Want To Start Company, Need Advice.....

BestValue

I have a great background in remodeling sales and have been contemplating starting my own company for some time now. I think the time has come to step out on my own and do this but where do I start? I already have crews to do the work and a supplier for materials. What would be the best way to advertise with virtually no budget for it(very limited).

Please, any open-ended advice would be wonderful. Thank you.

Bone Saw

craigslist, myspace, service magic, change co name to cheepest price remodeling

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BestValue

I'm sorry, do you mean advertise on Craigslist and the others?

Bone Saw

absolutely

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BestValue

I take it you dont like the name Best Value Remodeling?

Bone Saw

no I like it, i just think the other name will sweeten and enhance your marketing strategy

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CSB

I wouldnt suggest starting your own company without having sufficient funds first. Its really tough to get decent jobs on "cheap" advertising. Im not saying it cant be done, but my experiences have been less than great. Lots of price shoppers, tire kickers, and sketchy folk. Garbage in equals even more garbage out.

With that being said, get yourself a quality logo and get quality business cards. Then get out there and network, network, network. Its not who you know, its who knows you.

I like the name. Though a little generic for my tastes, if you really can provide the best value (note I didnt say lowest price), it will work well.

par3144

Sorry, advertising is a must if you want public awareness. 3% of your revenue is a norm and really isn't to much. I think the best advertising is a creative logo that catches the eye posted on your vehicle and not a magnetic sign.
Once your established, your best advertising will be word of mouth and that won't cost you a cent.

Good Luck
Pat

Bone Saw

very noble


Is this due to realizing that's where the big bucks are, or quotas are down. please elaborate

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Ahren

I'm not sure of where you are located, but I honestly think with the economy being what it is right now, it wouldn't be the greatest time to try to go off on your own. I feel the remodeling field is going to suffer big time next year for a couple of reasons.

New housing starts are grinding to a sudden halt. What does this mean? It means that many GC's are going to switch into remodeling to stay in business. They are in turn going to lay off people and use less subs, (is this your situation?) who are also in turn going to try to crack into residential remodeling. This means a flooded market with many people trying to underbid each other just to stay alive.

Now you add to this the shrinking supply of work available. Much of what drives the remodeling market is the home equity loan. Because of the sub-prime mortgage mess, banks have severely tightened up their lending guidelines. Also, house values have not been increasing very much, if at all. So, it is becoming somewhat difficult for people, even those with good credit, to get equity loans. It's true that the media has blown it a little out of proportion, but that in and of itself is enough to make many homeowners say to themselves, "Hmmm, maybe we won't do that deck this year."

So, IMO, with too many contractors and not enough work, it would be very difficult to start on your own right now. Not trying to be discouraging, but the situation is what it is. If I were you, I'd stick with the steady paycheck and ride it out until the market improves.

Good luck either way.

wackman

What he said.

Bone Saw

What he said

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woody74n

There is never a good or a bad time to start your own buisiness it is allways going to be difficult you just have to plan ahead make for sure that the subs that you use do high quality work (this is going to cost you) and make for sure that when you give a timeline and a budget you stick to it I have seen many people go BK there first year no matter what the economy is doing.

silvertree

Best Value Remodeling huh!---Whats your target market?
What will you be best at? Value?
Good luck!

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Vote for Pedro
Kitchen, bath, St Paul remodeling
Minneapolis Remodel Blog
203K Loan Consultant Minnesota

rbsremodeling

Stay where you are don't quit your day job!

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SelfContract

I remember i seen that name a lot, i.e, BestValue foods, Bestvalue Car Rental, etc. It is not a bad name, but too generic because everyone tends to over-use and/or abuse it too much.

BestValue

guess you guys didn't pay attention to negative comments....looks like you guys are in business.

silvertree

Good point, a lot of us heard the same thing when we started out. I am not saying don't start a business, but reconsider the name because it puts you in a slot. I meant good luck, you'll need it. You will also make your own luck.

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Vote for Pedro
Kitchen, bath, St Paul remodeling
Minneapolis Remodel Blog
203K Loan Consultant Minnesota

Ahren

Hey, I wasn't saying don't do it at all, I was just saying that right now might not be the best time. Would it be impossible? No. But it's getting rough out there. Especially if you don't have the dollars to really push the advertising and marketing. And I can only honestly speak for my area, but judging by many of the other posts I read here, it's getting rough everywhere.

I don't consider myself one to buy in to all the media hype about what's going on in the economy and housing, but I know how to read what I see going on all around me.

I use several different lumberyards to get materials, and all of them have the same story to tell. They tell me that residential sales are dead. They have all laid off about half of their staff.

I see the same spec. houses on the MLS that have been sitting there for months and months. Even with drastic price reductions, they don't sell. Most of the builders that I sub from have had nothing for me since the spring. There are a couple of custom houses going up here and there, but that's it.

One of my tenants works for a lawyer's office, and she's told me that they have had to double their staff and make everyone work overtime just because of the huge influx of forclosure cases. I drive around and see more and more forclosure auction signs popping up everywhere.

So what does this tell me? It tells me that people are struggling right now. It doesn't matter if it's their own stupid fault, or the current administration, banks, or big business. The bottom line is the work is getting slim. The big question with homeowners is: "Move or improve?" And people are doing neither. New construction is way down, and remodeling is way down.

Is this the case in your neck of the woods? I don't know. But I suspect it's not far off if it isn't. It's been tough enough even for an established guy like me with many contacts to stay busy during the last half of this year, because there have been a lot more lowballers coming out of the woodwork undercutting me. So my advice to anyone thinking about starting from square 1 right now would be to sit tight, do a lot of homework, and give it a shot once conditions improve and a lot of the lowballers are forced to go away. At the very least, keep your full time job and take small, service type jobs on the side to get your feet wet and to make more contacts. IMHO, to try to break out big in this economy would be foolish.

Bone Saw

I concure



can I get an amen

seems everyone going into biz is a "deckbuilder" or "window guy" right out of the starting gates. I truely hope you have something other than "best value" in your bag of trix to set yourself ahead of the powercurve.

additionally, commodity prices are so inflation driven and out of touch with demand, that unless you have your $h!t wired real tight, and/or you have something other than "best value" to bring to the table, you'll be choking on the dust of the "powercurve" to the bitter end

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