Business

If you are a car enthusiast, starting a used car business is a great idea. It simple—people need cars, thus the potential to thrive in this industry is enormous. According to IBISWorld, in 2019, used car sales in the United States were more than $118 billion in revenues. Now, this business is often intimidating but with the right guidance and the proper tools in your arsenal, selling used cars will be the entrepreneurial breakthrough for you.

Here are the tips to set you on the right track on your journey towards financial freedom in the used car business.

Do A Market Analysis

Before starting your entrepreneurial journey as a used car dealer, knowledge of the used car market is essential. What are consumers looking for in a used car? What are other used auto dealers doing? What price range appeals to a buyer? Understanding how the market works will make it easier for you to know your target clients.

Identify A Niche

Find a niche and maximize on it. A niche is useful in elevating your used car business. Maybe you could decide to sell one brand of car at a specific price range. This way, you get to reach your target audience effectively.

Create A Business Plan

A clear business plan is a good thing if you want to succeed in any business. Creating a business plan will help you map out the details and the direction of the business. With a business plan, you will focus all your energy in filling the niche. Your business plan should include:

• Estimated startup and running costs
• Name of the business and number of employees
• The target market
• Duration before breaking even
• A reasonable price range for your cars.

Getting Your Inventory

You need to know where you are going to source your vehicles and at a low price. When it comes to auto auctions, there are numerous choices. It’s advisable, if you are an independent dealer, to start small. This means buying cars at a reasonable price, then over time, you can build a bigger, better inventory from money earned through sales.

It is, however, important to note that, when you bid for a car at an auction, asses the mechanical condition of the vehicle first. Minor problems like busted headlight lenses, a faded paint job or missing fog lights are easy to repair yourself using power tools, a headlight restoration kit, and application of a quick clear coat. For serious mechanical problems, getting a professional is advisable.

Register Your Business

You should register your business with all the relevant authorities. Get all your permits and licenses for operating a used car lot business lest you risk getting fined or worse—a shut down. You should also set up a bank account and an accounting office to keeping your books up to date.

Set Up a Showroom and Get a Website

You need to have a physical location to set up your showroom. It becomes easier to transact when customers visit the showroom. Online presence is also important for clients to see various vehicles available in your inventory. Include the terms and conditions, the privacy policy and a phone number for customer service and inquiries on your website.

Build Your Brand

Your brand is important in the eyes of potential clients. A strong brand shows what your business stands for and will help you get a better perception of a new customer against your competitors. Build your brand by offering after-sale services. For example, you could get a headlight restoration kit and offer headlight repairs and cleaning services or even turtle wax services to clients. Create new marketing strategies by learning what customers want. By doing this, you’ll beat competitors and reap huge profits in your business.

Although purchasing Facebook and Google ads can drive some clients to your website, the most effective way to consistently route clients to your space is by working on your SEO. Check out the following tips to give your SEO strategy a boost.

Be More Descriptive

You want potential clients near you to be able to find you, so when it comes to keywords, it is important to be more descriptive and list the city in which you practice law. For instance, if you’re practicing family law don’t just use the key words family law attorney, be more descriptive about where you are, with terms such as “family law attorney in Bethlehem, PA.” This way, your clients are more likely to find your landing page during their “near me” searches. This also applies to your Google My Business Category.

Utilize Landing Pages

Your landing page is important for your image as well as your ranking. If you’re located or work out of more than one city, you should consider creating landing pages for each office. These pages will ensure that clients are bringing up your landing page in their search results for “near me” searches.

Check Your Rank

Use an SEO ranking tool to check your SEO ranking. Using these tools can help you see where you need to adjust your content in order for your site to rank higher in Google. Your ranking is important as it is a tell on where your website will show up in a web search.

Join Aggregator Sites and Societies

If you want to improve your web presence list your company or yourself on Aggregator sites like Avvo or Justia. Many sites offer free listings and it is easier to be listed on their sites than it is to compete with their ranking. It is important for your clients to be able to trust in your abilities as a lawyer. Having a bigger web presence helps instill faith in your abilities and showmanship to your clients.

Track Reviews

These days, credibility is based mainly on reviews. It is important to get your current clients to review your work online for potential clients to see. Likewise, negative reviews can bring down your credibility. Unfortunately, it is easier to get a negative review from an unhappy customer than a positive review from a pleased customer. Ensure that you’re always doing your best to get your clients the best possible outcome for their case. If they have a great experience, encourage them (without being overbearing) to write about it.

Implement Link Building

If you’re looking to ramp up your ranks in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERP) the best way to go about doing this is by link building. Link building is when you have content that is so powerful that other sites will want to join in and add their links. Link building is important for Google ranking and can showcase your talents in the content as well as boost your company’s morale.

Busy attorneys don’t always have the time to write high high-quality content or blog posts for their site but there are a lot of companies that specialize in attorney SEO that can help with content creation. If you are working on your content yourself, be sure to incorporate specific keywords that will allow clients to find you in near me searches.

If you work out of more than one city, be sure to have a landing page for each city so that you can obtain new clients for all of your offices. Positive reviews are the key to obtaining new clients. Your clients need to know that you’re here for them and your attorney-client relationship values are strong.

You may have years of experience, but this doesn’t amount to new clients on the online front. Be sure to optimize your SEO and you’ll be rolling in and retaining clientele in no time!

Now more than ever, stylists and salon owners must find ways to set themselves apart from their competitors. While it can be easy to get caught up in individual appointments and specific problematic clients, it’s vital to take a step back and take a look at the wider picture. Apart from offering expert services, you can increase your salon’s foot traffic by making changes to the following aspects of your business!

Your Salon’s Design

Changing your salon’s overall design may, on first blush, feel like an unwarranted expense. However, in the age of Instagram and other social media apps, the best way to get your hair salon noticed is to make your space so Instagram worthy that your clients will want to take a photo of your beauty salon every time they visit. This simple act has the potential to increase your online presence tenfold.

The first step to changing up your salon’s design is to consider what you want your space to say about your company’s brand. How can you set your barbershop or beauty salon apart from standard mall salons? Consider the salon Ramirez Tran. There’s a reason they have such a rabid following of fans. It’s not just that they create stunning results, they also have one of a kind salon equipment. From their product shelves to their salon chairs and stations, every detail is a reflection of their unique brand and style. Clients can view the salon on their website and just by sliding through a few photos of their space, they know that by booking an appointment with Ramirez Tran, they’ll be receiving a one of a kind, luxury experience.

Whether you specialize in lived-in color or barber services, finding the perfect salon equipment is key to telegraphing to your clients the kind of experience they can, and should, expect.

Product Range

A powerful way to build your clientele is to settle on a series of products unique to your salon. If every beauty salon in your neighborhood is carrying Oribe or R+Co, maybe it’s time to branch out. Consider what articles your informed clients may be reading. Where are they looking to find this year’s best shampoo?

Whether your clients are interested in luxury products or they want vegan shampoo, make sure you’re providing them with those kinds of products. Remember, you want to be your clients’ main source for stylist and cleansing products so make sure you have what they want. You may also consider making the retail location in your shop more easily shoppable.

Arrange your products in order of use and purpose. It doesn’t make sense for the hair masks to be near the hairsprays. Train your clients to think of using hair care products the same way they use their skincare: by layering. The most subtle way to do that is through your visual merchandising.

Marketing

This last suggestion is seemingly obvious: develop a digital marketing strategy. As we discussed at the beginning of this article, you’re most likely to build your new clientele by finding them through their smartphones, tablets, and the occasional mobile ad. Save all of your marketing dollars for online and digital marketing.

So how do you build a successful marketing campaign? Target your ideal clients by geographic area with a geofence campaign. Mobile geofencing marketing uses geofencing to create a virtual net around a specific area in the real world. Once this virtual perimeter has been set, you can advertise to your target audience within that search radius.

Smartphone users tend to search for services on their phones using the search term “near me,” allowing their phones to utilize their location services. Just as these potential clients benefit from their phone’s proximity search tools, so can you! Additionally, anytime a potential client enables GPS, uses Wi-Fi, or turns on a Bluetooth beacon, they’ll be discoverable to your geofence campaign. Geofencing insures that any mobile advertising dollars you spend don’t go to waste.

After all, effective advertising is all about targeting the right demographics at the right time. Once you’ve solidified your geofence marketing plan, make sure that your ad features a relevant message and offers a promotion or special offer. Most importantly, make sure it showcases some of your best work.

When considering how you want to increase your business’s foot traffic, keep these three suggestions in mind. You want to create a space that is inviting to your clients. You should offer unique products that are as effective as they are enticing. Lastly, but most importantly, you want to make sure that your business is discoverable online.