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.
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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.
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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.
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Day one of “Successful Solar Business” course
25 Sep 07 | General Business, Solar Electric, Solar Hot Water, TrainingI am taking the SEI Successful Solar Business course at the Sandy Hook National Park educational center in Sandy Hook, NJ. First of all, this is a great place to have a class. The Sandy Hook National Park is right across the bay from Manhattan, however, it is a different world out here. The educational center is on an old army base called Fort Hancock, which is also pretty cool. This is a great time of year because there are no crowds anywhere and the atmosphere is nice and relaxed.
I am staying that the Fairbanks Motel and Marina in Seabright, NJ, which is right outside of the gate to the park. The motel itself is a little run down and worn around the edges. Don’t expect a lot of bells and whistles but the rooms are clean, and the staff is nice and the rate are very reasonable. Bring your own shampoo as there is none in the room. If you are taking any classes at Sandy Hook, I recommend this motel. Their number is (732) 842-8450. All of this is right across from the beach, which is where I ate breakfast this morning.
The first day was very interesting. The instructor, Chuck Marken gave a brief overview of the course then jumped right in. We learned some of the global view on solar energy from Jim O’Hern of PV1. His presentation was basically on how governments are structuring rebates and clean energy credits to make Photovoltaics more competitive with conventional energy supplies.
Then we had and overview of business administration and a question and answer session. Today we will be learning about Marketing. As it turns out, I am staying at the same motel as the instruction. After class, we were sitting by the pool enjoying a Corona and I asked him what the single most important thing is for a start up business. He thought about it for a second and said “Marketing. You have to have a marketing plan, otherwise no one will know you are there.” I suppose this is true of any business. The minimum marketing a startup business should be doing is:
- Yellow pages add. Old school but still effective.
- Web page, great way to connect to the tech savy crowd, and the point of this website
- Product catalog with basic diagrams and information on systems being sold
- Attend fairs and home shows
- Logo on the company trucks
- Small “real estate” sized sign in front of work sites
Of course the best and most sought after marketing is word of mouth from satisfied customers. There are many many more topics of discussion, such a pre qualifying potential customers, dealing with distributors, and so on. Here are a few pictures of Sandy Hook, Fort Hancock and the Motel. More tomorrow.
This is the Fort Hancock Educational Center on Sandy Hook. It is an old brick building across from the Coast Guard base.
These are the former officer housing on Fort Hancock. These were built in 1898 when the fort was first established to defend NY harbor. It is really pretty cool to see, most of these are in a run down condition, but it looks like they still could be fixed up if needed. They face out toward the sound (west)
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Homepower Magazine
22 Sep 07 | Commentary, General, TrainingI received my first issue of Homepower Magazine in the mail last Saturday. I am not disappointed. This issue had lots of good information on photovoltaics and renewable energy installations in the Northeast.
Many people feel that since the Northeast is not in the sun belt, solar power will be a poor investment. They could not be more wrong. Our cost for electricity is around 14.9 cents per kWh. This is one of the more expensive rates in the US. Even though we typically get less insolation than areas in the south and southwest, the fact that our electricity rates are much higher than most makes solar a good investment.
There is also a great article on how photovoltiacs are made and what is being done to make them more efficient and less expensive. If, for example, renewable energy received the same subsidies that oil or coal received, the prices would be about half of what they are today. Make you wonder, doesn’t it. Also, the fact that more and more renewable energy manufacturing is coming on line, will drive prices down eventually anyway.
I am very pleased with Homepower Magazine and recommend it to anyone interested in renewable energy.
Here is a list of all the articles in this issue:
- Affordable Solar
- Efficiency Details
- Cashing in
- Sunshine states
- plug-in hybrids
- PV parts
- Buyers guide
- Pump primer
- REview
- Solar savings
- System monitoring
The there are the regular departments such as:
- From us to You
- Ask the Experts
- Mailbox
- Code Corner
- Independent Power Providers
- Power Politics
- Word power
- Home and heart
- RE happenings
- Marketplace
- Installers directory
- Advertisers index
- RE people
Overall a very good trade publication for anyone in the RE business, whether just getting started or a veteran of many years.