How business benefits with time?

[Jeanette]

We have all machineries and tools and we know well how to use it. We have good advertising brochure too.
We are 8 months in framing business and earning not enough.
Many says that earning comes with time, after several years in business.
I wonder what is it that time brings to business, so earning improves?
Thanks for your time

 

[j Paul]

Jeanette, in part what time brings is more customers as word of mouth spreads. And it gives you time to build up a base of repeat customers. You'll find that many of your customer will become very loyal to you, but unlike many purchases which are done weekly or monthly, they might have a need for custom framing only once or twice per year. Sucess will come by growing that customer base.

 

[Franny]

Jeanette:

Forgive me, but I would like to know what book you read or what business expert you may have spoken with that ever gave you the idea that you would be profitable after only 8 months. If this is what drove you in to coming into this business, I can tell you that you have probably made a mistake. It is great that you can use the equipment and that you believe that you are capable at this business. That surely is very important. However there are so many other factors that come in to play, that all of them should have been considered BEFORE you took the plunge and not 8 months into it.

The economy is certainly playing a role right now in consumer buying habits. The "luxury" or non-essential goods are just about last on the list right now. That coupled with the production pieces available at stores like Marshalls and Target and the Big Box stores with their 50-60% off coupons for custom framing, your patience has to be at an all time high. It just is not going to happen over-night.

Every dime I make goes right back into my store. I have learned to live on a shoestring and I work smart and savvy with my suppliers. I am definately growing, I am satisfied with my growth, but I still have a long way to go. I have an amazing passion for what I do, and I believe that is what sustains my determination. I have come up with a few key ideas and niches which are helping me to make it work.

It may be that you are at a point where you are going to have to do some serious soul-searching. Whatever you do, I wish you the very best.

 

[Kirstie]

Yes and no. We have been in business for 33 years and this certainly influences our success factor now. But then we were also profitable from day one. In fact, we were an instant success. However, that was in 1977 and times were very very good.

A new business needs to have a plan to be profitable after a certain amount of time. A new business needs to structure expenses, marketing, location, and many other variables so that the business is profitable at what may seem like a lower level of business than more mature businesses.

This is what we all need to do right now. We are making allowances and changes in our expenses so that we can successfully run our businesses with lower volumes. Not always an easy task.

 

[Nancy W]

Jeanette, this may not be good news, but the basic business model is that the first five years are the hardest/ not very profitable. When you have been in business five years you NEED to throw a party. At that point banks will start to take you seriously because you have proven yourself.
Statistics are not pretty for new businesses, even in good times. One half of all businesses close their doors with in the first year. Maybe a bad location, maybe no one wanted the service, maybe a dis-functional owner/staff. Many reasons, maybe not enough capitol to start the business venture, relationship problems or possibly a health issue comes along...the list is long .
By the three year mark another half have not made it.
By the fourth year another group have fallen away.
When you reach five years, you have a matured business and the statistics to prove it will NEVER be as hard to run your business as it has been in the past.
Check my statistics, I am only going from memory, but the upshot is staying in business is hard, starting a business is easy. You are 8 months into your long haul of the magic five year mark.

 

[JWB9999999]

I wonder what is it that time brings to business, so earning improves?

Time brings many things.

- Given time, customers will become repeat customers.

- Customers will spread the word and bring you new customers.

- You will develop better relationships with your suppliers, and with increased business of your own, you will be able to negotiate better prices from them, decreasing your costs.

- You will discover better, more efficient ways of doing things, so that you waste fewer materials and less time, making you able to do more with less.

- It takes time to develop top-of-mind awareness, such that people think of your business FIRST.

- Time allows you to develop your contacts within the community. Become involved in various community organizations or charities. As these people get to know you, they will learn about your business. They know in order for you to help them succeed, you must also succeed in your business. They will want to do business with you and help you to grow.

 

[artfolio]

I bought my business as a going concern but it still took me two years before I earned an income equal to what I was getting working for a Bank.

If you are making a profit at all after 8 months I would say you are going pretty well, especially if you started from scratch. As others have pointed out it takes time to build a customer base and for the all-important repeat customers and word of mouth referrals to kick it into top gear. Once that starts happening it is like a snowball and things get bigger faster.

Provided you have your pricing set right and your overheads under control you should be o.k.

 

[DanGray]

One of the big things I feel time in business gives you is more exposure to new customers. Getting new customers by word of mouth or just them seeing you. We are in a small town of under 9,000 people here in Cody. We have adds running on the radio and had them in the news paper. We cant believe how many people come in to our store and they say this is the first time in and they were just driving by. They did not read our adds in the paper or did they hear our radio adds.

So we feel times does help a business. People love to know you have been around and not here today and gone tomorrow, they way the economy is these days.

 

[Not your average framer]

Experience is what enables you to get it right first time, every time.

Many of my repeat customers keep coming back to me, because they got the right presentation on all their previous work.

You say that you think that you are pretty good now, give it 5 years and you'll be surprised how much better you will be then.

I have my own methods and system for framing just about anything and get a lot of work by being prepared to do the less easy, non standard stuff.

If your competitors don't know how to do it, the you can afford to charge a proper rate for the job and not worry about being beaten on price.

Experience is the stuff that success comes from. Hang on in there, it gets better as time goes on!