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View Full Version : Hitting the wall!!!!!



lemonhead
26-11-2012, 06:01 PM
Ive run marathons and around 33 km you hit the wall...it is a undescribable feeling where you so badly want to stop...Just to walk and be normal like those people watching you from the sidelines....Had one of those days today in gardening were being a new guy to the trade had no work....it hurts....So i got down on my hands and knees and cleaned the shower for 2 hours...top to toe....then vaccumed...then did the dishes....anything to feel like im contributing...10 weeks in business and ive got 7 regulars....is that worth clinging onto or do i call it quits,stop running and walk.....

LGGF
26-11-2012, 06:29 PM
Keep at it, when you have no work on, market yourself until it hurts, when I first started I found that 80% of my new business came from letter box drops. When you do get a new client, make sure you keep them, even if it means spending more time then you had allowed, you will then get most your jobs through word of mouth (these are the best type, normally you can charge a bit more as they have come to you because of the good work you have done else where). Things will only get busier.

PM me your e-mail address and I will send you a copy of my flyer I started with.

sterlo
26-11-2012, 06:56 PM
Keep at it, when you have no work on, market yourself until it hurts, when I first started I found that 80% of my new business came from letter box drops. When you do get a new client, make sure you keep them, even if it means spending more time then you had allowed, you will then get most your jobs through word of mouth (these are the best type, normally you can charge a bit more as they have come to you because of the good work you have done else where). Things will only get busier.

PM me your e-mail address and I will send you a copy of my flyer I started with.
No offence intended mate, but I couldnt disagree more and reckon worst advise ever. Spend more time than u charge for and the new regular expects this every visit, how long until the no longer a regular?

Hallmark, only u know how long u can survive for and what u can achieve....plenty here have offered to help u start up and offered advise...when ur quiet do what was advised in previous post and pamphlet drop...as Singo once said " You can't sell a secret"!!!

Sterlo

Sterlo

LGGF
26-11-2012, 07:08 PM
No offence intended mate, but I couldnt disagree more and reckon worst advise ever. Spend more time than u charge for and the new regular expects this every visit, how long until the no longer a regular?

Hallmark, only u know how long u can survive for and what u can achieve....plenty here have offered to help u start up and offered advise...when ur quiet do what was advised in previous post and pamphlet drop...as Singo once said " You can't sell a secret"!!!

Sterlo

Sterlo

Thanks Sterlo, no offence taken, but, if you don't have a lot happening, and you are just starting out, it will take you longer to get the job perfect. Efficient use of your time will come, I'm pretty sure everyone here has under quoted at some stage, and it would be pretty unprofessional to just pull up stumps and not finish the job properly.

My advice is to finish the job professionally and the quality of your work will get you more work, there are plenty of cowboys around, so you will need to stand out for the right reasons, and at the end of the day you will be able to charge more..

simo
26-11-2012, 07:08 PM
What about doing a casual labouring or shop job maybe weekends, till it gets going...
Or buy a small round maybe 20 or so to get the ball rolling
I did both these yrs ago and the ball got going in no time..
If its really what you want to do stick at it worth every bit in a yr or so

sterlo
26-11-2012, 07:13 PM
There are heaps of one offs around our neck of the woods at the minute, just grab them and concentrate on an income would be my advise..if u can convert 10% of them into regs than that is great, do the work that the guys with plenty of regs and plenty of work cant/wont do...with the rain already drying up in melbs i wouldnt be relying on getting a rush on reg work just yet....

Sterlo

South East Mowing
26-11-2012, 07:20 PM
Darren, just did a search on google and cant find you anywhere. What about the newspaper, flyers etc. Being new in business you have to do more and be seen much much more than the others out here.

Its not easy but others have been there before. You need to find a budget you can commit to advertising and then commit OR find other ways of getting the phone to ring. There are some service providers you may also look.

fairdinkum
26-11-2012, 07:24 PM
Thanks Sterlo, no offence taken, but, if you don't have a lot happening, and you are just starting out, it will take you longer to get the job perfect. Efficient use of your time will come, I'm pretty sure everyone here has under quoted at some stage, and it would be pretty unprofessional to just pull up stumps and not finish the job properly.

My advice is to finish the job professionally and the quality of your work will get you more work, there are plenty of cowboys around, so you will need to stand out for the right reasons, and at the end of the day you will be able to charge more..

I agree. If you haven't got much work on anyway it's best to take extra care to leave a perfect finish. A $50 job may just take you 2 hours to complete at first. But as you get the hang of things you will find that you can provide the same level of care and get the quality results that the client expects in a third of the time. Hence tripling your hourly rate. You just have to put the hard yards in at first.

regester64
26-11-2012, 07:38 PM
one suggestion from here is maybe using some where like Carribean gardens ( i used to live down there ) and do a pamphlet drop in the car park windscreens. Dont know if your allowed to. May help to pick up locals around Rowville.

cadase
26-11-2012, 07:54 PM
Maybe buying a small round, as already suggested, it's an instant income. Do a good job, then they'll recommend you to friends + family. Neighbours will walk up, before you know it, you will double your customer numbers. I don't like flyers personally, but i have been known to print a few dozen, keep them in the ute. When you see a for sale sign on a house, pounce. They're always after nice lawns & gardens to try and add value to the property.
Good Luck :)

Dazz1
26-11-2012, 07:59 PM
It's a tough when starting out, I was the same. try and set yourself some "work hours" each day and only work on building your business if you don't have any jobs.
Spend your time doing flyers or online marketing or business research.

geoff1969
26-11-2012, 08:01 PM
there are a few schools in around the rowville area and kindergardens etc , have you contacted them to see if thay have a weekly news letter you can advertise in = there usualy cheap for qauter page etc if theres 1000 kids going to the schools etc = at least 800 newsletters hitting the imidiate area your searching for clients in ....

Dazz1
26-11-2012, 08:04 PM
Keep at it, when you have no work on, market yourself until it hurts, when I first started I found that 80% of my new business came from letter box drops. When you do get a new client, make sure you keep them, even if it means spending more time then you had allowed, you will then get most your jobs through word of mouth (these are the best type, normally you can charge a bit more as they have come to you because of the good work you have done else where). Things will only get busier.
.

X 2, If you don't have anything else on what have you got to loose,

Dazz1
26-11-2012, 08:28 PM
By the way 7 regs in your first 10 weeks is not bad going. keep working at it and at some point the jobs start to snowball.

Lawn Mowing Professionals
26-11-2012, 08:49 PM
I've never ran a marathon before so i have never experienced that feeling before... I however experienced a terrible feeling running only 1 km when i was 130kg a few years ago... from memory it was 34 degree's and my personal trainer forced me to do it... the outcome was throwing up, muscle cramping and a bad taste in my mouth to run again or even train for that matter!

Exactly 3 weeks later i was running 8k's in a hour with no breaks and could have easily ran more... Ok, i was 10 k's lighter which helped, but more importantly i wasn't focused on running the 8 k's. My first goal was running 500m, once i got to 500m i focused on another 500m. When things got tough mentally (around the 23 minute mark) I focused on just one more minute.

Being in business is exactly the same... you have been in business for 10 weeks and you are trying to run a full marathon without a plan, knowledge, mental fitness and pre training.

What you experienced today is a word called - QUITTING, GIVING UP! It's probably caused from a FEAR OF FAILURE, LACK OF CONFIDENCE, LACK OF EXPERIENCE, LACK OF CLARITY OR DIRECTION, BEING OVERWHELMED AND OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE or a combination of all of these.

Let me ask you this one question - Why would you spend a whole day doing "irrelevant" stuff to keep you busy and i quote "anything to feel like im contributing" when you could have been utilised this luxury of time productively to grow your business? For example, you could have gone door knocking, dropped of flyers, telemarketing, used the time to study advertising techniques, studied the overall industry, created some joint ventures with local business owners, visited real estates, visited places of influence, set up a website, offered to help a local contractor if you need hands on experience, created a referal program or a promotion... just to name a few.

Is there something on the list above that you wouldn't do to have a successful business?

When starting out in business (or anything really) there is no time to have excuses, justification, rationalisation or being hyper sensitive to your feelings. Every single time you do there will be a set back... i guarantee it!

- Are you in a position to own a business?
- Do you have a positive mindset?
- Will you do what it takes to achieve your goals?

Now, the good news is you have only spent 10 weeks to get to this point... many business owners spend years! This is a time to stand back, take notice and re-evaluate everything you know!

This would be my number 1 priority if i was in your shoes... Focus on getting at least 1 quote a day... every single day. (this requires marketing, advertising and hardcore training - pounding the pavement!) Why 1 customer a day... it means you need to work every single day and you need to be focused 110% every single day. Also, if you get 1 new client a day you will get 30 new clients a month and an established run within 3 months!!!

This is the breakdown of my day when i was going through hell to just survive...

1. Spend minimum of 3 hours a day handing out flyers - 1 hour at 9am, 1 hour at 1pm and 1 hour at 5pm (minimum of 500 flyers that is door to door! - I was getting better than 1 in a 100 and you can do the math!)
2. Spend 1 hour putting flyers and business card at places of influence - mower shops, cafe, car wash, take away shop, macca's, real estate, hair dressers etc)
2. Spend 2 hours a day working with people of influence. (other tradesmen such as a plumber, real estates, and if you can other mowing contractors) This time can be subsituted if you have quotes or new jobs to do!!! You never know, you might even get some subcontracted work or leads thrown your way from other contractors!!!
3. Spend 1 hour a day studying. This is an absolute MUST!!! (30 mins before breakfast and 30 mins before bed)... The reason why i say this is your subconcious mind will focus on the answers to your problems while you sleep and during the day. You need to live and breathe your business 24/7 when starting out!
4. Find a mentor or coach who has experience first hand where you want to be to fast track your success. (a few thousand people on this site alone). I had previous 10 years business experience to guide me... also a handful of selected people i consulted with for free advise. (note: never get business advice from people that haven't made double your current income!!)
5. Have a realistic monetry goal of expected earnings each and every day... don't stop and go home until you hit this goal. (mine was $100 a day working 7 days a week - simple stuff!). I did all sorts of jobs - mowing, weeding, hedging, clean ups, rubbish removal, odd jobs)

there you have it, a simple basic plan that you can implement today with minimal advertising cost.

I'm impressed that you took the inititive to asked the initial question - is that worth clinging onto or do i call it quits,stop running and walk?

An honest answer is... only you can answer that question. I will leave you with this question though...

What do you have to lose by sticking with it? Nothing right! If you decide to quit now, you will have absolutely nothing to lose if you stick with it... even if you get stuck (I don't use the "negative" word of - fail (which my definition of failure is DEATH - completely giving up and unable to contunue) you will still have enough experience up your sleeves (training) that you can utilise if you hit further road blocks or hick ups along the way...

You are just at a roadblock... focus, pay attention and create a path to your goal.

It's waiting for you!

P.s Just out of interest... Did you considered asking a successful marathon runner what they do to overcome the 33klm obsiticle before the race or even since the race is over? Have you attempted to do the marathon again? I'm sure everyone that has completed a marathon has the answer!

Simmo.

Kathryn
26-11-2012, 09:40 PM
Hang in there. You will build your business over time. Soon you will be busy that running in the evenings seems like a chore

Lawn Mowing Professionals
26-11-2012, 11:22 PM
Darren,

I also suggest you read the response marketing thread... every single page!!!

http://www.indmowing.com.au/forum/showthread.php?11009-response-marketing-any-good-site

There is a wealth of knowledge provided over there for anyone that is starting out in this game or just requires a marketing kick start to get the creative juices flowing.

Simmo.

lemonhead
28-11-2012, 09:17 AM
Hey...thanks everyone for the great advice....dont u need a website in order to advertise on gumtree and the like?.....i suppose i was feeling a little down the other day...but it reall is like a rolercoaster ride this gig...you feel wonderful sometimes when your driving home with your trailer and 200 dollars in your cash box beside you..you feel fxxxxx GREAT..it is a great lifestyle from the small entree ive had,AND BEING YOUR OWN BOSS ROCKS....spose its just the regular pay checks i miss....loke i said it is a rollercoaster of emotions you go thruogh..iim going to see about getting on gumtree this weekend and the other sites..thanks again for your words of advice..appreciate it...cheers DAZ

Lawn Mowing Professionals
28-11-2012, 10:00 AM
It takes 2 minutes to place an add on gumtree... you just need to set up a user name and your ready to go to sell almost anything!!

Just don't expect to pick up "gold" jobs... some will be overgrown ferals, some will say they want a regular service and regular cuts are usually monthly :rolleyes: and some will be a one off...

My advise starting out is it is great to target this medium as it is FREE and a good learning curve to practice quoting etc. The most important aspect is it creates momentium for your business and quickly... i will usually get around 3-4 enquiries a day if i post up an add over the weekend.

Also, the main value isn't always getting that particular client... it's amazing how much work you can pick up doing a "feral" especialy if you letterbox drop 10 homes either side of the house and 20 houses across the street! that's 40 flyers dropped in 5 - 10 mins :wave-hi:

Simmo.

PaulG
28-11-2012, 01:17 PM
if you letterbox drop 10 homes either side of the house and 20 houses across the street! that's 40 flyers dropped in 5 - 10 mins :wave-hi:

Simmo.


Exactly what I do.

simo
28-11-2012, 03:34 PM
People see you mowing and think what a great job but often to lazy to write down your details of your truck or come out and ask, so when they get that info in the letterbox, they stick it on the fridge till the lawn grows and BAM your in...;)