Any historian will tell you that international trade, the enormous success of the United States as a colony, and later as a country, and the rise of the British Empire all got a humble beginning from sheep.
Before Britain became a powerhouse of trade and got all their fancy buildings, they were farmers. They sat down and realized they had an abundance of sheep. So they decided to take what they had and use it as a trade incentive to whoever was in need of clothing.
They searched out trade partners, set up remote establishments where they would house their own countrymen in the receiving country, turned the wool into clothing, dyed it and sold it to their newly befriended trading partner.
This sets up what we know now as the British Empire and later the United States of America as powerhouses of international trade and wealth. Imagine for a minute all of what we know today, as far as international trade and business, was started because of some of “the fallas” tending their sheep. Instead of focusing on how bad things were or how great other nations were doing, they hunkered down and went with what they had and built from there.
THE LESSON LEARNED
A much needed business lesson can be learned from those ventures, the most important of which are focusing on what you excel at, executing at an extremely high level and marketing it to your surrounding area.
In a world of what seems to be an insurmountable heap of plumbing companies per square mile, along with the clutter and exhaustion the internet puts on your business, it can be very difficult to stand out. Advertising simply as a good plumbing company will take your local $1,000 ad and turn it into camouflage.
Stand out by specializing — especially if you are a startup business. You can’t be everything to everyone. Forgo what some guys do, spreading out too far too fast. There are startups that seemingly spawn overnight into plumbing, heating, windows, insulation, siding, doors, restoration and house cleaning specialists. By doing this, you will have turned yourself into a slipshod handyman business overnight.
When you appear to be conducting yourself as a handyman, you will only ever receive handyman wages. Don’t confuse making a profitable living with “getting by.”
FOCUS ON YOUR NICHE
Try instead to focus your marketing efforts on plumbing and knuckle-down on what you personally excel at. What are you and your men and women excellent at? Installing and repairing well water systems? Tankless water heaters? Drain cleaning?
Say, for example, you excel at installing and repairing well water systems. There may be a hundred companies in your town who do the same type of work, but do they market themselves as the well experts? Marketing is all about finding your niche and pounding it into the brains of the locals repeatedly until the terms “well water” and “plumbing” are synonymous with your company’s name.
Plumbing companies are often run by plumbers who mimic what other plumbing companies do with marketing efforts. You will continue to receive the plumbing calls, but you will pick up more and more business from well water customers and slowly become the go-to guys for wells in your area, especially since that is truly your specialty. Customers will see you and your men bursting at the seams with knowledge relating to that subject.
If you feel like your business marketing is floundering, whether you are a new startup or an old business, sometimes the simplest answer is the correct answer. If you are an older plumbing firm, maybe it’s time to remind your local population what your specialty is.
All those old companies you used to deal with who “specialized in everything” are no longer in business. Most old plumbing firms still alive and kicking after 80-some years in business usually adapted when necessary, but kept things simple.
We’ve all worked in those pink or green bathrooms from the ’50s and ’60s. If you’ve ever researched old plumbing company advertisements from back in the day, it would have the company logo, a picture of a sparkling new and clean pink bathroom with a tag line that usually read: “The Kitchen & Bath Specialists.” Those companies back then made a killing just by keeping it simple.
So when you are in doubt of where to take your next marketing campaign, think of a sheep. Go with the simpler option, and do what you do best.
