Sudden dip in customers

[MrBojangles]

So I started doing residential and small-business fulltime since about December. The services I offer are the standard break-fix mostly and it's been pretty good. I've had a steady stream of new and old customers for 3.5 months now. I've honestly been surprised with the consistency of which I get calls. I can say that on average it's about 1 call/client every 1.1 days.

But for the last two weeks there's been a break in the pattern. I've gotten very few calls (2 maybe) and I'm scratching my head wondering why? All I've done is optimized my website a little, bolded a few words here, added an extra phone number there. I've been checking up on my adwords and I'm OK with all the positions. In fact I pretty much dominate the top spots for adwords in my area. I'm also getting the expected click rates.

So what's the deal? Could it be that a competitor (I HAVE noticed one new competitor in a town 20km away) is taking my business? Could it be that the minor changes I made to my website have had an adverse effect? Or could it be a technical issue such as that my website isn't showing or something like that? I use Joomla and sometimes an update can break things.

Am I just panicking without reason and I should just ride it out or do I have to dig deeper?

Please help!

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

Dunno but have you considered trying the free plan of mouseflow https://mouseflow.com/ so you can watch visitors actions and get an idea of any potential issues with navigation that they may have?

 

[jzukerman]

Just ride it out. Our business like most businesses is cyclical. Residential especially since a lot of people get a little bit of money back on tax returns, spend it, then have nothing left.

 

[coffee]

I think in my market its weather related. The weather turns good and everyone is focused on outdoors and other things. During the cold weather months everyone is on their computers. The business clients kinda keep me going over the warm weather times.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

I think in my market its weather related. The weather turns good and everyone is focused on outdoors and other things. During the cold weather months everyone is on their computers. The business clients kinda keep me going over the warm weather times.

hmm didn't think about that, I always thought it was because they were getting tax refund checks hehe.

 

[coffee]

hmm didn't think about that, I always thought it was because they were getting tax refund checks hehe.

Do you keep track of the hits on your website? See if you are getting fewer hits during this warm weather. Might be helpful.

This is my slow period in my area.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Just ride it out. Our business like most businesses is cyclical. Residential especially since a lot of people get a little bit of money back on tax returns, spend it, then have nothing left.

Yep, End of tax season is always slow for me. Stays that way for a couple of weeks picks up again for May and dies again on Memorial Day.

 

[Canadian Tech]

Here in Canada taxes have to be completed by the end of April so I find the whole month of April tends to be a bit slow. Then it slows down again for the summer and again around Christmas. Lately I've been holding Giveaway Contests on my Facebook Page to help draw in new clients and so far it's helped but not as much as I was hoping.

 

[cypress]

Ride it out, times can get slow and then pick back up again in no time. I know I have had a couple weeks where it slows down and then picks right back up.

 

[MrBojangles]

Thanks guys. You made me feel kind of hopeful and its funny today I got 2 clients and another potential clients so it looks like its turning around.

Might be the tax thing too like a lot of you are mentioning but I don't get how specifically that will reduce peoples willingness to spend? I figure most people will be getting money BACK from the taxman and not the other way around?

 

[nlinecomputers]

Lots of people are self-employed, just like you are. What did I do on April 18? I paid both tax due and 1st quarterly income.

 

[glricht]

As others have said, this type of business can be very cyclical. Sometimes it's busy and other times you wonder if your phone is working! Maybe the phases of the moon.

My wife used to run an antiques and gifts business for many years and it was cyclical too (but the not the same cycles as the PC business, which was nice). What WAS interesting is that during the summer & fall of a presidential election (we're in the US), the down cycles were REALLY down. The only reason we could think of was that people were uneasy of the future and kept their money close to home!

 

[Keith Herstek]

This is one of the worst parts of running the business for me. I start to panic. It is usually followed by a week of more work than I can handle. Stick to your plan and ride it out. It is a good time to catch up on studying, SEO or blogging if you do that stuff.

 

[callthatgirl]

The panic will eventually go away. My business sees a slowdown at least 2-3 times a year. In the first few years, I was scared and worried, then I realized it happened before and I made it, It will happen again and the longer that it does happen the more financially OK I am and enjoy the slow times a bit more now. Like a forced vacation, but you never know when or can plan it! DRAT.

 

[Larry Sabo]

Like the others, I've come to not be bothered by these slow periods. I've graphed them over many years and while there are general trends, it's impossible to predict just when they will hit. As soon as you start getting worried about it, all hell often breaks loose and you wish things slowed down a bit. It never rains but it pours. As @callthatgirl says, it would be nice to know when they are coming so you could plan a short getaway without feeling like you're missing something.

 

[glennd]

Use the quiet times to catch up on stuff. Perhaps cleaning up the workshop, installing new shelving, whatever. Think in terms of new ways of getting the name out there, maybe mail drops, networking. Try to stay productive during the quiet times. I've been learning Wordpress, installed a linux kiosk on a spare machine, updated the tools, wsus offline, latest win10 images, sdi etc.

 

[mraikes]

On top if everything else that's been said I'll add one more - you're new. You don't have the depth of customer base required to smooth out what might pass unnoticed in a more established business. The more customers you acquire, the bigger the bump or pothole will have to be before you feel it.

But when something like this happens, you're right to look around and ask "what changed?" just in case. Because sometimes it IS caused by something identifiable. Like losing organic search ranking on your website or that new competitor down the road. So you're doing the right thing - pay attention, but don't panic.

 

[JustMe]

All the more reason why you should have some savings set aside to cover expenses during these unexpected slow times. Build it up during those busy times and enjoy financial peace of mind during those slow times.

 

[Markverhyden]

As others have said, things are cyclical. Lots of reasons why and they vary by location and time of the year. Back when I started out I had a good 5-6 months of non-stop activity. Then things slowed down. After two weeks of little activity I started to freak. Got bills to pay, like my daughter's tuition, etc, etc.

It's normal so to speak. I remember when I was at CompUSA, managers used to freak out with a really slow week. Those that have been around knew this was normal. It's part of running a business. Now I don't worry about it. When things are slow, as mentioned above, I spend that time developing new business and skills.

 

[allanc]

Dunno but have you considered trying the free plan of mouseflow https://mouseflow.com/ so you can watch visitors actions and get an idea of any potential issues with navigation that they may have?

Interesting.
Have not seen it mentioned here before.
Are you using it?