Viability

[Martin Dubow]

Sure, Terry,

I guess I should be encouraged, since you're impressed with how many customers
I've
rounded up.

I have two successful actions. Firstly, I hire my 15 year old and a bunch of his
friends to hand
out a professionally layed out flyer. I pay them $75 per 1000 handed out. They
are handed out in
mainly upscale neighborhoods. And they hand out lots of flyers. LOTS!  My
biggest two months were
November and December, about 40 customers per month.

Secondly, I have a piano tuner friend who has a very large file of old customers
whose pianos he's
no longer willing to tune. I'm not so choosey about whose piano I tune and I do
regular mailings to
these people. And each time I do a mailing, I get more responses.

It all hinges on frequency and amount of outflow. I hit the same neighborhoods
over and over again, and so far continue to get responses.

That's pretty much it.

Martin









Charly Tuner wrote:

> Martin,
>
> I, for one, would sure like to hear HOW you managed to round up 150,
> customers in JUST 7 months...or as Andrew Remillard points out, about 21 1/2
> NEW customers EVERY month! Please let me in on your secret.
>
> Terry Peterson
> Los Angeles, CA
> Associate Member, PTG
>
> >From: ANRPiano@AOL.COM
> >Reply-To: pianotech@ptg.org
> >To: pianotech@ptg.org
> >Subject: Re: Viability
> >Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 08:35:44 EDT
> >
> >  Seven months ago I got my first check for tuning a piano. I now have
> >  close to 150 customers. It feels like it's going to take forever to
> >actually
> >  become viable.
> >
> >  My question is: How long did it take you to get enough customers to be
> >  viable, and how many customers do you consider that is? I understand that
> >viability
> >  is different for different people, but I'm just trying to get an idea, on
> >the average,
> >  how long it's going to take.
> >  >>
> >
> >Martin, Martin,
> >
> >You need to do a little math.  BTW have you done a business plan yet?  I
> >doubt you have, otherwise you wouldn't have asked this question.
> >
> >You have in seven months developed 150 customers, that is about 21 1/2 new
> >customers a month.  At this rate you will conservatively end up with 250
> >customers at the end of your first year.  For the sake of illustration, (if
> >the FTC police will let me) you charged $60 a tuning and had no repeats you
> >earn about $15,000 your first year.  That is if you have no repeat business
> >(unlikely) and you didn't perform even the minimum extra services, i.e.,
> >hammer filing, key bushings, cleaning, etc.  If you haven't you are not a
> >technician but just a tooner and with 250 pianos you certainly can earn an
> >additional $4,000 -- $5,000 a year doing these "extras."  I know $20,000 a
> >year will not make you a rich man but that is just the first year.  BTW did
> >you pick up an old junker to rebuild for the experience as well as to earn
> >something however little in your free time?
> >
> >The second year: Half of your first years customers will die, move, get
> >divorced, quit taking lessons, decide to use someone else, sell the piano,
> >etc.  I hope you can continue the blistering pace of 21 new customers a
> >month
> >so your income may be in the neighborhood of $30,000.
> >
> >The third year: The phone stops ringing for three months.  You can't scare
> >up
> >a tuning to save your life.  You call through everybody who ever had to
> >tune
> >their piano with little success.  You rebuilt a piano or two which you
> >can't
> >sell.  This my friend is gut check time.  If you pass the test (there will
> >be
> >others) you are on your way to a prosperous future.  If you run your
> >business
> >well and develop a well thought out business plan and execute it you may
> >even
> >earn a six figure income someday.
> >
> >Andrew Remillard
> >
> >Running a well thought out business plan for 10 years.
>
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