04 Jul Case Study: Breaking Out Your Own Business

Yacht Detailing Services is a brand new small business based in Fort Lauderdale. Yacht Detailing Services was started by a former employee of another yacht service company who dreamed of owning and running his own business. All of the other companies he had worked for in the industry had not treated their employees well; our client knew he could do a better job at respecting and managing his employees as well as providing competitive solutions to his clients. He saw that at that moment the industry was very lucrative so he wanted to act fast. While extremely emotionally invested, our client wasn’t quite sure how to take his first steps into the market on his own and came to consult with Design Moves.

GOALS

The goal for Design Moves was to give this company’s dream a chance to not just survive but thrive. Starting from scratch we ultimately had to build an initial book of clients to then build the “word-of-mouth” strategy. To do this we would have to build credibility and then assign tasks to building a list of qualified prospects / clients.

ACTION PLAN

The business owner had experience working for other employers, but not much on his own, as well as a limited budget, with this being the early days of the company. We wanted to help him achieve a good running start into the professional world.
Build our client’s credibility and name in inexpensive manners.
We helped him create a professional network, as well as the keys to networking easily. The client now has the information to continue to build is network with his business over the years.
Build up a clientele of brand new customers from scratch and prove why this new company was a better choice than names that had been in the industry longer.

OUTCOME

We created a domain name for the company’s website that was specific to the service and location. The new website is completely mobile friendly, due to the fact the owner and employees are constantly on the go.
The list of marina’s our client had worked on were listed with experience to showcase his versatility and credibility in the line of work.
We built a social media presence across multiple outlets to keep current clients up-to-date with the progress of jobs, as well as attract new customers.
We built a unique, limited word-of-mouth customer base to really refine who our client wanted to do business with in these early days, to make the best use of his time. By using the USPS small business program, we were able to locate specific the customers our client wanted, while receiving a 20% + ROI on the investment made.
From the foundation of our word-of-mouth publicity by branching out to the new customers friends and families that had boats and similar needs. This allowed us to grow clientele while keeping costs down on mailers and other forms of print advertising.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The client is now able to run his business completely on his own. He has been able to build a schedule that works best for him, as well as the opportunity for his presence to grow within the yachting community and industry. There is always room for improvement, and long ways to go for any new business, but based on the start and the client’s plans for expanding the company, the business is projected to become very lucrative in just a few short years.