Asking for help - need a pro to evaluate my business idea

Hey man,

I'd be happy to help - just shoot me a PM .

Cheers,
Adam.

Ask Claude Whitacre or Ken Michaels if they'd be willing.

There are others I'd also trust. Those are the two at the top of MY list for bouncing ideas off.

It would help to know what market, ie. financial services, internet services...

But, yeah, the above gentlemen, and possibly Warriors Peter Lessard, Oziboomer, IamNameless,
savidge4, ewenmack, and DABK. (Sorry for leaving anyone else out, but it's the end of the day.)

Just post it here. You will get lots of input.

Nobody is going to steal it and ideas are 100% worthless anyway - it's all in the execution.

Reminds me of a mastermind group I was in.

The lawyer in the group had the idea of performing legal exposure audits for a fee.
I did not see anything particularly proprietary or original about the idea, but the other
four guys sure did and we all swore to secrecy - so to speak.

The idea I have is this

I have an existing graphic design/screen printing business. Not your typical one though. i really just market to law enforcement and public safety because its the career I am in already and most of the work easily comes through networking.

Due to the fact that I am a one man show with this and I pretty much have a good hold on local stuff, in an effort to branch out. I would either need a long lesson on marketing and strategy and all that and hope for the best, or I can attempt to use the networking theory and utilize other cops looking to work as commission based sales reps. They would not have to do much work other than bring the leads to me. I would do most of the selling because I have the knowledge. I would just give them something like 20 percent of the net for the work. Sounds simple, however this is where i am wondering if this part is a good idea.

I am also setting up an online tactical store where I would sell all kinds of top brand equipment. There are plenty of competitors, however I am not looking to compete with them. What I am looking to do is incorporate the two together in an incentive program. If my sales person brings me jobs, depending on the type of money involved, I would provide the customer with a custom coupon code with a pre determined life that they can give to their department, union or whatever to save excellent amounts of cash on items they would pay way more at my competitors. I am thinking that if I incorporate the two together, I would make money on both ends, so would my sales reps, and the word of mouth spreads and gets me a better hold on the industry. It is a simple idea, but I am wondering what professionals think of it.

There is no overhead for me. The sales reps bring me business that i would never get in places I probably never knew existed. So I think its a win win for everyone. Once I get a better hold, I planned on rolling out a line of apparel designed by me to market to these same customers.

Law enforcement is an industry that its members, family, friends and enthusiasts love wearing their t shirts and sweatshirts and hats. That is what I am looking to capitalize on.

Also my pricing for printing is competitive, and way better than the online companies that so many people go to when they cant find a good screen printer.

Please send me feedback

Ty

Legendary,

I don't see much of a downside to your sales rep plan. Other than time & energy, you don't have much to lose...except if you get a bad reputation as "that pushy company that keeps trying to get in here."

So here's what it comes down to, if you go in the sales rep direction:

You have to be really careful about choosing your reps.

This is true in car dealerships, even though they act otherwise--what's the cost of adding one more commission sales rep? Nuthin'...nothing financially as an outlay, anyway...but what if they suck? What if they're offensive? Now that hurts your reputation.

So pick carefully. Give them some skills and knowledge. Don't just dump them out there into the world of selling...give them a process to follow. Show them you're there to support them.

Make sure they've got proof they've done sales work before, or have the interest for it. Do not look for people wanting to make a quick buck--they'll represent you badly and come and go fast.

What you're looking for boils down to a network of people "inside" who are consistently bringing you qualified leads.

You can get them to sell as well, but if they bring you the leads that's cool at this point, too.

Screen heavily...and if you can, I'd reward them with a higher amount than just 20% of the sale. Remember as you said yourself, they are probably bringing you business you'd never get otherwise. Unless your margins are razor thin, you can afford to reward them more for doing so.

Be cautious. Slow. Deliberate. "I was thinking about this...just an idea...what do you think?" See if it fits the individual's mindset and beliefs about themselves. Don't go crazy pushing the idea. There's a gestalt thing with this stuff...the more you push the more they draw back. Let the good ones think it's their idea.

Have a system outlined before you start recruiting. If you want some instructional video content on commission sales teams, let me know and I'll link you. Key is be deliberate, be cautious. Don't be in a rush. Build a real team and take the time to create relationships that last, which you already know are so important. This isn't a fit for everybody. Let them pick themselves.

Having someone "on the inside" is incredibly valuable as you've noticed.

I used to be the product manager for an Inc. Top 1000 mobility equipment firm, and to sell inside hospitals it was a huge advantage to have a retired nurse as the rep.

The nurses were delighted to be able to wear nice clothes and not have to lug patients around (and occasionally drop them accidentally.)

Our top franchisees' parents owned some hospitals.

The tech training head of a major supplier was a nurse, and he ran a nursing industry & training association.

To walk into a hospital and try and see the administrators and decision makers without that nursing certification and experience was a tough road. With it, they knew you were "one of us" and had been through the experiences they had.

So this is why I recommend going the rep route. Your marketing materials will have a much greater chance of "bouncing off", while someone who's in the organization will be taken much more seriously.

Another target: Bored retirees who want a reason to come back and see their buddies on the force. I'm sure you can get names and referrals without difficulty.

There is a good bit of diagnosis that could be done here before someone can give you a clear answer on the way forward. I am feeling that there is a bit of uncertainty in your value proposition.

If you know exactly what you are offering and exactly why they should buy from you and exactly who should do this buying - you will have a much easier time.

In my opinion, this is something that you need to work out before bringing on outside sellers. You will need to be able to tell them who to talk with and how and train them to make the sale.

For the first few months, it needs to be you out there making these sales so you can learn exactly what people are looking for and how they want it.

It seems that getting someone else to handle this part for you is the best way (everyone thinks that at first) but you have to know - this IS the business.

The things you sell are not the business. People can get "things" anywhere.

HOW you get the things to the customer and the customer to pay for them - THAT is the business.

So, you can't expect other to build your business for you until you have actually laid the foundation yourself.

Guys, thank you so much for all of this input. I wish i knew about this forum a few years back

bizgrower, you hit the nail on the head with one thing. I do worry about being the low price leader. I assume that its not necessary, I am just looking for ways to lock in business. I figured that if I offer the incentive program showing the discounts on the gear, I could charge competitive full freight for the printing. That would give me a little juice on the gear but the regular profit on the printing.

In police departments, its hard to find the decision makers, hence the reason I believe that the inside people are so important. The plus to this part of it is that once you do a good job, the word of mouth goes crazy.

Another question I have is this. My wholesaler provided me with access to their site, they also provided me an FTP site with all of their databases of their items and CD of photos. The site I use for my site now (weebly) accepts the data, but in a different format, making it damn near impossible for me to migrate it over.

Any ideas on what I can do. I spoke to a few companies online and was getting quoted 15k. But on freelancer getting quoted 300 in India.

Brand Contact | Promotive


https://www.thegrommet.com/about-us/what-is-a-grommet
(I think the products they list have to be original.)