The Only Proof I Have
I'm trying to break into the marketing consulting field and have very little experience.
The only proof that I have that I can help small businesses is that a few years back, I bought what was left of the inventory from a health food store that had been closed down for a few weeks. I re-opened under another name and used Dan Kennedy/Jay Abraham techniques to build the business back up. They had a mailing list that I utilized, plus I started a referral program, newsletters, customer follow up system, etc.
I got sales up from $60k (pre-close) to $100k within 2 years. Since my net margins were so good because I was a one-man show, my overhead was extremely low and I negotiated discounts w/suppliers, etc., I was able to get a reasonable salary plus a little profit.
Since I put very little time into the business, I was pretty happy. I actually spent most of my time writing and recording music in my little studio in the back of the store
.
After a couple years I had had enough of retail plus two new stores had opened close by and the market was getting extremely tight so I decided to move on and sold the store. I got all of my investment back and made a small ($10k) profit on the sale.
Nothing to write home about, but I wonder if I should consider sharing my story in my marketing as the only real proof I have. Like they say, something's better than nothing.
I'm thinking that in ads and sales letters I won't get into the numbers of the story as that's not going to impress anyone. But just say that I took a failed business, increased sales by 50% and made it profitable in two years. If anyone asks me about the numbers, I guess I'll just blush before I tell them.
Any advice is appreciated.
The only proof that I have that I can help small businesses is that a few years back, I bought what was left of the inventory from a health food store that had been closed down for a few weeks. I re-opened under another name and used Dan Kennedy/Jay Abraham techniques to build the business back up. They had a mailing list that I utilized, plus I started a referral program, newsletters, customer follow up system, etc.
I got sales up from $60k (pre-close) to $100k within 2 years. Since my net margins were so good because I was a one-man show, my overhead was extremely low and I negotiated discounts w/suppliers, etc., I was able to get a reasonable salary plus a little profit.
Since I put very little time into the business, I was pretty happy. I actually spent most of my time writing and recording music in my little studio in the back of the store
.After a couple years I had had enough of retail plus two new stores had opened close by and the market was getting extremely tight so I decided to move on and sold the store. I got all of my investment back and made a small ($10k) profit on the sale.
Nothing to write home about, but I wonder if I should consider sharing my story in my marketing as the only real proof I have. Like they say, something's better than nothing.
I'm thinking that in ads and sales letters I won't get into the numbers of the story as that's not going to impress anyone. But just say that I took a failed business, increased sales by 50% and made it profitable in two years. If anyone asks me about the numbers, I guess I'll just blush before I tell them.
Any advice is appreciated.
Coming soon!