Renew Discussion

I am racking my mind trying to find an industry with a service need.

I have a number of years' experience hiring, training, and managing field service people.

My primary experience is serving retail and real estate clients.

I would like to offer real solutions to business and have a field staff provide the needed service.

One idea might be: I would like to consider offering a "green" business which helps companies meet corporate goals to be more sustainable.

Please offer any insight or business ideas for me to consider.

lbrock1@yahoo.com

Thanks,

Luke

Luke,

There are two services that are always in demand:

1. Show me how to get more customers.

2. Show me how to save money.

I don't see how your "green business" idea fits with #1 but it can work for #2.

How about offering some type of on site "audit" of the materials and equipment (and services, for that matter) used by a company. You can show them how to save money by recycling, buying products made from recycled materials, or even something as simple as making sure their equipment is turned off when not in use, can put dollars in their pockets.

You would need to provide estimates of money saved. You would want to maximize the savings by giving a 12 month total. For example, if an office has 5 computers and they are left on overnight and each one uses 20 cents of electricity in that time - that's a $365 per year waste of money.


You can charge a fee for the service based on the potential savings discovered, that could be paid by the savings realized, essentially costing the customer nothing if they go along with your recommendations.

This can be expanded to include audits of telephone service plans, web site hosting services even measuring office space to see that rent isn't being overpaid on a square foot basis (ex. lease calls for 3000 sq. ft. but actual measurement is 2,850 sq. ft. - this is grounds for a 5% rent reduction and a rebate from past payments).You could even offer to negotiate with suppliers for better pricing.

You could offer some type of guarantee that, if the potential savings you discover don't equal a certain amount, there is no charge.

Lots of possibilities here.

Good Luck

Steve Patrick

Steve,

I have thought of this type of business in the past as I really understand how to help businesses evaluate the true ROI of an asset or program. My current work has me cost justifying work through runnig ROI analysis' for CFO's, etc...

Thanks for the help.

Questions:

1. Do you know what percentage of verifiable savings I could expect to ask for as a fee? I want to be known as a "High Value" business which does not mean "Low Cost".

2. What is the type of business or industry for this company? Is it a consulting firm?

3. Are there ever upfront costs to the client?

4. Are there any examples of companies who do this that I can research?

5. How saturated is it?

Any additional insight would be appreciated. Thanks for the help already.

Luke Brock

I'm not sure I have all your answers but I'll give it a shot.

1. I don't think you would want to charge so much that it couldn't be paid within 12 months by the estimated savings accrued. If you could save a company $3000 over 12 months, I'd think you could charge at least 1/2 of that amount.

2. You could call it a consulting firm but I think it would be more closely related to a home inspector in the real estate business.

3. I wouldn't charge anything up front unless there are significant expenses - travel, for instance, if the company is out of your area.

4. There are companies that specialize in telephone bill auditing but I can't think of any that offer comprehensive services.

5. I don't know this but I can't think of anyone who does it in my area (suburban Chicago).

The fact is that most small and medium sized business purchases are poorly researched. Many times, vendors are simply used because the purchasing agent's predecessor used them (and maybe was related). I can't think of one item I use in my business that - if I really devoted time to it - I couldn't buy at a better price.

Hope this helps.