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MONEY FROM YOUR MICROTHE DATA BUSINESSIn my experience there are two types of users in the computer world. There are those, maybe like yourself who own a computer, possibly at home and who use it as their main tool, and who are interested in its potential as a financial resource. And there are those who have purchased a computer to help their business, probably knowing little about it and not thinking about it as long as it does what it is supposed to, which is usually looking after accounts and invoices.The first group are often enthusiasts, often having a mass of technical information at their fingertips, in fact, their hobby is just that, information. If you know where to look, you can supply that information, for a profit. The second group do not know what their machines are capable of, and often, they are not really interested unless it can make them more profit. In many cases they just have not the time to find out what their machines can do, and even if they are aware, they have not the time to put their knowledge into practice. You have that time - and time, as you know, is money. Here we have a number of ideas that you can use. Obviously you don't have to use them as they are written, nor must you limit yourself to a single idea. Research your area, look at what other people are doing. This collection of ideas comes from years of experience with computers and running my own businesses. I have personally run most of the businesses outlined here and those what I have not run, I either know people who do it, or I plan to do it when I get the time. Running a businessPLAN FOR THE FUTUREWhen you have got off the ground with one of the projects, you need to start looking forward to a years time. How much spare cash will you have, what direction are you going to take your business in. The obvious thing to do is to expand your services to your present customer base. Many businesses go wrong by diversifying too soon and thus losing momentum.Spare cash should go back into you plant, i.e. your computer system, the tools of your trade. We all have a wish list when it comes to our computers, but for business purposes some needs are greater than others. Here is a sound businesslike wish list:
Once you have your laser printer, you can really start to expand your business. I am not going to go into the details of the services you can offer in any great length. Instead I will give a quick rundown of the sort of things that have proved profitable for me.
TIPDon't be afraid of looking at bigger businesses. My regular clients include an international motor part dealer, a branch of the National Health Service and a University department. All these operations need forms, leaflets, stationary, newsletters and occasionally books.Selling your servicesTELESALESThe first rule of telephone sales is to have a script. Yes I know it might sound silly to sit there by your telephone reading a script down the line to some stranger. But not as silly as you will sound to your prospective client when you cannot answer a query or when you run out of steam and start mumbling. And if you don't have a good script, you will.The script needs to be very well worked out in advance. Write down everything from the first 'Hello my name is' ... to the last 'goodbye and thanks very much.' Include in your script the answer to any questions you think a prospective customer might possibly ask you, anything that you can possible think of. The script has two purposes. The first is to get your message across in the most efficient way possible, no mumblings, no awkward silences, no unanswerable questions. The second purpose is to save your time and your telephone bills, you know exactly what you are going to say and how long it should take, you don't waste time chattering, unless of course the client gets interested in using your service, then you stay on the line until he starts sounding bored. As soon as you detect this, get off the phone, ask your prospect if he would like further details in the mail or something, anything to get away. It is absolutely fatal to bore a prospect. True you may make a sale, but only once or twice. If the prospect tries to keep you chatting beyond reasonable limits, beware.
(yes) Good, well I am ringing to follow up that information. Do you ever use outside agencies for data entry? (if yes) "Good, perhaps you would be interested in using our services. (if No) Is that because there hasn't been such a service? And on it goes. The idea is to try and think of any possible objections the target might have, before you ring him up, that way, whenever he comes up with an objection as to why he doesn't need your service, you've got an answer. Of course you cannot sell to somebody who really has no use for what you are offering. ADVERTISINGAdvertising in the press is a minefield for the inexperienced. If you are not very cautious you can lose hundreds and hundreds of pounds. There are two types of advertising, classified and display. Just in case you don't know the difference, classified consists of a few lines of type which the publication will set for you. Display consists of an area of space displaying your artwork, which generally is provided by yourself.Your type of service or product and your potential clients usually tell you what type of advertising to buy. A general rule of thumb for the newcomer is to only advertise in places where other businesses similar to your own are advertising. If you are advertising a local service, then of course you must advertise locally, freesheets and local newspapers can work. But a leaflet drop can work better. A small leaflet is much more likely to be retained by an interested party than a newspaper ad. MAILSHOTSA mailshot is a circular or leaflet posted to possible clients. Get the addresses from your local yellow pages or buy a mailing list. If you are offering a service to business, the yellow pages will sell you a mailing list in any category you want, see their ad in the back of the phone book.If you are interested in desktop publishing and producing leaflets etc., then buy a list from one of the advertisers in the Exchange & Mart, from the publisher who sold you this book or from Icon Graphics. You can buy or rent a list of people who are involved in direct mail. Expect to pay about œ50 to œ75 per thousand names and addresses. Pay much less and you are probably getting an old list. WHAT TO CHARGEBase your fees on an hourly rate. No business can survive on less than £7.50 per hour. Double it to be safe and double again for profit. That's £30.00 per hour. If you charge less you are ripping yourself off.ESTIMATINGNever give a client a quote, always an estimate. There is a difference. A quote is fixed, you cannot change your mind if the job turns out to be more difficult than expected. An estimate is just that, an educated guess and can be altered to fit the practical circumstances.GETTING PAIDTry to get at least 30% up front on a big job. This makes sure that the client does not change his mind and cancel the job without telling you. It does happen. It also means that you have some cash in hand while you work.Invoice with the job. When you send a job out, enclose an invoice. When I send proof copies of work out to a new client I usually send the invoice with the proofs. This means he has to pay before I send the finished material. To stop him using the proofs as finished material and not paying me, I have a big rubber stamp that says PROOF that goes over the material preventing him from using it. COLLECTING DEBTSIf you are in mail order, you have no problem, you get paid in advance. If you are selling services to businesses, then there is a problem. Every business has a simple rule which says 'collect early, pay late'. Expect businesses to 'try in on'. They will nearly always try to pay you as late as possible. I know of one businessman who NEVER pays a bill until the court summons arrives. If you get one of these characters, forget him, take him to the small claims court if you have to but don't work for him again. It doesn't matter how big the job is and how attractive the fee, don't do it because you will get ulcers just trying to collect your money, not to mention the bank charges you'll collect.Having said that, it should also be your aim to collect early and pay late. That is what cash flow is all about. There are certain very big businesses that I have heard about who actually have a policy of not paying at all. They prey on small businesses who cannot afford the time or hassle of a court case. Tip: if they don't pay in three months, take them to court. Don't waste time sending them letters or offering them extra time. Just take a walk down to your local county court and tell them that you want to sue somebody for non payment, they will tell you How to do it and what it costs. It is a cheap and usually effective. It doesn't matter if the bill is small, sue anyway. Here nine project, read on... |
