My friend was in town, and we were going to go fishing, taking our kayaks with us. As I loaded the second kayak in the back of my pickup truck, the tip barely touched the rear window, and it shattered. I called a company to replace my window, which was listed at the top of Google, with the highest amount of reviews. They did not respond. Instead, their voicemail answered with a message from the owner saying to leave a name and number. The owner also added that they’ve been too busy and haven’t been able to find anyone to help answer the phones.
This is a perfect example, showing you who you’re competing against. The owner hopes employees will walk through the front door who want to work for him, or that if he puts an ad on Indeed, people will show up and treat his business like he does. He does not take ownership of hiring his employees; he does not know how to recruit people or even tries that hard to find and train them. The other problem is that he only does the work he wants to do.
Another company that I went to doesn’t even have a number for you to call, only a form that you can fill out online. The form itself takes too long to complete, and it makes it difficult for you to know if you ordered the right window. However, I was able to schedule an appointment for the following week for the cost of $520 to replace my window.
The one company that did pick up the phone, they could fit me in three days later for $850. The point, from this example, is that you can name your price if you just pick up the phone.
As a business owner, you can think about this in one of two ways. You can say to yourself that this is not an area you want to compete in because it’s hard work. You have to learn how to replace a window and hire new employees. The other option is if these companies are your competition, then there are plenty of opportunities out there. Simply put: take ownership of your employees and don’t be afraid to charge good money–put your hat in the game.
Three Key Takeaways
- Know who you are competing against. There are plenty of opportunities to succeed where other businesses are failing. It doesn’t take much to be better than the competition!
- Take ownership of your employees! Learn how to recruit and train them to know how to run your business. It’s your business and will succeed or fail because of what you do. I have a fantastic online business course to help you hire the right people.
- Don’t be afraid to put your hat in the game. You can charge good money if you can pick up and answer the phone where other companies won’t. There’s a lot to learn from simply attempting something, and just because it’s not what you’re “passionate about” does not mean you can’t make good money from it.
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