Alan Cline
Contributing Writer, 1-800-PLUMBING INC

I speak with plumbers all the time. The biggest question I ask is what are you doing differently to grow your business? Maybe when starting a business the most important consideration is the technical aspect of getting the job done and doing it right. That remains to be an important aspect in business, however as the business grows and matures many other aspects become equally important.

Sales, Marketing, advertising, brand identity; Fleet Management, etc just to name a few. It reminds me of a restaurant I went to once. It had just opened and the food was great! The next time we decided to go there, it had closed. We never saw any local ads, coupons, etc. That just goes to prove, you can have the best {fill in the blank}, but if no one knows about it, the business will not grow. In summary having a great technical skill is just one aspect of running a business.

I recently spoke with a friend of mine who is a carpenter. This man is a true craftsman and does fantastic work! He has absolutely no visibility on the internet at all. His main form of promotion is by word of mouth. This has worked for many years, but now he wants to grow his business and it is imperative that he start to change his way of thinking and I recommend that he finds a qualified company to get his on line campaign started. I believe that it is already a requirement for a business to be successful that they must have an on line presence! Also, it never hurts to learn a little bit about how online advertising and marketing works, to have a better chance at weeding out the less qualified vendors.

There are so many aspects of running a business that sometimes it can be a daunting task. When you run your own business you become responsible for solving all the problems as there is no one else to turn them over to. Sometimes problems don’t get solved until one or more bad decisions are made before finding the right solution. Most business owners who have been at it for a while have experienced some of these costly mistakes. Making a shift from being a plumber to running a “Plumbing Company” will require a major shift in thinking. Now, in many cases when you are looking for a consultant to assist your business planning you get what you pay for. I wanted to point out what I believe is one of the best resources out there and it won’t cost you a penny. SCORE, which stands for the “Service Core of Retired Executives” is that resource. It is a branch of the Small Business Administration and it is staffed by retired executives who have been very successful in a multitude of businesses. They donate time as a way to give back to society and help other small businesses in many ways. You can find a qualified SCORE counselor by going to: http://www.score.org/ They can help you with many of the challenges encountered in running a successful business. One of the main things they will assist you in is putting together a business plan. Having a business plan is like having a starting point. Even though you may modify the plan many times, it is very helpful to have a basis as a starting point to plan from. SCORE has a lot of resources and educational events to assist you with everything from accounting, marketing, and much more!