Believe it or not Craigslist is a pretty good place to advertise, and except for a few places/ad types, it's absolutely free. I spent around $200 about a year ago to print up and sent out tri fold flyers to about 150 different companies in the immediate area and within about 150 -200 miles of me. All that resulted in was one new customer. His machine has been sitting here since I tore it down back in Feb waiting on him to get the money to get the parts needed to finish the job...and for me to get paid....
On the other hand I've placed several adds on just the local, Charlotte, Craigslist, and answered a couple more for people looking for an equipment mechanic in the same amount of time. I've gotten maybe half a dozen responses just askign about rates, etc, etc. In addition the adds have also gotten me about 10 new customers. Four or fiveof those have been back several times with different pieces of equipment, and the others all left happy with the work I did and guarantees of getting their work back again the next time they need something done.
Like I said that's just from placing and answering a couple of free adds on one local part of Craigslist. Take the time to do it in all of the different cities and states and I'd just about bet you'd be suprised how much business it'll bring to you. It's all a matter of scale. Just because there might be only a dozen or so potential customers out of the 10,000 people in your general area, that could still equate to thousands plus of customers in the millions of people that your adds would potentially reach.
All of that said, just keeping any kind of repair business open the way the economy is going right now is difficult to say the least....and that's said based on one with over 25 years in business..... Believe me, since Dad sort of decided to 'retire' and give me the reigns I'm having to take over the business and do it all on my own. He started it in '86 and I got on back about '98 but given te economy and personal reasons he decided last year to do something new. Thing is I'm trying to do it all now right by myself and trying to keep as many of the old customers who are still in business as possible. To do this I've had to cut my rates (ie-reduce my profits and still be able to make a living myself) to match with their capability to pay based on their work situations (ie lack thereof), as well as cultivate new customers.....and while doing it all to make sure that regardless of who I work for that I get paid for my time and don't get screwed...especially out of any hard cash/out of pocket expenses. The latter I do by getting quotes, etc for all but the most inexpensive parts and letting the customer call and pay for everything out of their own pockets so I'm not tying up and chancing my own money. Beyond that all I can say is if you are seriously considering trying to get a new business started.....I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST, AND GOOD LUCK.....
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Today's Featured Article - A Cautionary Tale - by Ian Minshull. In the early 1950s my father bought an Allis Chalmers B and I used it for all the row crop work with the mangolds and potatoes, rolling and the haymaking on our farm. The farm and the Allis were sold and I have spent a lifetime working on farms throughout the country. I promised myself that one day I would own an Allis. That time event
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