I need loads of advice on starting up my own work from home business. I am IAB and AAT qualified and have been sending out letters for the last month and so far only had one reply to which i got really excited then when it came to meeting my new cilent he didnt show up and now it has really put me on a downer. My big problem is experience i have been for interviews with accountants and they go really well but it comes down to lack of experience so i decided to go alone .
I send out around 60 letters to small firms locally every 2 weeks also i sent letters to accountants asking just for work experience but get nothing. What else do you think i can do otherwise im going to give up and go back to warehouse work.
Starting any new business is daunting. So, the first thing I would say is don't give up. 60 letters sound like a lot but its not that many. I would guess that a response rate of 1 in 40 randomly selected businesses is probably what you should expect. Especially if you don't follow up with a telephone call.
There are lots of different ways of building your business and there are loads of forum members here who were in your position once. I'm sure they will be able to give you some great advice.
Ray
(Update) There is lots of start up info. on this forum. See this current thread, for example...... http://www.book-keepers.org.uk/t46451775/is-it-just-me/
-- Edited by Ray2000 on Tuesday 29th of November 2011 10:00:21 PM
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.................just an ICB student, at the moment.
If your problem is experience, then obviously rectifying this by working for some local practice(s) would help - have you considered doing it on a voluntary basis? Voluntary now could result in paid work later on.
The other aspect you mention is your letters. Direct mail (which I assume you are doing) should result in a 10% response rate but this greatly depends on the wording of the letter and who you are addressing it to. 120 letters a month should result in more than 1 reply so my guess (and without actually seeing what you have written) is that the wording is off. I would invest in a book on direct marketing and study it. I usually get about a 12.5% response from my direct mail of which about 20% sign up as clients.
The advice others have given is good, keep plugging away. In B2B direct mail, I would suggest the average response rate is 1%. Are you giving your clients a reason to respond quickly?
Perhaps it's worth posting your letter here and you will be able to get some feedback. It may be with a few tweaks you can increase the response rate dramatically.
Winspear - the response you get will be driven by the quality of the database and the mailer (design, content and any offer).
In my experience, if the database has no relationship with you then you should realistically expect 1% to 2% response. Keep in mind that people need seven exposures before they response and following up on the telephone will greatly increase your response.
Also know that (like bookkeeping/accounting) there is best practice and methodology in marketing. If you are not using this it's like a business owner doing their books and not understanding double entry and bank reconciliation.
The things I would suggest you look at before spending any more time and money are:
Positioning
Permission Based Marketing
Direct Response Marketing
Dave - interesting metrics. In my experience, a 10% response is very high, would you mind sharing the contents of the letter and what database you are using?
