What will it take to launch a WEB BASED CONTRACTOR REFERRAL SERVICE
BUSINESS such as servicemagic.com. on the net. Starting from the very
beginning point at A to actual launch, to being in a cash flow
position point Z.
1.	total capital requirement
2.	initial personnel needed (how many)
3.	type of skills personnel will need

Where to place the ads on the net to attract homeowners
1.	their ruff cost
2.	other places to place the ads to attract homeowners
3.	what kind of marketing campaigns to use

How much to charge the contractor for a referral

How to acquire contractors to be our member contractors

Where can these contractors be found in order to contact them to join
our membership

Should we employ salesmen to attract contractors
1.	how are they paid (commission)
2.	bonuses

A nice tip will be provided should the answer be exemplary!

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Request for Question Clarification by jbf777-ga on 05 Sep 2005 17:52 PDT

Hello -

Thanks for your question.

Much of this sort of forecasting or speculative work is subjective in
nature.  Are you willing to have a researcher submit an answer to you
that's largely based on personal inference?

jbf777

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Clarification of Question by paminor1-ga on 05 Sep 2005 19:53 PDT

I am so pleased that someone out there finally is applying some
positive energy/knowledge to this opportunistic challenge .  This is
not rocket science my friends. Sites such as this are out there!!  
servicmagic.com     Personal interference? Hmm?  That's a bit to wide
open for me. I am aware, of course, that my question could be
construed to be very subjective to someone that is not familiar with
this type of business.  On the other hand I don't need a completely
fool proof iron clad plan either. I will know when the information is
correct and adequate. Sooo, what do we do? I think that somewhere
between what I am needing and what you are able to provide, is the
correct package.  I guess it all depends on the info. you provide. 
With these qualifiers I would have to say YES! to your question.  I
know this is very doable!!  Thanks for the question!!

---

Request for Question Clarification by jbf777-ga on 05 Sep 2005 20:02 PDT

Thank you for the clarification.

Can you tell me what your maximum budget would be?  A potential answer
could hinge on this number.

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Clarification of Question by paminor1-ga on 06 Sep 2005 16:47 PDT

Potential budget?

operating? initial funding? income?  please be specific...

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Request for Question Clarification by jbf777-ga on 06 Sep 2005 16:54 PDT

Two numbers would be helpfult: Initial investment, and on-going monthly allotment.

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Request for Question Clarification by jbf777-ga on 06 Sep 2005 16:56 PDT

typo: helpful

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Clarification of Question by paminor1-ga on 06 Sep 2005 20:07 PDT

Initial capital injection is in the neighborhood of $150,000.00

This amount is projected to carry the company for about 3 to 4 months
until the SEO and other merchndizing/advertizings take hold.  After
that time the monthly cash flow must carry the company.  i.e. one of
the reasons for the posting of this question on Google!

Acctually we would entertain brining an experienced person on board...

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Request for Question Clarification by jbf777-ga on 08 Sep 2005 08:56 PDT

Would the $150K be inclusive of the salary for bringing someone on
board?  Or is the $150K above and beyond that?

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Clarification of Question by paminor1-ga on 08 Sep 2005 10:04 PDT

above 50% of it above that, we hope to be generating cash flow by then
to suplement that out lay

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Clarification of Question by paminor1-ga on 08 Sep 2005 10:09 PDT

other words 75,000 will be used as reserve of the 150,000.  as u know
one does not pay the COO their entire salaries up front... so, their
will be a draw down on a bi-weedly bases until we are in the cash flow
position.  as mentioned in mail before we anticipate that to be within
3-4 months after launch.
thanks,

Hello -

Thank you for your question.  I address each of the question's subtopics below:


ITEM A -- PROJECT MANAGER/MANAGEMENT FIRM
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
As touched upon, if no one in your organization has sufficient
managerial/administrative capabilities to bring this project to
fruition, then it would be a sound idea to investigate hiring either a
project manager or contracting a project management firm.

If you advertise for this position, you might do well to advertise it
as a project management position, and not a "COO" position per se, as
salary.com, a website that catalogues salaries across the US, pegs a
COO's median income at around $367K/year.  The lower end is $276K:

http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layoutscripts/swzl_compresult.asp?narrowdesc=&jobcode=EX05000002&statecode=&jobaltername=Chief+Operating+Officer+%28COO%29&state=&jobtitle=Chief+Operating+Officer&narrowcode=EX01&metrocode=&geo=U.S.+National+Averages&narrowdesc=Executive+and+Management&pagenumber=1&zipcode=&searchpage=keywordtitleselect&searchtype=1&signupemail=Enter+e-mail+address&choosesignup=0

For individuals, salaries for a project manager position (indeed)
range in the $70K to $80K range.  The project manager (or management
firm) should be conversant or very comfortable in the areas of
ecommerce marketing, administration, consumer psychology, and
branding. They should also understand web site design on a high level,
in terms of what works and what doesn't work for website
usability/look and feel.  Individuals for hire can be found through
places like www.monster.com, www.careerbuilder, or through a
recruiting agency.  On the first two sites, simply create an account
and post an ad (for a few hundred dollar fee).  For recruiting
companies, business.com lists hundreds here:

http://www.business.com/directory/human_resources/hiring_and_retention/recruiting_services/

The other option to consider is to outsource the project management to
a firm that specializes in this area:

Business Navigators
http://www.bmc-online.com/

Lark Syrris
http://www.larksyrris.com/our_services.htm

Argent Global
http://www.argentglobal.com/solutions/project_management.htm?trackcode=bizcom



ITEM B -- WEBSITE CREATION/MARKETING
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
The creation of your website would be the next priority.  Your project
manager or management firm should oversee the development of the
website, making sure it is competitive with today's standards for a
web-based contractor referral service.  I would budget between $10,000
and $15,000 for the creation of the site, and I would hire an outside
web firm that has sufficient experience creating graphically
consistent, accessible, and marketing-driven websites.

Alternatively, provided your project manager or firm feels very
confident they can design the whole site for you from a marketing and
graphics/usability standpoint, then you can easily outsource the
actual programming and graphical components to companies overseas via
sites such as rentacoder.com.  You can get an entire site done for
under $2000 through this avenue.  Try guru.com or elanceonline.com in
addition.

Web design firms can be found here:
http://www.business.com/search/rslt_default.asp?type=web&query=web+design&vt=all




ITEM C -- PERSONNEL 
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
You'll invariably need an IT person who can perform a variety of
technical tasks, such as: troubleshooting server issues, performing
backups, coordinating software updates, making installations,
contracting programmers, and other related duties.  The budget for
someone like this can vary greatly by experience, education, etc.  You
could find someone fresh out of college with a real drive to work, for
under $40K with promise to rise quickly in proportion to the success
of the company.  Or you can find someone a bit more seasoned for much
higher an outlay.  I know of a company who is doing that very thing:
hiring individuals at low pay rates with the contractual promise for a
long term piece of the company's income and significantly increased
salary as the firm becomes more successful.  You could apply this to
the hiring of your project manager as discussed above.

You will need, at very bare minimum, one customer support person, but
preferably several.  Their tasks will involve dealing with customers
one on one in phone or email/chat support.  They will need to be
technically inclined on some level, to be able to assist customers in
using the site, working out billing issues, etc.  They should also be
able to answer questions about the service, functioning in a basic
sales capacity.  Some sites offer email-only support.  However, that
may not bode well with some, if not most, customers.  A chat system,
or preferably a 24-hour chat system, would also be a very nice thing
to have (you could possibly contract people in different time zones to
be available for online chat support).  Entry level support personnel
can be hired in the $20-$30K range.  Check salary.com for the latest
salary info: http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layoutscripts/swzl_compresult.asp?origin=secheader&statecode=&state=&metro=&city=&geo=U.S.+National+Averages&jobcode=SM15000005&jobtitle=Customer+Service+Representative+I&search=&narrowdesc=Entry+Level&narrowcode=MS01&r=salswz_swzttsbtn_psr&p=050205_psr_495&s=salary&geocode=&pagenumber=&zipcode=&metrocode=&x=31&y=9




ITEM D - ATTRACTING HOMEOWNERS
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Attracting homeowners should largely consist of finding relevant
websites on which you can place banner advertisements.  A good place
to start might be home-oriented magazines, such as those found here:

://www.google.com/search?q=home+magazine&ie=ISO-8859-1&hl=en&cat=gwd%2FTop

The first link listed is a good example:

Home Magazine
http://www.homemag.com/

Pricing is going to range from website to website, and will vary based
on ad size and frequency.  Ads are typically several hundred dollars a
month.  Advertising will be a very good portion of your upfront
expenditure.  I would budget no less than $20,000 for it.  It is
absolutely imperative that your site gets in front of consumers,
because it's very easy for sites to be lost in the billions that
exist.  According to their website, "ServiceMagic spends over $10M in
advertising every year and has partnered with over 125 online partners
to drive over 2 million visitors to our website each month."




ITEM E - CHARGING CONTRACTORS FOR REFERRALS
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Very simple.  Find out what your competition is doing, and at the very
minimum, match it.  Try to better it you can.  According to this
article:

http://www.hudsonink.com/svcmgc.shtml

Service Magic's "leads prices range from $8 to $40, depending on the
work to be performed."  Investigate trying to make yours $5 to $35, or
less.




ITEM F - ACQUIRING CONTRACTORS TO BE MEMBER CONTRACTORS
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
I would suggest a multifaceted marketing campaign consisting of
mailing, emailing, telemarketing, and advertisements in both print and
online media.  Again, budget here should be very handsome, since the
acquirement of member contractors is the other 50% of the key to
making your site happen.  I would say another $20,000 should be placed
on this alone.

For contact information of contractors in dozens of disciplines, a
good place to start is constructionlists.com.  Prices start at $55 per
thousand company contacts, with breaks over 25,000.  Figure
$7000-$10000 for a couple hundred thousand names.  You then have the
cost of making an advertisement, which can run a few hundred to a
couple thousand dollars.  Effective advertising cannot be
overstressed.

Service Magic also partners with firms to reach volumes of potential
customers.  See:

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JVJ/is_1_16/ai_n8705979

I don't know if I would recommend hiring actual in-person sales
people, given your budget.  You might do well to hire a few
telemarketers to cold-call businesses, however.






Before rating this answer, please be sure to request any additional
information or clarification on this answer.  Thank you!


Select search terms used:  
  "service magic" partners
  construction lists

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Request for Answer Clarification by paminor1-ga on 13 Sep 2005 08:19 PDT

thank you for your dilligent and thorough reply. a few questions:
1. "125 online partners" not being of the internet world, what exactly
does that break down to?  where might we find these partners?

2. In regards to an on line ad campain, were u able to ascertain any
specific dollar amounts spent i.e. pay per click etc.

3. Any guestimation of total gross sales that SM produces?

4. Although not mentioned, there are of course several other players
in the contractor referral arena. 
://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=gd&q=contractor+referral++business
   Could u give a very small synopsis of, say, the top 4, with sales,
physical locations, type of payment from contractors (some charge a
flat fee), possibly give the average referral-out rate that
contractors receive (like twice every week)

5. Any contacts at SM or other referral sites that u may have.

thanks you.

---

Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 13 Sep 2005 20:55 PDT

Hello paminor1 -

Thank you for your request for clarification.

1. "125 online partners" not being of the internet world, what exactly
does that break down to?  where might we find these partners?

Here is additional information on their partners:
http://www.servicemagic.com/servlet/RedirectServlet?D=STATIC&targetPage=/rfs/aboutus/partnerPromo.jsp&m=improvenet2005&entry_point_id=617718

2. In regards to an on line ad campain, were u able to ascertain any
specific dollar amounts spent i.e. pay per click etc.

On Service Magic's campaigns?  Information on that detailed of a level
is normally not disclosed to the public.

3. Any guestimation of total gross sales that SM produces?

$33.3 million/year according to hoovers.com.

4. Although not mentioned, there are of course several other players
in the contractor referral arena. 
://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=gd&q=contractor+referral++business
   Could u give a very small synopsis of, say, the top 4, with sales,
physical locations, type of payment from contractors (some charge a
flat fee), possibly give the average referral-out rate that
contractors receive (like twice every week)

This question is significantly outside the scope of the original
posted question, so I wouldn't be able to answer it per our policies. 
However, feel free to post another question on Google Answers
requesting this information.

5. Any contacts at SM or other referral sites that u may have.

I dot not have any other contacts at SM.  Feel free to ask for any
additional clarification.

Thank you,

jbf777

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Request for Answer Clarification by paminor1-ga on 01 Nov 2005 15:06 PST

hello jbf

it's me the on-line referral guy!!  someone posted after you with a
commnet (now 2 month later) and wants me to contact them but their
email is dark.  How do i contact them and/or leave a message to that
effect?

thanks  Paul

---

Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 02 Nov 2005 10:43 PST

Hey paminor!

Will get back to you shortly on this.

Thanks!

jbf777

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Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 03 Nov 2005 09:17 PST

Hi paminor1 -

Google Answers policy prohibits the exchange of personal contact
information directly on the site.  However, one can post a link to a
website that would in turn contain contact information.  Didn't know
if you're aware, but the commenter darth_sid-ga used the "Add a
Comment" function of this site (different from the "Answer
Clarification" postings with which you and I are communicating).  You
can respond to him by posting a "comment" to this answer yourself
(look for the white button toward the bottom of the screen on the
right side.  Let him know you'd like to talk with him further, but
that one of you will have to post a link to a website containing the
contact information.

Let me know if you need any clarification on the above.

Thanks,

jbf777

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Request for Answer Clarification by paminor1-ga on 13 Nov 2005 14:29 PST

Sid,  rehabspecialist.net

---

Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 13 Nov 2005 19:05 PST

You should be notified by email if he posts a reply.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by paminor1-ga on 13 Nov 2005 19:46 PST

to jbf777

thanks,

I need a small amount of additional info
Any idea how many contractors there are in the USA?

Any idea how many homeowners there are in the USA?

It's worth 40 to me...

---

Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 14 Nov 2005 07:27 PST

paminor1 -

You'll have to post a new question on the service for this
information.  I do not know how many there are, although I may be able
to find out.  Your question will be answerable by any one of Google's
researchers.

Thanks,

Jordan

everything was excellent.

You've got to be joking!

You want an entire business plan for $50 and offer a nice tip only if
it's exemplary?

It would cost you hundreds of dollars for that business  and marketing plan 
- if not several thousand dollars.

I'd love to see if anyone takes up your offer.

Not realy.  I don't need a business plan, just the answers to those
posted questions.  For someone that does this sort of thing these
answers are readily available.  I just don't have the time to do it. 
But you are correct, it needs to be $200.00

paminor1 -

Thank you very much for the kind words, rating, and tip!  It is very
appreciated.  I wanted to mention to you that the budgetary numbers
I've presented are by no means a "set in stone" proposition, and will
definitely vary depending on several variables.  The qualifications of
the project manager alone may determine how much you allocate toward
other tasks within the company.

All the best in your endeavors, and please stop by again!

jbf777

paminor1-

   I came across your posting and found it to be very interesting,
because I (with a few associates) are attempting to do something very
similar.

  We were wondering, if you would be interested in talking to us
regarding this to explore opportunities of working together.

 I would really appreciate it, if you could get back to me. 

Regards
Sid

Sid, rehabspecialist.net

to jbf777

thanks,

I need a small amount of additional info?
Any idea how many contractors there are in the USA?

Any idea how many homeowners there are in the USA?

It's worth 40 to me...