The existence stage is the first stage of a small business in water damage restoration. As your company grows, you are going to face all kinds of challenges and how you handle these challenges is a big determinant of what the future of your water damage business looks like.
Many small business owners excel in the existence stage. Let’s face it, we’re entrepreneurs and we don’t chase new ideas because it’s easy. We get purpose and fulfillment from being able to strike out on our and do something outside of the constraints of employment in a nine to five. Because of this, most owners don’t shy away from the hard work and long hours. We’re ready to run the business ourselves to save money and make sure things are done the right way.
The existence stage is all about the beginning of the business. The owner is wearing all the hats, doing a lot of the work and survival of the business depends heavily on your ability to find more customers.
Challenges of the Existence Stage
While operating in the existence phase, money will be tight. Many restoration specialists will find themselves operating at loss and will need to raise funds to keep their business going. Once funds are secured, spending decisions have to be made very carefully to ensure that your business has enough cash to keep running until the health of your cash flow improves.
You’re also going to feel like you’re in this alone. Take heart in knowing that you won’t feel this way forever and that a lot of successful business owners have been exactly where you are right now.
Opportunities of the Existence Stage
We know that the beginning stage of growing a business is challenging, but let’s not ignore the perks of running a baby business. There is something incredibly freeing about having nothing to lose and everything to gain. You can give finding new customers your all, which means taking big risks and trying different marketing strategies.
As far as operations go, this is a time of experimenting. You’re not set in your ways, because you haven’t really spent any time coming up with a standard way of doing things. Take this opportunity to try different processes and find out what works best for you and your employees.
Moving on to the Next Stage
The existence stage can be a lot of fun. Each new customer feels like a major win and running a business single-handedly is full of excitement. It’s important to move past this phase, however, so here are a few ideas for surviving the existence phase and moving on to the next stage of growth for your business.
- Try out every potential source of leads. The goal at this point is to book as much business as you can handle to increase revenue.
- Use free services, like carpet cleaning, for potential referrals like insurance agents and plumbing contractors to get the word out there about your business.
- Keep a close eye on your funds. It is hard to break even with a new business and the most important thing is to stay afloat until you do.
At More Floods, we specialize in supporting business owners as they focus on growing and scaling their water damage restoration company. To learn more about the resources and training we offer our members, click here or call 1-866-667-3356.