The following are thoughts and ideas from Jack Child, owner of BLACK DAWG SEALCOAT ©. Jack has incredible insight and is a heck of a business man and he will share some thoughts here with you....

So you’re thinking of becoming a Sealcoater…you like the outdoors, you’ve heard there’s “good money” in it and it has very low barriers to entry. Just perfect for a guy (or gal) like you, right?

But first, realize the things that attract you to this business are the very same things that attract lots of others, too. There is a plethora of sealcoaters out there, but only a limited number of successful sealcoaters.

So, the focus of this article will be on what it takes to become a “successful” sealcoater, which is quite different from what it takes to become just a “sealcoater”. (One need only drive to Home Depot, buy five buckets of sealer and a squeegee and voila, you’re in business!) Should you go it alone or join one of the few franchise systems out there? We’ll give you the pros and cons of the franchise game. And so much more! So, here goes…hang on because there’s a lot more to this than just putting “black stuff” on driveways and “green stuff” in your pockets.

Know Your Market

Pavement is everywhere, but it’s more prevalent in northern climates because concrete and cement may be used in warmer climates in place of asphalt in many circumstances. The residential market is the most logical place to begin your research. What are the demographics in your target area? Ideally, you’re looking for upper middle class neighborhoods where the homeowners already use other service providers such as landscapers and cleaning services. U.S. Census Bureau statistics or hometown websites are great sources for this type of information. Again, that’s the ideal and it might not be the closest to where you live, but maybe there’s a town just a little bit farther away that has better demographics (read – better pricing power) that could more than make up for the extra driving involved.

Get Quotes from the Competition

Get at least three of your friends to do some investigative work for you. Tell them you’re thinking of entering the business and you would like their help in getting three or four quotes for their asphalt driveways. Don’t coach them except you should ask them to make every effort to be present for the quote. It will be very instructive to let them decide how they’d go about getting these quotes. Don’t let them collaborate either. You want to not only know what the competition is doing, but you want to get a feel for what the consumer might be doing as well! Did they go to the Yellow Pages? Did they use a coupon book or look in the paper? Did they use the internet? If they used the internet, did they use Google or Yahoo! or MSN or some other search engine? Did they ask a neighbor for a referral? All of this is great information that can help with your decision to enter, pricing considerations and your marketing strategy.

Know Your Competition (What would Trump do?)

Now that you have a handful of quotes courtesy of your friends’ investigative efforts, let’s see what you can learn. Interview each of them separately. Ask them lots of questions. Again, what was their thought process on where to look for a quote? What was their experience with each competitor? WRITE THIS STUFF DOWN! You should create a profile of each competitor. How easy (or tough) was it to get them to answer the phone and schedule a quote? How did they appear? Neat and clean? Or not so clean and neat? How was the quote presented? Was it handwritten? Was it typed? E-mailed? What sort of Warranty did they offer? What supporting documents did they provide? Brochure? Business Card? Did they spend sufficient time with your friend explaining the quote? Are they local or “travelers” (the politically correct way of saying “gypsies”). Do they belong to the local Chamber of Commerce or the Better Business Bureau? What was their pricing? Which one would your friend hire? Why? Price? Perceived Quality? Professionalism? Personality? Pick your friends’ brains for every bit of information on your competition and WRITE IT DOWN.

Oh, and if we failed to mention it – WRITE THIS STUFF DOWN and hang onto it!

SWOT Time

SWOT, the acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, is a neat little management tool that you should now use for a quick self-assessment:

What are your…

Strengths?
Work ethic (you better have some!)
Integrity
Personality
Weak competition?
Fill in the blank(s)

Weaknesses?
New entrant (this goes away over time )
No training
No experience
Limited business skills, maybe
Tough competition?
Limited Capital?
Fill in the blank(s)

Opportunities
Weak competition?
Lots of pavement!
Nice neighborhoods to service?
Personal contacts with property managers?
Fill in the blank(s)

Threats
Tough Competition?
Limited Capital?
Less than ideal demographics?
Fill in the blank(s)

Now What?

You’ve got quotes in hand, you’ve assessed your target market, you’ve made a profile of your competition and you think you see your opening (or you may decide to opt out if things stack up against you – that’s ok – not going into business is often the wisest business decision you’ll ever make…or should have made!)

If, after you’ve made a thorough examination of the situation, you want to give it a go, now what? This next step could very well determine your fate and it’s a step that too many give very little weight to. You have to pick a name for your company. But, that’s easy, right? WRONG! In this age of the internet, TV, radio, video games, coupon mailers, billboards, xm radio and who knows what’s next, the window of opportunity for you to make an impression upon your target customer may last but a few seconds, if that. Too often we see the “standard” approach to business naming – one’s own name or initials. Under most circumstances, we’d recommend you avoid this method. Consumers don’t have time for you…heck, they don’t even have time for themselves anymore. The world is moving way too fast for them to keep up. Don’t get in their way with you. To put it bluntly, they simply don’t care. You need to get their attention in some way that is memorable, equates to problem solving or connects with them at some emotional level.