Awnings/Canopies Business: BusinessHAB.com......

Awnings/Canopies Business: Being a small business owner comes with challenges unique to the size and function of the business.

The small business owner has to handle all the challenges of selling, delivering, financing, managing.

And growing the business with little or no staff, while trying to make it a success.

The most important of all is to retain the interest of all stakeholders like customers, vendors and team to build momentum in a short span of time.

Running a small business can be hugely rewarding both personally and financially.

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Awnings/Canopies Business

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Awnings/Canopies Business

1. Business background

Awnings are widely used in commercial and residential buildings for decoration, protection or visibility.

Fabric awning and canopies are the most common types of shading.

Awnings and canopies not only provide shade from the sun but also keep out heat and lower the electric bill.

These are easy to maintain & retains room brightness and protects indoor furnishings and carpeting from fading.

Appreciated for their durability, optimum quality, and water & stain resistance.

2. Places to found

Awnings and Canopies are extensively used in various shops, restaurants, hotels.

And other commercial & industrial sites.

Most awnings and canopies consist of fabric stretched over.

And secured to a fixed metal frame that is secured by laces or screws.

These frames may be welded, bolted or otherwise connected.

Other awnings and canopies that consist of individual fabric panels can be attached using the staple-in method.

Still other awnings and canopies consist of rollers and lateral arms that can be retracted manually or automatically.

The main difference between an awning and a canopy is that a canopy requires support.

In addition to the anchoring that attached it to a building.

Awnings/Canopies Business

3. Ensure you have a business plan.

A business plan is critical to the success of a business.

And can be seen as a plan that describes your business, products/services, market.

And describes how your business will go about expanding for the next three to five years.

4. Put your idea into writing.

It is important to take the ideas in your head and get them down on paper.

Most successful businesses offer a new product or service or fill an existing niche in the market.

Whatever your reasons may be for starting a small business.

Make sure to clearly and concisely put them in writing.

It can be helpful to go through many drafts or iterations of your business plan.
Include as many details as you can in your business plan.
Overthinking the details is never as damaging as ignoring the details.
It can also be useful to include questions in drafts of your business plan.
Identifying what you don’t know is as helpful as listing things you are sure about.
You do not want to present a business plan with unanswered questions to potential investors, but laying out relevant questions in your initial drafts will help you identify questions that require answering in your final business plan.

Awnings/Canopies Business

5. Get the Product Categories.

Awning and canopy businesses typically offer multiple types of products.

Based on the needs of the homeowners and businesses in their target market.

Retractable awnings, dome awnings, spear awnings.

And even standalone canopies are common product categories.

That you may need to sell in order to maintain a competitive market presence.

6. Identify your customer base.

In your business plan, you need to identify who you think will buy your product or service.

Why would these individuals need or want your product or service?

The answer to these questions should help to determine all other aspects of your business’ operations.

Read also: 19 How to Start Cocoa to Coffee Company in Nigeria

7. Awnings/Canopies Business

Here, it useful to ask questions of your service or product.

For example, you may want to ask questions like, does my product/service appeal to younger or older people?

Is my product/service affordable for lower-income consumers or is it a high-end purchase?

Does my product/service appeal to people in specific environments?

You won’t be selling many snow tires in Hawaii or beach towels in Alaska.

So be realistic about the appeal of your product.

Awnings/Canopies Business

8. Know the Material Choices.

Awnings and canopies are available in several types of materials.

With metal and fabric comprising the majority of structures sold in the industry.

Plan on stocking multiple colors in each material category.

And partnering with a digital printer capable of customizing products to customer specs.

Awnings/Canopies Business

9. Outline your finances.

In your business plan, you need to address key questions about your business’ fiduciary situation.

How will your product or service generate money?
How much money will it generate?
How much does it cost to produce your product or service?
How do you intend to pay operational costs and employees?
These, and others, are critical question you need to answer in planning your small business’ financial future.

Awnings/Canopies Business

10. Project growth.

All successful small businesses need to grow their customer base.

And production capabilities over the first few years of operating.

Make sure you have identified how your business can and will respond to growth potential.

Be realistic with your growth potential.
Keep in mind that growing your business requires a growth in investment capital as well.
Projecting too much growth in too short a time period can quickly deter potential investors.

11. You should avoid projecting too much growth in a short period of time because:

You will need to spend longer on the financial section of the business plan.

You may be taxed more.

You will need to get more licenses.

You may scare off investors.

12. Make your bank work for you.

Run your small business with financial efficiency.

By exploring all the options that banks offer small business owners.

And choosing the right bank for your business’ financial plan.

Many financial institutions offer accounts with low fees.

Loans with discounted rates or free direct deposit programs for small business account holders.

Awnings/Canopies Business

13. Secure a loan or other type of investment.

Successful businesses need capital to get off their feet.

Be sure that you have arranged and secured enough fiscal backing to cover all of your small business’ operating, production, and marketing costs until your business is in a position to generate and operate on its own profits.

Be sure to investigate the various interest rates applied to small business loans.

14. Ensure collection methods are in place.

Be sure to account for how your business will collect on bills due and outstanding debts to your company.

A successful business needs constant cash flow.

Being unable to accept customer payments or waiting on those who owe you money will disrupt your business.

You will need to decide if you will accept cash, credit cards, checks, or some combination of the three from your clients and customers.

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Awnings/Canopies Business

15. Manage your inventory efficiently.

Inventory management can make or break a small retail business.

So manage it carefully to ensure that you’re maximizing every dollar spent.

Invest in small inventory quantities at first and continuously monitor inventory numbers.

So you know what’s selling and what isn’t.

Rotate inventory frequently to remove slow sellers and replace them with new items.

16. Get your license.

Remember to register and acquire your small business license in the particular industry of your business.

This step is important to ensuring that you’re running your business legally and according to industry regulations.

Be sure to register for permits related to particular services you offer, like home repair or tax preparation.

Which could require registration and certification.

You will not be able to hire effective employees if your business is not operating with the appropriate licenses and permits.

Not all businesses require licenses.
Be sure to check with your local small business administration to see what your business requires.

17. Stay organized.

Organization of your time, employees, finances and inventory is one of the keys to successfully run a small business. Develop a spreadsheet that helps you keep track of all the important details so you don’t have to keep them straight in your head, and make time — at least once a week — to review everything.

18. Awnings/Canopies Business

Organizing weekly, bi-weekly or monthly meetings between you and your staff can help ensure that everyone is on the same page and will help you avoid wasted time or overlap in the various responsibilities of your team members. Meetings can also help you analyze who is and who is not adequately performing the duties assigned to them.

19. Delegate responsibilities.

You can’t do everything yourself, so delegate the various jobs and responsibilities to qualified employees.

Small businesses often require employees to take on many tasks and responsibilities that may not fall firmly in their areas of expertise.

It is often helpful to break your business’ overall operations down into specific functions and delegate those functions to various employees or members of your team.
Also, when delegating responsibilities, make sure you are assigning oversight of a specific function to a qualified individual. For example, you would not want an accountant representing you in a legal matter or a lawyer balancing your financial books. Thinking of your business functions in this way should also help you identify your needs when you are in the process of hiring employees.

20. Be involved.

Once you have decided who should be responsible for the duties in your business.

You need to remain involved to make sure all of your employees are following through with the tasks that have been assigned to them.

Also, you need to be responsive to the needs of your customers.

Make sure you are aware of customer needs and feedback.

And don’t back away from engaging with your customer base.

Even if that duty has been assigned to an employee.

From time to time you will need to hire or fire an employee. Make sure you are aware of all state and federal laws that deal with employment equality and anti-discrimination laws in your area as they pertain to the hiring, firing, disciplining and treatment of employees.
Leaving customer feedback strictly in the hands of your employees is a dangerous managerial tactic. Employees may benefit from presenting you with skewed information about customer satisfaction or product usefulness, which, in turn, will lead you to make bad managerial decisions for the company as a whole. As such, do not simply accept what your employees tell you about your business without seeing evidence of their claims. It is your company and you have put yourself in a position of risk, so be proactive in overseeing business results.

21. Employ targeted promotional and marketing campaigns.

It is important to get the word out about your company.

Make sure the money you set aside for marketing is well-spent by conducting demographic research.

This will help you tailor your marketing plan to be as effective as possible.

It is helpful to think of promotions and marketing relative to the capacity of your business. Paying to run a commercial on a national network does you little good if your business is only designed to operate at the local level.
Think about who is most likely to buy your product and why they would buy it. For example, if you are selling dentures, it makes little sense to include younger people in your marketing considerations.

Awnings/Canopies Business

22. Network as much as possible.

Gain the support of other local small businesses by networking with other small business owners.

Join small business associations and participate in community events to raise awareness of your business.

Participate in community functions so potential clients will be aware of the services you offer.

23. Know your business.

Stay on top of what’s new or trendy in your business so your small business can stay competitive within the industry.

Subscribe to periodicals or online newsletters to stay informed about current events in your small business’ industry.

Staying at the cutting edge of your industry will help you draw customers away from competing businesses.

24. Offer references.

Compile a list of satisfied clients that are willing to serve as references to potential clients.

This will give future customers the ability to verify your work and customer service.

25. Be accessible.

Make sure potential clients and customers can get in touch with you and your business whenever they may need to.

The best way to grow your reputation as a respectable business is to be responsive to your customers’ needs.

Large businesses can afford to be unresponsive and lose a handful of customers from time to time. Small businesses cannot. As a small business owner, it is up to you to make yourself and your company accessible to potential clients and your customer base. This may require you to make your personal cell phone number or email address accessible to clients as you attempt to grow your business.

Awnings/Canopies Business

26. Deliver what you promise.

Your small business will need to offer a product or service of some kind to be successful.

However, if you want to grow your business by growing your customer base.

You have to give people not only what they want, but what you promised them.

If your product or service does not match what you advertise consistently.

You will have incredible difficulty in growing your customer base.

27. Awnings/Canopies Business

Delivering what you promise begins with how you tailor your approach to sales.

If you or your sales team is offering or promising too much.

Your customers will be understandably disappointed.

When they receive or use your product or service.

Leading to negative reviews and bad word-of-mouth about your business.

Remember, good sales tactics should be centered around identifying.

And understanding your customer’s needs.

And making them see the realized benefits that your product has.

Not lying to your customers and clients about the potential of your product.

Read on: 40 Tips to Become Food Production Entrepreneur in Nigeria

28. Turning Competitors Into Collaborators

Once you’ve finished assessing the competion.

Be sure to speak with somebody who is already in the business.

If you think owners of nearby awnings, canopies.

And shade structures businesses will give you advice, think again.

Why would they want to educate a future competitor?

29. Awnings/Canopies Business

But, a person who owns an awnings, canopies, and shade structures business.

On the other side of the country will be much more likely to talk with you.

Once they realize that you are not going to directly compete with them in their community.

Indeed, many experienced entrepreneurs enjoy offering advice to startup entrepreneurs.

If you are persistent, you can find a business mentor who is willing to help you out.

Read also: 20 Tips to Write Painting Business Proposal in Nigeria

Awnings/Canopies Business

30. Assess franchise opportunities

The odds of doing well in business are much better when you join the ranks of franchisees rather than going it alone.

Prior to starting an awnings, canopies, and shade structures business.

You would be wise to assess whether franchise opportunities in your space might help you on your entrepreneurial journey.

The link below gives you access to our franchise directory.

So you can see if there’s a franchise opportunity for you.

You might even find something that points you in a completely different direction.

Awnings/Canopies Business

1. Business background

2. Places to found

Awnings/Canopies Business

3. Ensure you have a business plan.

4. Put your idea into writing.

Awnings/Canopies Business

5. Get the Product Categories.

6. Identify your customer base.

7. Awnings/Canopies Business

Awnings/Canopies Business

8. Know the Material Choices.

Awnings/Canopies Business

9. Outline your finances.

Awnings/Canopies Business

10. Project growth.

11. You should avoid projecting too much growth in a short period of time because:

12. Make your bank work for you.

Awnings/Canopies Business

13. Secure a loan or other type of investment.

14. Ensure collection methods are in place.

Awnings/Canopies Business

15. Manage your inventory efficiently.

16. Get your license.

17. Stay organized.

18. Awnings/Canopies Business

19. Delegate responsibilities.

20. Be involved.

21. Employ targeted promotional and marketing campaigns.

Awnings/Canopies Business

22. Network as much as possible.

23. Know your business.

24. Offer references.

25. Be accessible.

Awnings/Canopies Business

26. Deliver what you promise.

27. Awnings/Canopies Business

28. Turning Competitors Into Collaborators

29. Awnings/Canopies Business

Awnings/Canopies Business

30. Assess franchise opportunities

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