Ways to increase revenue for your small business for Security

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[Music] starting a security company business guide how to start a security company business this video is designed to help you plan and start a security company business it will walk you step by step through all the essential steps of starting your own security company business in addition in the description below this video you'll find a link to a page where you can download a business plan template in ms word format this is a high quality full-blown business plan template complete with detailed instructions and all related spreadsheets it will allow you to prepare a professional security company business plan in building your pathway to profit with a security company business you need to consider the following questions what services do i provide where is my market who will buy who is my competition what is my sales strategy what merchandising methods will i use how much money is needed to operate my firm how will i get the work done what management controls are needed how can they be carried out and many more now we are going to help you discover the answers to all those questions security company business marketing successful marketing starts with you the owner you have to know your service and the needs of your customers the narrative and work blocks that follow are designed to help you work out a marketing plan for your firm the blocks are divided into three sections 1. determining the sales potential 2. attracting customers and 3. selling to customers determining the sales potential in the service business your sales potential will depend on the area you serve that is how many customers in this area will need your services will your customers be industrial commercial consumer or all of these when picking a site to locate your business consider the nature of your service if you pick up and deliver you will want a site where the travel time will be low and you may want to a communication dispatch system or if the customer must come to your place of business the site must be conveniently located and easy to find you must pick the site that offers the best possibilities of being profitable the following questions will help you think through this problem in selecting an area to serve consider the following population and its growth potential income age occupation of population number of competitive services in and around your proposed location local ordinances and zoning regulations type of trading area commercial industrial residential seasonal you will want to consider the next list of questions in picking the specific site for your business will the customer come to your place of business how much space do you need will you want to expand later on do you need any special features required in lighting heating ventilation is parking available is public transportation available will you pick up and deliver will travel time be excessive will you prorate travel time to service call would a location close to an expressway or main artery cut down on travel time if you choose a remote location will savings in rent offset the inconvenience if you choose a remote location will you have to pay as much as you save in rent for advertising to make your service known if you choose a remote location will the customer be able to readily locate your business will the supply of labor be adequate and the necessary skills available what are the zoning regulations of the area will there be adequate fire and police protection will crime insurance be needed and be available at a reasonable rate is the area in which you plan to locate supported by a strong economic base for example are nearby industries working full-time only part-time did any industries go out of business in the past several months are new industries scheduled to open in the next several months once you consider a specific location you will need to take in account the following if you will build what are the terms of the loan or mortgage what are the terms of the lease is the building attractive in good repair will it need remodeling cost of remodeling what services does the landlord provide what is the competition in the area you have picked the number of firms that handle my service does the area appear to be saturated how many of these firms look prosperous do they have any apparent advantages over you how many look as though they're barely getting by how many similar services went out of business in the area last year can you find out why they failed how many new services opened up in the last year how much do your competitors charge for your service which firm or firms in the area will be your biggest competition now take the time to write down the answers and reasons for your opinions to the above questions attracting customers when you have a location in mind you should work through another aspect of marketing how will you attract customers to your business how will you pull customers away from your competition it is working with this aspect of marketing that many service firms find competitive advantages the ideas which they develop are as good and often better than those which large companies develop with hired brains the work blocks that follow are designed to help you think about image pricing customer service policies and advertising image whether you like it or not your service business is going to have an image the way people think of your firm will be influenced by the way you conduct your business if people come to your place of business for your service the cleanliness of the floors the manner in which they are treated and the quality of your work will help form your image if you take your service to the customer the conduct of your employees will influence your image pleasant prompt courteous service before and after the sale will help make satisfied customers your best form of advertising thus you can control your image whatever image you seek to develop it should be concrete enough to promote in your advertising for example service with a smile is an often used image pricing in setting prices for your service there are four main elements you must consider 1. materials and supplies 2. labor and operating expenses 3. planned profit and 4. competition further along in this video you will have the opportunity to figure out the specifics of materials supplies labor and operating expenses from there you may want the assistance of your accountant in developing a price structure that will not only be fair to the customer but also fair to yourself this means that not only must you cover all expenses but also allow enough margin to pay yourself a salary one other thing to consider will you offer credit most businesses accept credit card payments these credit costs have to come from somewhere plan for them can you add to your prices to absorb this cost and of course your prices must be competitive you've already found out your competitors prices keep these in mind when you are working with your accountant if you will not be able to make an adequate return now is the time to find out customer service policies customers expect certain services or conveniences for example parking these services may be free to the customer but not to you if you do provide parking you either pay for your own lot or pick up your part of the cost of a lot which you share with other businesses since these conveniences will be an expense plan for them advertising in this section on attracting customers advertising was saved until last because you have to have something to say before advertising can be effective when you have an image price range and customer services you are ready to tell prospective customers why they should use your services when the money you can spend on advertising is limited it is vital that your advertising be on target before you can think about how much money you can afford for advertising take time to determine what jobs you want advertising to do for your business consider the following questions how my business is different from my competition what my advertising should tell customers and prospective customers about my business and services when you have these facts in mind you now need to determine who you are going to tell it to your advertising needs to be aimed at a target audience those people who are most likely to use your services take the time to describe your customers in terms of age sex occupation and whatever else is necessary depending on the nature of your business now you are ready to think about the form your advertising should take in its cost you are looking for the most effective means to tell your story to those most likely to use your service ask the local media online ads newspapers radio and television and the printers of direct mail pieces for information about the services and the results they offer for your money how you spend advertising money is your decision but don't fall into the trap that snares many advertisers as one consultant describes this pitfall it is amazing the way many managers consider themselves experts on advertising copy and media selection without any experience in these areas you should allocate an advertising budget for the next 12 months your task in determining comes down to how much can i afford to spend and still do the job that needs to be done selling to customers to complete your work on marketing you need to think about what you want to happen after you get a customer your goal is to provide your service satisfy customers and put money into the cash register one time customers can't do the job you need repeat customers to build a profitable annual sales volume when someone returns for your service it is probably because he was satisfied by his previous experience satisfied customers are the best form of advertising if you previously decided to work only for cash take a hard look at your decision customers like to buy on credit often a credit card or other system of credit and collections is needed to attract and hold customers fixtures and equipment no matter whether or not customers will come to your place of business there will be certain equipment and furniture you will need in your place of business which will allow you to perform your service take the time to list that equipment and its cost parts and material you will probably need some kind of parts or material to provide your service take the time to list them and their cost to you before you make any supply arrangements examine the supplier's obsolescence policy this can be a vital factor in service parts purchasing you also look at the supplier's warranty policy now that you have determined the parts and materials you'll need you should think about the type of stock control system you'll use a stock control system should enable you to determine what needs to be ordered on the basis of 1. what is on hand 2. what is on order 3. what has been used overhead take the time to list the overhead items which will be needed examples are rent utilities office help insurance interest telephone postage accountant payroll taxes and licenses or other local taxes if you plan to hire others to help you manage their salaries should be listed as overhead getting the work done an important step in setting up your business is to find and hire capable employees then you must train them to work together to get the job done obviously organization is needed if your business is to produce what you expect it to produce namely profits organization is essential because you as the owner cannot do all the work as your organization grows you have to delegate work responsibility and authority a helpful tool in getting this done is the organization chart it shows at a glance who is responsible for the major activities of a business as an additional aid in determining both what needs to be done and who will do it list each activity that is involved in your business next to the activity indicate who will do it you may do this by name or some other designation such as worker number one remember that a name may appear more than once put your plan into dollars at this point take some time to think about what your business plan means in terms of dollars this section is designed to help you put your plan into dollars the first question concerns the source of dollars after your initial capital investment the major source of money is the sale of your services what dollar volume of business do you expect to do in the next 12 months expenses in connection with your annual dollar volume of business you need to think about expenses if for example you plan to do 100 000 in business what will it cost you to do this amount of servicing and even more important what will be left over as profit at the end of the year never lose sight of the fact that profit is your pay even if you pay yourself a salary for living expenses your business must make a profit if it is to continue year after year and pay back the money you invested in it whether you have the funds savings or borrow them your new business will have to pay back these startup costs keep this fact in mind as you work on the expenses section and on other financial aspects of your plan is additional money needed suppose at this point you have determined that your business plan needs more money than can be generated by sales what do you do what you do depends on the situation for example the need may be for bank credit to tide your business over during the lean months this loan can be repaid during the fat sales months when expenses are far less than sales adequate working capital is necessary for success and survival whether an owner seeks to borrow money for only a month or so or on a long-term basis the lender needs to know whether the business financial position is strong or weak your lender will ask to see a current balance sheet control and feedback to make your plan work you will need feedback for example the year-end profit and loss statement shows whether your business made a profit or loss for the past 12 months but you can't wait 12 months for the score to keep your plan on target you need readings at frequent intervals a profit and loss statement at the end of each month or at the end of each quarter as one type of frequent feedback however the income statement or profit and loss statement p and l may be more of a loss than a profit statement if you rely only on it you must set up management controls which will help you to ensure that the right things are being done from day to day and from week to week in a new business the record-keeping system should be set up before your business opens after you're in business is too late for one thing you may be too busy to give a record-keeping system the proper attention the control system which you set up should give you information about stock sales and disbursement the simpler the system the better its purpose is to give you current information you are after facts with emphasis on trouble spots outside advisors such as an accountant can be helpful stock control the purpose of controlling parts and materials inventory is to provide maximum service to your customers and to see that parts and materials are not lost through pilferage shrinkage errors or waste your aim should be to achieve a high turnover on your inventory the fewer dollars you tie up in inventory the better in a business inventory control helps the owner to offer customers efficient service the control system should enable you to determine what needs to be ordered on the basis of 1 what is on hand 2. what is on order and 3. what has been used in setting up inventory controls keep in mind that the cost of the inventory is not your only cost you will also have costs such as the cost of purchasing the cost of keeping control records and the cost of receiving and storing your inventory sales in a small business sales slips and cash register tapes give the owner feedback at the end of each day to keep on top of sales you will need answers to questions such as how many sales were made what was the dollar amount what credit terms were given to customers disbursements your controls should also give you information about the dollars your company pays out in checking on your bills you do want to know what major items such as paying bills on time to get the suppliers discount are being handled ing to your policies your review system will also give you the opportunity to make judgments on the use of funds in this manner you can be on top of emergencies as well as routine situations your system should also keep you aware that tax monies such as payroll income tax deductions are set aside and paid out at the proper time break even break even analysis as a management control device because the break-even point shows how much you must sell under given conditions in order to just cover your costs with no profit and no loss profit depends on sales volume selling price and costs break even analysis helps you to estimate what a change in one or more of these factors will do to your profits put your plan into action when your plan is as near on target as possible you are ready to put it into action keep in mind that action is the difference between a plan and a dream if a plan is not acted upon it is of no more value than a pleasant dream that evaporates over the breakfast coffee thank you for watching please like this video