The Cost Of Finding Business

Cost of getting business

What will it cost me to find customers?

I’ve put this in the Mechanics list because these costs need to be part of your thinking about expenses and you’ll need to put them into your Cash Flow Forecast - most people underestimate these costs.

Your “Finders Fee”

Although this isn’t a marketing guide (for that I recommend these Marketing Tools) you do need to think about the possible cost of finding new business. As a rule of thumb allow maybe 40% of your time and budget devoted to finding work.

The big time waster - advertising

The folks at Yellow Pages monitor new business start-ups and will call you soon after you register your business. They will offer a very attractive package that goes something like for just £300 over 10,000 potential customers will see your business. This is, of course, nonsense and you need to ask a couple of questions - “How long will it take to change all the directories?” And more important, “Do my customers actually look in Yellow Pages?”. Do the same when the local rugby club ask you to sponsor their calendar!

Here’s a list of common approaches to finding business. Your job is to think about what they might cost you and add these costs to your cash flow forecast:

Think of it as a “finders fee” or the cost, to you, of finding business. Let ROI guide you. Which approach is going to give you the biggest return for your investment of time and money?

Only do marketing activity that makes you money or saves you money - doing anything else is a cost which you are funding from your own pocket.

Everything you need to know about the mechanics of setting up a business in the UK

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This briefing note is an extract from The Red Stuff Handbook™

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