Fire Extinguishers
Most of us have home insurance to cover our valuables and a large chunk of us have life insurance which protects our loved ones if something unforeseen were to take us out of the game earlier than planned but how many of us have a fire extinguisher at home? Surely this is a basic precaution? Shouldn’t we have them in the kitchen and the bedroom? What about the car?
Even where we do see fire extinguishers in office buildings and public spaces they need to be checked and renewed periodically which makes this a great business. If you can land a contract you can not only supply the extinguishers but often charge for a maintenance contract to check the equipment once a quarter. You could of course do this in the evening or at weekends making it feasible as a part time business.
My belief is that the great untapped market is the domestic one. My day job is in Life Insurance where we have a saying that “No-one buys life Insurance, it is always sold”. I suspect that fire extinguishers are a similar product; no one wants to think about the effect of not having one when it is needed but equally we just try not to think about fire and other disasters period.
Life Insurance can be sold door to door, through relationships or by direct marketing. I suspect that all 3 would work just as well for a physical product and in fact that it will be easier to sell as it is at least something that you can hold in your hand.
I would sell 3 different levels, a basic extinguisher for oil, electrical and other fires, a dual fitting (lets call that expert) with 2 of the 3 and a deluxe version with all three fitted. Naturally the deluxe one would be cheaper than buying all 3 separately.
In terms of marketing you can try the following: -
Ebay
Advertise
Network
Building Management
Ebay has 493 fire extinguishers listed, many of which are car models. Presumably this is something that car enthusiasts who race, or get involved in motor-sports need. Certainly there are some niche products such as all chrome, or even some with custom paint jobs. By setting up an Ebay store for this product you will stand out from the crowd however and you can definitely sell some products to people who are looking for fire extinguishers.
Advertising is more of a push as you can remind people of why they should have safety equipment in their homes as well as their offices. A few well chosen statistics along with some comments about the reassurance of brands you can trust should be sufficient to bring you some responses. Aim for publications that appeal to families such as “Which” magazine, and Sunday newspaper supplements.
Networking is great if you can build the right kind of network. If you sell to one business owner then make sure to ask him for referrals, as like minded people often hang out with each other. You can also try supporting golf club and yacht club raffles, and joining local business men’s meeting groups such as The Round Table, or The Rotary Club. Don’t focus on selling your products initially, simply get talking to people and make some new friends, they are bound to ask what you do and you can tell them that you supply and maintain fire safety equipment. If they are interested, then keep talking; and if not then simply move on to the next conversation. Building your network should ensure that when someone is looking for a new supplier your name gets mentioned. It may also be worth getting in with the local fire-brigade, maybe volunteering or helping with fund raising for example.
Buildings management people are bulk buyers of this kind of equipment. Get a phone directory and start making calls if you are brave enough. Better yet take a walk around some tower blocks and note the labels on the fire extinguishers which tell you when they were last checked, and how old they are. When you find a building that has some equipment in need of replacing make the call from a position of power. “I noticed that some of your equipment needs replacing and wondered how I would get involved in the tender process?” sounds much better than “I was wondering when you will next be looking for tenders for your fire safety equipment” although of course it takes more legwork.
Whether you get your stock from overseas, or locally through a wholesaler or manufacturer you need to ensure that you get better discounts as your volumes increase.
You can buy extinguishers on Alibaba.com but personally I would be happier buying something from a well branded supplier such as Kiddie, even if it costs a little more. After all if you spend the money on a precaution you want to know that it will work right?
Ask all your clients about maintenance contracts. Offer to check equipment every 3 months and ensure everything is in working order, that the extinguishers have not been discharged accidentally or as a prank, and that they remain clearly visible and accessible. This is not very time consuming and can be very lucrative.
It may help if you have been a fireman previously in terms of referrals and credibility but it is certainly not the only way into this business