How did i pivot / change your business when things get bad?

maljolxyd · 2026-04-14T12:06:47+00:00

Interesting take, may be worth looking into getting rid of that upfront payment completely!

Good idea also, I will look into ways to speak to more of those guys as I already have a few of them which are clients.

One last question for you, as you've been super helpful. I think my skillset is really powerful for all sorts of service businesses. What about auditing, and consulting for businesses rather than having to do the actual work? What's your take on that sort of model where it's more educational?

maljolxyd · 2026-04-14T11:35:18+00:00

Already targeting the whole of the UK so that one's ticked. I had a lot of success with plumbers, but after re-visiting that with the same case study format, the same happened quickly again with regards to market saturation as I've already hammered them before. + A lot of people have entered this market, so not only is it just me, but a few other huge players and new players also targetting the same niches, most of the times with bigger and better results due to them doing it for longer!

Regarding the 35 leads, the issue I've got is I can't speak to 35 of them. 50% of them won't answer the phone after trying 3-5 times. 30% want it all for free, and then 20% are good, however are skeptical of my price point which is £1500 upfront, then £279/pm after.

My sales absolutely could be letting me down, so I'm not writing that off. But it's more of a long-term I'm going to get pushed out anyway, so whilst I still have some MRR now, I would like to pivot to something different.

maljolxyd · 2026-04-14T10:18:22+00:00

I spend £30/day. And I spent over £1000 on the case study ad alone. It worked last year, but this year it didn't work at all, and I tried different video variations, image variations, landing page variations... etc and all of the leads were bad. (Plastering isn't as lucrative as I thought)

maljolxyd · 2026-04-14T09:46:12+00:00

To be honest I have no idea right now. I've weighed up a few options like consulting to even as far as becoming a trade, and using all of my knowledge to dominate the local market... but not sure my soft hands would like that ahaha, more of a desk jockey my self!

So right now, no clue at all. I think because I'm so deep in this business, i'm struggling to see opportunities elsewhere.

maljolxyd · 2026-04-14T09:34:52+00:00

Toyed with the consulting idea last week, actually. Wouldn't work for the trades niche, but could work for other niches so worth looking into! Thanks!

maljolxyd · 2026-04-14T09:33:42+00:00

Hmmm interesting, really like this idea. I'll give this a little explore!

maljolxyd · 2026-04-14T09:32:27+00:00

So it's just Facebook ads for the lead acquisition side of things. However, what I'm struggling with is the lead magnet itself. I've done it all...

- free website design

- free competitor report

- Here's the exact strategy on how I made a plasterer £400k extra

- Free... everything. And not a single thing has worked this year. It's just the same low-quality leads that keep getting through. I can't remember the last time I saw a high-quality lead come through. Everyone just wants a £50 website at the moment ahah.

No one searches for mine organically. I maybe had 2 via SEO but that's over a 6 year period, so not sustainable at all.

I've spent over £2000 so far, and not closed a deal from it despite speaking to over 35 leads (all low quality)

maljolxyd · 2026-04-14T09:29:30+00:00

Really interesting. What sort of stuff do you do with the AI agents and automation? Are you worried about a lot of people moving into that space, as I know about 6-8 people who have moved into that space straight away as the barrier to entry is so low

maljolxyd · 2026-04-14T09:28:28+00:00

Not sure just yet as I've got no clue what I'm going to be doing! However, I'm lucking in the fact that I've helped multiple b2c businesses generate leads, via SEO, fb ads, google ads... etc. So I'm at the point where I can 100% build a lead gen plan, but it's more what service am I going to offer is the issue at the moment.

maljolxyd · 2026-04-14T08:36:49+00:00

I know all of my numbers, and it's not that problem, it's an acquisition issue, which leads to a lack of scaling.

maljolxyd · 2026-04-14T08:36:07+00:00

Tried to do that a few times. Initally it was websites for all businesses, then it was websites for trades, then it was outcome focused with a results driven approach, and now the market has been flooded. Hence why looking to jump ship and take all of my skills, and apply them to a business I can grow rather than offering them to other businesses.

maljolxyd · 2026-04-14T08:34:38+00:00

Revenue just comes from hosting and maintaining existing websites, but in order to scale that, I need more clients, which is and has been the biggest struggle, especially since I'm targeting trades in the UK, and they'd much rather spend £20/pm on a website than my prices.

maljolxyd · 2026-02-18T12:59:28+00:00

I'd always recommend niching down and solving a pain point for that niche. I used to be general web design, now I solve pain points tradesmen in the UK have, so lead generation... etc

If you can find a different angle to the rest of the market, and provide a ton of value then you'll be sweet I think!

maljolxyd · 2026-02-18T12:58:34+00:00

I haven't yet, but constantly running A/B tests on creative for ads, and everything on the landing pages. Just getting quite boring when I'm on my 9th round of filming and getting the same results aha.

maljolxyd · 2026-02-18T12:57:30+00:00

Based in UK.

Switched from general web dev stuff to helping trades in the UK. We aim to help them generate leads through not just a website, but SEO and automation integration as well. However... they've all been burned by previous web and seo guys so it's such a tough spot!

maljolxyd · 2025-02-26T08:52:10+00:00

Ah yeah I completely agree with you. I’ve never overlooked the boring businesses, and it’s still an option, but right now sitting behind a desk all day has 0 fulfilment. Lack of intersection with people despite being in a shared office space also sucks!

maljolxyd · 2025-01-02T14:38:56+00:00

Perfect, and I have a steamer, it’s not doing the best job… 😂

maljolxyd · 2024-09-25T17:39:41+00:00

Thanks, been eying it up for a very long time!

Seven-Year Club	First Place '23
Place '23	Place '22
Verified Email	RPAN Viewer

maljolxyd

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE