Web site development
30 Sep 07 | General BusinessI am working on developing the website for Hudson Valley Solar. Right now, as you are aware, the website points to this blog through an .htaccess redirect. I will be making a home page which will direct visitors to various parts of my website. Right now, I am trying to determine how much web presence this company will have. After looking at other dealer/installer websites, I get the general idea that most sites have the following things:
- Education. Information about solar power, solar systems and how they work. There may also be some type of cost analysis and Return On Investment (ROI) included in this.
- Products. A description of the products they sell and or install. Some of these include pictures or spec sheets.
- Services. A brief rundown on the company and what services it provides. This often includes a picture gallery of past installation work.
- Company history. A brief history of the company or its principles. Sometimes this is lumped in with “services.”
- On line store. Some companies offer an online catalog and store where do it your selfers can purchase equipment either directly over the internet or via a toll free number.
- A contact form. This is on most websites. It allows internet users to send an e-mail directly to the company.
Those are the elements of the good solar dealer/installer websites that I have seen. I am not sure how much into the online webstore I am going to get, but everything else looks to be pretty easy to set up and maintain. The maintenance part is a biggie when it comes to websites. You do not want to have a site that requires constant html editing to keep it current, especially if you are a single person operation. That eats into valuable time that can be better used doing something more productive.
A little peak of what I am working on is here
Related posts
Tags: marketing
Day four “Successful Solar Business” course
28 Sep 07 | General Business, TrainingYesterday was the final day of the SEI Successful Solar Business course given at Sandy Hook National Seashore in Seabright, NJ. I can say I got quite a bit out of the course as many of the things discussed there were unique to the solar business. Overall, I would grade the course as very good and a good experience.
There was also quite a bit of content that I would call “general business administration” which you would receive from any small business course such as the one I took in college.
Yesterday we went over more sales stuff and business plans. Then we met with Mona Rotkopf from SunWize, a photovoltiac distributor. It was very interesting to hear her presentation on what products they offer and how they structure there rates for dealer/distributors.
Some of the things I liked:
- The information on marketing. There is nothing better than a seasoned professional to tell you what has worked and what has not worked in the past. That does not mean that you may not try a few of the “has not worked” marketing strategies because maybe you have a new wrinkle, just beware.
- The information on sales, particularly on how not to waist a lot of time. If you are in business for yourself, this is key. The sales prequalification information was not something I would have thought of and was worth the price of the course alone.
- Meeting with industry reps and professionals. Meeting with Brian from Seabright Solar and Mona from Sunwize was also good.
Some of the things that I did not like:
- The accounting classes were a little boring. Not that they are not needed, if you have no business background, this stuff is critical. I have dealt with it before, so it was not edge of the chair material
- I could have put up with less stories from students. This is a hard one for the instructors to control sometimes. I think some people like to hear themselves talk and some of the things that were said were marginally relevant at best. Not to say that they all were and there were a lot of genuine good questions asked, but a few of the students had the tendency to prattle on about this or that and I would think to myself “What does this have to do with me?”
I would also like to say that the setting was great. The beach at the National Park was wonderful, and the history of the Fort Hancock historical area was great too. I enjoyed walking around after class and taking in all of the various things. I am sure that had it been in the middle of summer, the place would have been overrun with people, but in mid to late September, it was ideal.
Related posts
Tags: Training
Solar Nation
27 Sep 07 | General Business, Solar Electric, Solar Hot WaterI found this website by accident when I was looking up the Solar Energy Industries Association web site. It is called Solar Nation and is a policy group that puts together information about pending federal legislation. From there website:
Solar Nation will speak up to advance the use of renewable — especially solar — energy by encouraging policy change, informing political leaders and candidates about solar power, and helping to shape policy platforms at the local, state and federal level. Solar Nation will also speak out, not only against the competing use of dirty and dangerous fossil fuels or nuclear power, but also in opposition to lobby-influenced legislation or policy that favors such energy choices.
This is the type of presence that is needed to keep the energy issues front and center with Congress. The only way we can move ahead with solar, especially photovoltiacs, is to have subsidies to help defray the large initial costs of a solar system. This is because competing energy, such as coal and oil, also get huge subsidies from the federal government.
If you are in the renewable energy industry, or are thinking about getting into it, it is important to be involved in the policy end of things. The more people that write to their state and federal legislators about renewable energy, the more those legislators will pay attention to what we want.
Related posts
Day Three “Sucessful Solar Business” course
26 Sep 07 | General Business, TrainingThis morning started out with accounting and business practices. Things like filing taxes, incorporations, payroll, and the very exciting world of worker compensation insurance. This is all needed information if you are going to start and run a business to be sure. It is also information you can get from almost any college business 101 course, or even by doing research on line. The gist of what I got out of this information is “Have a good accountant,” and “hire a payroll company.” Good record keeping is also a must. Pretty much common sense all.
This afternoon we talked about sales and how to prequalify potential customers, how to conduct a site survey and what tools to use. This was very good specific information on the solar business. This information is vital to any successful solar business, as sales is the driving force. Without sales, there will be no installations and thus no income. Anyone in that situation will be out of business in short order.
Good sales requires being prepared, knowledgeable and knowing when to speak up and when to keep quite. Having certain sales tools such as a presentation book is helpful. Other tools such as a solar pathfinder are great for qualifying the site as a good or bad solar site. A tape measure can help with material estimation. These are common sense things for anyone who has been in the contractor business, which is what the solar installation business should be seen as.
The one thing that was covered extensively was return on investment or ROI. This is a major selling point of renewable energy systems because all of the cost of the system is up front with little or no operating or maintenance costs. Traditional power providers such as the electric company are pay over time (for what you use) systems. If you can show that the return on investment is better than a CD (certificate of deposit) then the system makes better financial sense to the prospective buyer.
There are many, many more things that were covered, but once again, I don’t want to give away the store and have SEI get mad at me.
Related posts
Tags: Training
Day two “Successful Solar Business”
26 Sep 07 | General Business, TrainingA lot of ground was covered on day two. I am not sure how much information I want to reveal here because I don’t want to get in trouble with SEI with proprietary information. Suffice to say, the instructor, Chuck, has a lot of experience in the field (been in business since 1979) and is willing to share many aspects of the business, so long as we don’t move to New Mexico.
The main subject of the day was marketing and who to establish a company name. One thing that was talked about, but not extensively was an internet presence. I whole heartedly agree that an internet presence is necessary for an progressive business in the renewable energy field. I thought I would expand a little on that subject, since it is something that I understand a little about.
There are many types of websites, from a company information website, to an online store, and so on. So what makes a website good? I was looking around at some of the solar websites last night and made note of the ones that I would do business with. First of all, layout and color have a lot to do with a readers perception. Seabright Solar has a good installation company website, although I don’t like the flash program that loads before you see anything. It takes you to the several examples of the finished product straight away. It also has good coloring and good local information. Local information is key if you want to get local inquiries. After all, it does you little good if somebody from California calls you when you are based in Maryland.
A good wholesale distributor website is AEE Solar. Again, good color combinations, good use of the space above the fold and some example products right on the front page. I would do business with this company. Sunwize, located a few miles up the road from me also has a good distributor website. Since both of these companies are wholesale distributors, they do not sell to the general public.
The Alternative Energy Store has a good online store website. On this website you will find basic tutorials on solar thermal, photovoltiacs, wind, micro hydro. This is not in depth information, but should be enough for the layman to figure out what technology will work for him. They also have a design service. This is a retail sales website designed for do it yourselfers.
Those are just a few of the websites that are out there. As I get closer to launching this business, I will make a home page for sun-volt that will hopefully look as good as one of those. Of course, once you have a website, then it needs to be promoted. Joining local business lists, such as the list for the town I live in, and other lists for solar professional such as Find Solar, submitting to Home power magazine, et cetera are all good ways to promote your website and thus your business.
Of course, simply having a website is not enough marketing effort, other avenues are needed. For that information, you will have to take the class.