Setting up on your own - How to get those first customers

[Ted]

I used to live in London and used to do a bit of concrete work and pplastering for several builders down there. I also worked for a couple of PIC driveway firms and did other odd building jobs in between.

I decided to move north last year as my family come from up that way and the fact that house prices are substantially cheaper up here.

Since I have moved though I have found that I keep on finding work in London. I don't like commuting to London regularly and staying in a hotel costs me so I want to develop a name for myself up here and get more local work.

I have never advertised before as I have never needed to in London. But now, in order to get some local work for this year, I think it is time to.

I am considering:

a) signwriting my van
b) advertising in local newspaper
c) advertising in local free "ad-mag"
d) advertising in Yellow Pages
e) door-to-door sales
f) flyers either in shops or posted through household doors

Does anyone have any views on which forms of advertising work well and which don't?

Any comments and suggestion are greatly appreciated.

[Stuarty]

I know a few lads who have gone on their own. They all started gaining a customer base while they were still in full time employment, doing the homers on the weekends etc to get their name about, then once the work picked up they left to do their thing.

I personally dont like door to door, i find that rude and often question whether the person really is a tradesman or another tinker.

Signwriting your van is good imo, aslong as it stands out and your phone number is nice and big :p Ive noticed a few folk up here having something the size of an A4 sheet stuck to the sides and bonnet of their van - it doesnt work, you can only read that if your right next to it.

I never pay any notice to flyers in shop windows or that come through the door, im not sure if thats just me or if everyone does that :p

Good luck

[Ted]

I agree about vans. Way too many vans on the road with tel nos too small to read and often it is hard to even work out what the service offered is, as all the fonts are too small or the graphics are crap.

I also never pay attention to flyers and like you I hate door-to-door salesmen although this is a proven technique but requires a lot of slammed doors before you get anywhere.

[Suggers]

A local sparky friend set up on his own last year - had some flyers inserted into local paper deliveries - newsagent charged about £30 - says together with add in back of same rag, got him up and running. Now it seems the word of mouth thing is working....
All the best for your new venture.

[lutonlagerlout]

yellow pages imho is a waste of time,we used to be in it but all we got were people ringing up for comparison quotes
good signage is important and also if you do a job leave a sign there for a week or so (job we were on this week came from a sign board 2 years ago and they kept the number
also obviously have a landline number and an address on all correspondance ,it puts peoples minds at rest
get friendly with local groups (golf,darts,ramblers whatever) everyone i know ,when they find out i am a builder need something doing (for free in their own little worlds of course) but the advantage of groups like this is that they recommend you to each other, we did 5 extensions round hemel for members of the same gold club
try and get the best cards you can printed,so if ppl stop and ask in the street ,you can give them a card==> no gold writing though,it looks chav
and obviously always do the best job you can and word will spread
cheers LLL

[bkdavies86]

Biggest thing is to have a landline number as well as your money as people are alway "unsure" of mobile phone numbers.

I'm in the process of starting up one of the lads, got a few weekend jobs lined up whilst keeping my day job. People who we've got the jobs with say "oh my friend is looking for this to be done.." Granted some of it is sh*t work but once you get enough work you can pick and choose what we want.

[Ted]

yellow pages imho is a waste of time,we used to be in it but all we got were people ringing up for comparison quotes

It is well pricey too!

But the first builder I ever employed, I got from the Yellow Pages!

Signs are the next best thing after a recommendation IMO as they cost diddly squat unless competitors knick them.

Has happened to me in S E London loads. Is thieving signs a common problem?

[lutonlagerlout]

we had 1 knicked in letchworth by a builder who didnt get the job
its a bit childish really,some old lady rang us and said she spotted this guy throwing our sign over a hedge into her garden.
we couldnt pin it, but we knew who it was.
in the past i have been warned against working in certain parts of essex ,where ppls vans catch light very easy etc. etc. i dont mean warned as intimidated, but warned by someone who had a gun pointed at him,all that sort of territorial BS leaves me feeling very cold... plus the ppl in question have a monopoly and can set the prices to what they want
yuk
LLL

[Stuarty]

My boss finds it difficult getting work locally. He has been in business for 20 years now, but he moved to the area he is in now 4 years ago. Most of our work is still atleast 20 miles away where his last place was.