There are essentially two ways to grow a business: find more customers or find additional products or services to sell to existing customers.
Finding more customers may mean expanding into new markets, which can be difficult considering the additional time and expense of traveling to new territory or establishing a satellite location. There’s also the existing competition in that market to consider. In the end, you may decide “out” is not the way to grow. So, how about “up?”
OH, GROW UP
By growing up, I mean offering additional services to the market you already serve. Which services would be smart additions? First, listen to hints from customers. If they frequently ask about a particular service you do not offer, consider adding it.
If the answer is not that obvious, take some time to study customers’ buying habits and take a close look at your existing service line to determine if it is meeting all of their needs. But don’t leave it to detective work. Ask your customers what other services might be convenient for them to purchase from you. Maybe they’ve never considered it before. If you can introduce a way to make purchasing simpler for customers, they’ll get on board.
For example, if you notice when servicing restrooms at a special event that a client has rented portable fencing, ask if it would be more convenient to rent both restrooms and fencing from the same company — yours! If it’s not going to cost them more, the answer will probably be yes.
And when considering expanding services, it’s good to study the competition too. What added services do they offer? Would it benefit you to offer similar added services or differentiate yourself with unique offerings?
SELLING NEW SERVICES TO OLD CUSTOMERS
New service offerings open the door to new marketing opportunities. Sales staff will have a new reason to call on customers. No one is going to take advantage of the new offering if they don’t know about it, so spread the word! Take the opportunity to call, send a brochure, e-mail or otherwise advertise your new services. And communicate with enthusiasm. If you are excited about a new offering be sure to share this with everyone you know … customers and non-customers alike.
Be aware that when an added product or service creates an entirely new market, a business has to spend considerably more time and money promoting it. If, for some reason, you decide to sell swimming pools from the same office you rent restrooms from, you may be fighting an uphill battle because potential customers do not frequently overlap.
KEY CONSIDERATIONS
Jumping into a new service line blindly is not a good idea. To make a new venture as successful as possible, consider the following before taking the plunge:
A new offering is like a new business.
Re-work your business plan to include the new service. If you’ve never had a business plan, create one without the new service and one with and compare the numbers to determine if the additional time and expense of the new service will be worth it. Determine how long it will take for the new offering to pay for itself and start being profitable. When both capital expense and labor costs to support the new offering are added in, is it cost-effective?
The business plan should set some goals and revenue projections for the new offering. It would also be helpful to create a marketing plan and decide how you will reach your targets. If you go ahead and add the new service, measure the results and compare with those projections to gauge if it’s on track.
Employees must be on board.
An additional service means change for employees. Consider if the service being added is a good fit for the skills of your employees. Will it require hiring additional help or significant retraining of workers? Will work schedules change? How will it affect the organization of the company? For a smooth transition, keep employees informed.
Customers must be told.
If customers expressed a need for the new service offering, let them know when it will be available before they contract with someone else. That way you can hit the ground running with a contract for your new service. And tell all customers how they can benefit from this new service.
And be sure to give adequate notice to existing customers if this addition is going to impact them in any way. Maybe you will be less available for a while as you implement the new service. Let customers know who will be taking care of them in the meantime. Customers are generally adaptable to change when they know what’s going on and why.
Sometimes it’s better not to add services.
If you are a very small business — going at it solo or as a couple — there may not be the hours in a day to execute a new service well, and then the whole business suffers. Consider the added time requirements of an additional service. Will it provide additional income or just sap your freedom? Can you justify hiring someone to meet the demands of the new service? Be sure that adding the service is likely to provide you with definable benefits, otherwise you might stretch yourself too thin.
THE BOTTOM LINE
If you are considering adding a new line of service to your portable restroom business, ask yourself: Why this service and why now? Is it the right time to implement this new plan? If you’ve done the homework and determined it is the right time to grow up and add a service, good luck! You’ve got a great start. Let us know how it goes, and how you’ve met the challenge of adding a service.
