Archive for July, 2007

Here’s an interesting idea for you….

Do you have competitors that go out of business? If the answer is Yes, go to the next question…

Do they have listings (and even better) ads in the Yellow Pages? If the answer is Yes, go to the next question…

Now that they are out of business - who is going to be answering the calls they receive? They will be receiving calls from the phone book, business cards, their invoices…their previous and potential customers will be finding their phone number in any number of places.

Why don’t you do this?

1. Go to the phone book, start calling your competitors…look for numbers that are “out of service” - AKA: Company is out of business.
2. Call the phone company and ask if the number is available to purchase.
3. If it is….spend $20/month and BUY it.

You will now be receiving all the calls from this company’s previous and potential customers. They may be confused when you answer instead of the company they expected - but you can simply tell them, “We are happy to now be servicing their customers, how can I help you today?”

Give it a shot….I have seen this work numerous times. It’s an inexpensive way to generate leads and sales.

You need to read the book “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber. The “E” stands for “Entrepreneur.”

It’s a rock solid book – the core message – Systemize Your Business!

If someone walked through your door today and said “I am ready to open 5,000 ______________’s” (fill in the blank with your business name) – what would you say?

A lot of business owners would reply with – “Uh oh! We fly by the seat of our pants, we just “get it done,” it would be tough to duplicate what we do”….That’s the truthful answer, but it’s a bad answer.

To hammer this point home, why is it that 80% of regular small businesses fail within the first five years and only 20% of franchises fail in their first five years?

Because of the SYSTEM. Procedures are in place…the trial and error has been completed…there is a well documented and followed way of doing business.

The book does not say that you should go out and buy a franchise…it’s not like that at all. It states this simple, but extremely powerful theme – Systemize Your Business.

Give it a read – It’s mandatory reading for all my small business clients.