My experience starting a business. This is my latest. I am 77 years old and retired. 1 acre plot and old house in Iowa.
my goal was to start a small business that i could make $10-15k/yr. I live on my SS. I may need more as prices seem always to rise..
I am trying different things in a small farm county (8000 people) in South Central Iowa. In 2010 I found equipment that reduced electricity bills if installed correctly. I did some research into the product and saw a lot of controversy because people were over selling it. I found solid research that showed it worked (NY Con Edison 2010, National Institute of standards, and more). Then with $2k, I put together a "sole proprietor" business, made cards, logo, bank account, hand out literature, lined up an installer, bought a good meter and started cold calling. Sold the first units to farm related businesses, hog farmers, dairy farmers, fertilizer plant, freezer plant, grocery store, quick stop.... and a few to homes… actually the businesses wanted a unit for their homes also……. then began to run out of businesses to sell to.
Back to the drawing board...that's where I am now.
I'm re working my idea and putting together a different package just for residential... (I will still sell to businesses though) the units I sell to businesses require a large ele bill ($500/mo up) to show good results. 3 owners requested a small version for their homes….this was curious and I did it and it worked….sort-of…not as well as with their businesses which used lots of electricity..
I now have a RESIDENTIAL PACKAGE: 5 products that work together designed specifically for the small, medium and large homes... the preliminary data shows that I can cut residential ELE AND HEAT bills 30% ($100/mo to $70/mo etc...actually closer to 40% depending on the age of the equipment in the house ...lots of variables but savings work best with older furnaces and AC..... fits our area. I will give a money back guarantee. It works.
By the end of the month i should launch "trial" sales (ads in the county paper) to see if I have all the bases covered and to see if this market responds (get qualified leads). I may also try an ad on the radio. I am also building in a “Lead-generating” aspect into the sell.
we live in a very poor county in iowa...not much expendable income but everyone would want to cut heat and ele bills 30% Right???....we'll see.
What's the message: find a need. Find a market. Trial the product.
If it is not sustainable, try again.
If sustainable great...keep going.
f it GROWS... that is a different challenge: hire people, more money-risk etc. been there and done that eons ago.
I am getting excited about this version of the business because the sale cycle is short, its profitable, companies (that make the products) give 15 year warranty, local ele company gives rebates on 3 of the 5 units.....research shows it works, units installed show that it works.... and it is duplicate-able. the previous version was not....at least not easily duplicate-able, and had an element of danger (working with 640 amp ele.) What I mean by “duplicate-able is that I can hire a salesman to do it too.
I am not trying to make a new "facebook" or iPhone...just a few bucks each year between all the other stuff I do in retirement. Want to chat? Let me know what you are doing…..
jjvon@netins.net
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