ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Business Related Discussion Need some help with market research

Hello, I own a wire processing plant in Allentown, PA. For the last two years we only bought from scrap yards, wire manufacturers and utility companies. We are opening our doors to contractors and I am having a hard time determining when to be open.

I would be grateful for any feedback you guys could give me as to what hours you feel would be good for us to be open for you. For example, would you all prefer mornings, later in the evening? What about Saturday hours?

Thank you for any help you all can give me.

I would suggest being open when the ECs are able to drop off their scrap wire at the end of the day.
Late afternoon or evening would be good for weekdays. Most of the guys I kow who work Saturdays are in a rush to get back home so I don't know if being open Saturdays would be worthwhile.
Just my 2 cents worth...

How about start calling the local contractors and getting their input?

It has not been brought up but how good are your procedures to avoid stolen property?
That is a sore point with a lot of sparkies and if you have a good screening process it will help your reputation.

I understand it is really only a few bad apples that can give legitimate recyclers a bad name.

Unless you expect a lot of travelers heading toward Allentown, your best bet may be the local guys as sparkyak said.

Try to contact the local area (Allentown/Beth) Contractors associations, and drop an email to the local inspectors associations.

Thank you all for the feedback.

As for stolen property, to be honest, we have given it a little thought. We take drivers license info off every customer and have that info. We also work closely with local police. Our problem is we are just not sure what else to do. Up until now we never opened to the general public and so I really didn't have to worry much about it.

Thank you all again for the help with this.

If you are going to remain a company that only deals with known suppliers that may not be a big problem.