Business At A Glance
- Startup Costs: $2,000 – $10,000
- Home Based: Can be operated from home.
- Part Time: Can be operated part-time.
- Franchises Available? Yes
- Online Operation? No
Business Overview
With a direct-mail coupon service, you’ll sell local businesses onplacing coupon ads in your publications, then mail them out to localresidents. Everybody benefits, including you! With the new plethora ofsmall businesses these days, direct-mail couponing is positioned forsuccess.
Entrepreneurs can advertise in a medium where results can bemeasured quickly and easily–the more coupons customers bring in, thebetter the campaign. And coupons generate more sales than other typesof ads.
People respond to ads where they have to take action, even ifit’s something as simple as clipping along a dotted line. Theadvantages to this business are legion for the extrovert. You get totalk to all kinds of people in all sorts of fields, and you do it allday long. You can feel good about helping people improve theirbusinesses and their revenues while at the same time aiding theconsumer with savings. Since you’ll visit customers at their businesslocations, you can be homebased.
To succeed in this business, youshould have a sales background–or at least a sales personality. Italso helps to have a background working with the printing, graphics andmailing industries. You’ll outsource all of this work, but you’ll needto know the basics to get the best prices and timeliest turnout.
The Market
Your customers will be community businesses. Those with mass appeallike restaurants, auto service shops and general interest retail storeswill benefit best from your services, but you can also target walk-inclinics, general dentists, hair stylists, carpet-cleaning services,child-care services–get creative and make up your own list! How willyou sell these people on your company? In the best tradition of thesales representative, by walking into their places of business andintroducing yourself and your service.
Needed Equipment
You’ll need a computer and inkjet or laser printer and the usual officesoftware so you can invoice customers, and a fax machine so they cansend last-minute changes to their ads, and you’ll need a vehicle forzipping around town on your rounds. Since you’ll be out-of-pocket alot, you should also consider a cellular phone or pager so customerscan reach you easily.