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Business Development Resources

Being a successful rater requires much more than technical knowledge and providing quality ratings to your clients. You must also be a skillful businessman. The most successful businesses are those who are adept at marketing, pricing, and insuring themselves from risk.

The rating of homes is only one part of a larger picture. There is much more to being a successful business than providing building performance services. As raters, it is vital to your business and family that you devote enough time to making your enterprise profitable.

The following are some helpful advice to assist you with the art of making your business profitable.

Pricing

Before determining a price for your services, it is recommended that you first determine both your costs of living and business. Living costs include food, housing, savings, education, medical, transportation, personal expenses, etc.. Business costs include travel, taxes, supplies as well as a retirement fund and insurance costs, etc.. You then want to make sure that the salary you give yourself will cover these costs, and give you enough money to enjoy life with. To compute an hourly rate, you may divide your costs, by the amount of hours you expect to work. It would also be helpful to compare what rates similar services charge in your market.

Insurance

As we all know, having a small business is a rewarding but often risky undertaking. Properly insuring yourself and your business is a critical for mitigating the risk inherit with operating a small business. Not having proper medical and disability insurance, can cause even a temporary illness to become a financial disaster. Disability insurance is absolutely vital to insure that your business remains operational if you are unable to work for a time. Remember, if you are in this for the long term, the likelihood of you encountering some accident or illness in the future is highly possible. It is also wise to protect yourself from lawsuits and accidents that may occur in your time as a rater. Having proper liability insurance will help prevent law suits from crippling your business.

That’s why RESNET offers its members access to the RESNET Insurance Program.  Developed with RESNET members in mind, the RESNET Insurance Program is designed to help simplify the insurance buying process for RESNET members and offers the Professional Liability (PL), General Liability (GL) and Property coverage you need. The program is only available to RESNET Raters and Home Inspectors and offers competitive rates that may not be available anywhere else.

Take a few minutes now to check out this important member benefit. Call toll-free (800) 806-0263 or visit the RESNET Insurance Program website at www.locktonaffinity.com/resnet Electronic applications and online contact request forms are available for your convenience.

Defining Your Product

If is vital that you are able to clearly define and communicate to potential customers what it is you are selling. Any effective marketing strategy will define the value of your services to your customers. By considering the value of your rating services to your various customers you will be able to tell your story more effectively.
Marketing

Marketing your business is every bit as important as providing quality services. In order to have clients, consumers must know that your business exists and the specific services you offer. Make sure that you have a website, and that it not only lists the services you provide, but also what the services are. Many professionals in the rating industry neglect to provide full service listings or any description of what their services are. Remember you are not advertising solely to people in your business field! Attending trade shows are also valuable ways to network and advertise your services. Make sure that you are always carrying business cards with you at all times. Fact sheets are also an effective way to let people know about what services you offer, and what those services are. Joining home builders associations let builders know you are around, and what services you can offer them.

Other Resources

• Your Business Plan
• Defining Your Services
• Making the Sale
• Advertising Tips
• Free Media
• EPA Marketing Resources
• EPA Ad Partnerships
• New Business Development Opportunities for Raters
  September 25, 2006 - RESNET Rater Roundtable (PPT)