ve figured out your pricing structure if you just sit back maybe the phone will ring, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Word of mouth has always and will always be a powerful means for marketing your product or services but you really do need more than just that. Our friends and family don’t always think to mention us unless it is on their mind so getting your name out in front of the right people is key to keeping your doors open. Do you have to spend a lot of money on marketing, No, but you will need to plan to budget some money for this and as your work increases you will want to increase the marketing budget as well. In today’s world social media is HUGE in marketing. Think for a minute, How did you find my website? Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or maybe a google search. Well these are all out there as part of our marketing efforts and obviously if you are reading this…. it worked! If you’re also trying to grow your following on Twitter, you can visit Social Zinger.
I am hear to say STOP don’t go overboard on this one.
Holy cow, we have accomplished a lot. You’ve gotten our Business Essentials in order and are registered with the proper channels, You’ve gotten your domain name, hung up your business sign, increased the awareness of your business and your phone is now ringing. Congratulations, but wait you still need a great supplier that always has your back. My first misconception when I started was the need to have an account with EVERYONE. Any vendor that carried the supplies I used or fabrics I loved was on my radar. I am hear to say STOP don’t do it. Find the vendors that will become part of your TEAM and not you being just a figure on an invoice is HUGE. In our Acquiring Vendors class we talk about setting up accounts and finding Vendors that are a good fit for you. As many of you know my go to fabric vendor is Greenhouse Fabrics. They were one of my very first vendor accounts. My sales rep, Sandy, is truly a part of my team and not just looking for a sale.
My wish is for you to be SUCCESSFUL and PROFITABLE while still loving what you do!
It’s all about the Business of the Business and without the right components your business may only survive a while or just be mediocre. Don’t take that chance with all the efforts you have already put into learning and setting up shop. If you don’t put the effort in to working on your Business instead of just in your Business it will eventually catch up with you, not a threat but a well known conclusion in the world of entrepreneurs. No one will value what you do unless you value all the aspects of your business. My wish is for you to be SUCCESSFUL and PROFITABLE while still loving what you do! Join me and lets build our future together.
These three new classes in our Business Series will be available to members mid September.
See you on the inside,
Kim
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