10 months into my business and I am finding it very hard.

I love what I do, I do it very well, I have the best product in the market, strong backing (financial and logistical) and am very good at dealing with clients. But still it feels like I am trying to swim up a waterfall.

I have one main competitor who previously held a monopoly and who's name is almost a by-word for the products within Ireland. While their products and service are regarded as very poor, through deals and their parent business they have direct connections with almost every major client in the country.

I have been told by contacts within my industry that several companies have together decided to do everything to run me out of business. Even state organisations have strung me along at a safe distance for months then suddenly dropped all contact, avoided my calls and then awarded the work to one of the companies mentioned previous. My competitor has also offered clients free service just to make sure I won't get the work.
One time I had a big meeting with one of the county's top sporting organisations, the day before, the person I needed to meet told me he couldn't make it and that he'd send his assistant. I suggested postponing, he said no. I found out after that my competition acts as consultant to this organisation, heard about my meeting and called an emergency meeting purely so the guy couldn't meet me. It was like a kick in the teeth.

The last 10 months have been an incredible rollercoaster ride and I will not be stopping. Even without external forces I have made many errors of my own, eg I now see that I practically priced myself out of the market for the first 5 months. Being the best doesn't seem to be important. What matters is being cheapest! I also need to find ways to raise my presence. Sending out full colour, glossy brochures just doesn't seem to make people book me. I reckon that 80% of my market wouldn't even think of me when they want my products. Even though I have rang, email and sent promo material to them for the last 10 months!! Crazy!

Any thoughts? Have other business owners here experienced similar things? An extremely succesful freind of mine tells me that I have everything and that I just need that one last ingredient.....that lucky break. It better be quick!!

I don't know what you are selling but in general terms sales is all about personal relationships. I don't mean doing anything underhand but you have to meet people face to face and impress them and make them like you. Their impression of you is probably more important than their impression of what you are selling. If they meet you and like you they will be happy to take calls from you in the future, as they will feel better when they get off the phone than when they did before they took the call.
Forget about mail shots, get face-to-face meetings and find a point of commonality.
You are right about price; it always comes first if you are talking to an organisation that is lead by its purchasing department. Quality and service will keep you in their good books once you are in the door. At that stage you might be able to increase your margins.
Your competition will do everything to put you out of business, that's just the way it is. Since you used to work for them they may feel even stronger about this. If you have a virtual monopoly would you not do everything you could to defend it?
Have you poached any clients/ contracts from your old company? If not why not since you must have had a relationship with some of them?

Icarus

I am in a similar boat and all i can do is echo what Purple has said. As a new player in the market you have to show what you can provide that others cannot. You will not do that no matter how many glossy brochures you have or how many emails you send. After all when was the last time you purchased anything straight out of a brochure or email without having some sort of relationship with the company before?

Also, if your competitor is the incumbant in the market you have to convince customers to change over to you. People hate change and the risks that go with it. So you need to minimise the risk for your customers. Not knowing the product you sell it is difficult to recommend a strategy for this, but for example you could say if my product does not deliver xyz to you then you get your money back. Obviously xyz need to be quantifiable and measurable but if you can do the above then you take the risk away from the customer and put it on you. This can often help close a deal.

In this country business is done on a relationship basis and on how much you can trust the other party. So look into those areas and best of luck.

C

Purple:
Thanks for the feedback. You're completely right about the value of realtionships being built up face to face. I really have learnt that this year. Part of my tactical plan for 2006 is not about trying to land bookings as much as simply getting to meet potential clients in the flesh. The adage "just get your foot in the door" couldn't more pertinent! The times I have managed to get a client to meet me have nearly always turned into bookings. As for poaching clients? I was in the technical end with my previous employer and rarely dealt directly with clients, but yes, I have poached a few and am working on more. I think that I am slowly getting their trust and by extension the trust of the market place. I was also told that my age was a factor (32 and look younger), but I think the new beard has sorted that out!

Diddles & Theo:
I've PM'd you.

Capaill:
Money back garauntee? That is a simple but very good idea. I will be using that. Thanks!

Hi Icarus

I was in the technical end with my previous employer and rarely dealt directly with clients

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This worries me. Many engineering and technical people assume that the purchasing decision is a logical one and that the best product will win out. It is extremely rare that one person has both technical skills and sales skills. From some of your comments, it looks as if you don't have the sales experience or skills and they take time to acquire. I think you should hire a salesperson. Try them on a contract basis first of all and see how it works out. A good salesperson will make a huge difference.

I have been told by contacts within my industry that several companies have together decided to do everything to run me out of business.

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This does not tie in with the statement that your former employer dominates the industry. Why would these guys bother getting together to run a small new player out of the industry? You might be flattering yourself. While you should be alert, don't look for a conspiracy everywhere. Focus on the selling and be patient.

You have some customers already. Make sure that they recommend you to their friends who might user your services. Ask them for testimonials which you can include on your literature.

If, by any chance, you do have evidence that your competitors are colluding to reduce competition in the market, then you should refer them to the Competition Authority as it is a criminal offence. But they will want evidence and not suspicions.


Brendan

Brendan said:

This worries me. Many engineering and technical people assume that the purchasing decision is a logical one and that the best product will win out. It is extremely rare that one person has both technical skills and sales skills. From some of your comments, it looks as if you don't have the sales experience or skills and they take time to acquire. I think you should hire a salesperson. Try them on a contract basis first of all and see how it works out. A good salesperson will make a huge difference.

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I work in a highly technical field and have both sales and technical experience. Just a note on hiring a salesperson. Depending on the depth of technical expertise required to sell the 'product' it can be very difficult to hire the right people. Very often you need someone with both backgrounds so I would say (and have experience of this within a number of companies - including my present one) that it is usually techies with a flare for selling that make the best sales people.

Not true in all cases granted but just thought I'd point it out.

Brendan:
If I was to hire a sales person I'd be the first in my end of the industry to do so. It would be a disaster. What I do is by no means rocket science but there are only a handful of people in Ireland with the required knowledge and experience doing it. The last 10 months have been like the ultimate course in sales training where the price of failure is very high indeed. Alot of my mistakes have been sales related. I don't intend on making them again.

"Don't look for a Conspiracy"?!
I don't have to look for one. I am not here to moan but to air my experiences and perhaps receive advice.
Let me clarify my example below: A number of MD's from companies related to my industry meet regularly for lunch. One of them brought my name up in relation to a contract I was chasing with a governmental agency, he told the whole table: "That fella and his backers will never get that contract and I garauntee it. He was supposed to met Mr. x on Tuesday and I made sure he didn't". I later found out that this same guy is on the board of directors for several bodies within this agency. Then all of a sudden he takes delivery of the kind of equipment I was offering for the contract. Very good business if you are him. Completely unfair if you are anyone else. And yes, probably illegal too. Although to do anything about it would be commercial suicide.

I reckon this kind of thing happens everyday in every facet of every business. It's actually not that big a deal but it is deeply frustrating when you meet it head on.

But in order to expand, you will have to take and train more people. You can only do so much as an MD of your own company.

I used to run my own company, i was doing the selling, installing, maintenace and what happens is instead of plotting the future you end up just trying to keep up and not having the time to expand.

if you backers believe in what you are selling and want you to be successful surely they have also told you this?

Thanks

Brehon

icarus.
Your obviously trying to avoid saying what buisness your in ,but come on give us a hint.!

This may be of use?

http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/Grow/

Hi Icarus, in my area it is also a prerequisite that sales people have a technical background. If you can't back up the talk and impress and allay the concerns of potential customers they will show you the door (and lock it behind you).

I would agree with D8lady that a call to Enterprise Ireland would do no harm. If you have English backers you should tell them to get in touch with the IDA as well but if you are not introducing a new technology into the country, providing more employment or manufacturing a product you will find it hard to get much money out of them.

I'd like to thank everyone for the comments and replies to my post. Definitely got me thinking. Over the last while I've had to really take stock of what I'm doing in the business and learn from what's gone wrong. I guess that will always be the case. Anyway, my first quarter of next year is looking like it will generate more than all of 2005 so things are looking a little better. Thank god, maybe I'll actually start being able to sleep again!!

Also, I had to laugh with this weeks news of a price fixing cartel amongst car dealers. It happens in other industries other than my own! They an organised structure and even kept minutes from their meeings! I'm sure that they will all end up in jail. Or maybe not.

Hey Icarus,

I'm set up and running a non profit making business for just over a year.
The hardest thing i had to deal with is seeing the wood for the trees.

In other words you need to do what you do best, and focus on that!
Get people to do what you dont do so well or dont like doing as much...

You are the Owner and boss at the end of the day, all success and failure rests with you, you need to make sure you are growing your "COMPANY" (strategy etc)as much as running your "Business" (sales etc). There are too distinct roles here.

The top man should have the time available to him to reflect on where you are and where you are going. If you do great, if you dont replan.

But i completely get what you are saying! i fell like packing it all in daily as well as feeling elated daily.
But the most important thing for a entrepreneur is to step back from the business every now and then and reflect, not enuf people do that.

And remember success is only a measure of how close you come to realising your goals. The hard part is identifing them.

I would take it as a compliment that the competitor is identifing you as a threat! By yourself a pint, and think back to what you were thinking about 12 months ago.

Icarus said:

Also, I had to laugh with this weeks news of a price fixing cartel amongst car dealers. It happens in other industries other than my own! They an organised structure and even kept minutes from their meeings! I'm sure that they will all end up in jail. Or maybe not.

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They just might, if you report them to the Competition Authority. If you don't report them, it won't happen.

I think you need to be a bit realistic in your expectations of the Competition Authority, and the likelihood of anything been done on foot of a complaint to them. Their ex Chairman indicated in their 2004 annual report that he was targeting one cartel prosecution per year. This target will probably not be achieved (despite increased funding over the last number of years). They no longer give details of the number of complaints received and action taken, but based on earlier annual reports they were only giving any second stage (more detailed) consideration to less than 1% of complaints (compared with 5% for the UKs OFT). For various reasons I don't see the additional monies made available to them for enforcement improving the situation to any significant extent.

I have just found out about the guy I mentioned above has landed another very lucrative deal with a government body that he has strong links with. This same body told me a month ago that all contracts must by law be put out to tender. They weren't. Go figure.

Drop-d: Good words and very, very true. We have to enjoy the ride as well as the arrival!

Icarus

If you belive the Government agency did not put the deal out to tender you can appeal the decision. Depending on the level of the contract and its value the tender must be published in different publications. Check the www.etenders.gov.ie website for more information and indeed the tender may be up there.

C

What I reckoned happened is that it was never to go out to tender and that they just said that to me to throw me off the trail. It has happened before. It's not the end of the world, just anoying. I'm finding my niche in the market and I'm going to concentrate on that.
The person I am talking about entertains politicians at horse races, a level of insider contact I can only dream of! It's just really frustrating to be able to provide the best product at the best price and still see the government contracts go to the same direction every single time.

Icarus

As stated above, if you do believe that their is inappropriate actions being conducted by a government department then you have ways to get that looked into. Especially given the current political climate and outrage at the way contracts have been awarded and managed in the past, i.e. PPARs.

C

Icarus, getting gov deals is very hard and requires specialist focus on this one target alone and I suspect you do not have the resources for that.

Despite the apparent openness of etenders they still seem to go to companies who are established and have scale. There is an etenders "Panel" that you can register for where the tender amount is below that of the publishing requirement so that is an option. At least you are on the radar for the smaller deals. If you can't find it let me know.

You will achieve better satisfaction by winning -and earning- new customers. It is rare breed indeed that can be top dog in both technical and sales fields simultaneously. You have invested considerable effort in your technical product development -now you will have to invest 100 times that in sales and marketing- You will need to hire a pure sales person (driven by one thing and one thing only -money-) and invest in marketing your product. Consider partnerships with companies that already trade well with your target customers. They have, after all, an established relationship -somethnig you do not have- You may only get 50% of the deal but it's better than 0% !