November 26, 2014 by Sean Freitas
Starting your own small business is an exciting adventure, but can be quite daunting starting off. Having done it ourselves, we’ve taken note of a few tips you could benefit from with your new venture.
You might think your idea is awesome, but find out if there’s much competition. If there is competition, see what they offer and figure out how you can do it better. Whether it be price, or the quality of service you offer, differentiating your product/service will help you win customers over your competition.
Don’t jump right into the deep end, registering a company is costly and is much more regulated than a sole trader business. Start off slow, register your business name and get an ABN so you can invoice people. It won’t cost much (around $100) to register your business name and it will give you an opportunity to test whether your business will work before putting all of your eggs into one basket.
Go to your bank and set up a separate business bank account, this will help you separate your personal spending money from your business payments. As much as you can, try to keep your business affairs separate from your personal affairs.
By now you know your business name and what you do, find a great logo designer to come up with your business identity. Pay a bit extra to ensure a quality job and an image that potential customers will find trustworthy. You can then use your logo on all of your marketing material.
Have a business website created to showcase your services. Get your web guy to get you onto search and ensure that there’s plenty of call to action. Avoid focusing too much on the design and ensure you have plenty of useful content for your potential customers and most importantly, SELL your business and services on your website. Websites are an efficient way of marketing your business and bringing in new clients, they only work for you if they’re done right, so get it done right the first time.
Think to the future. Get your business on the cloud. Use Google Apps for e-mail, use an easy to use invoicing system like Freshbooks and an accounting system like XERO. Set up Paypal as an option for payments for your clients. Having everything to run your business on the cloud is awesome, you will never need to rely on a physical device any longer as your business can be accessed anywhere with an internet connection. Sync up your e-mails and calendars on all devices for a very reasonable cost. No more expensive hardware purchases.
Set up your Google Plus and Facebook accounts and post regularly. Invite your friends to your page and set up scheduled posts so there’s always action on your facebook page. Keep your clients engaged and they’ll keep you fresh in their mind.
Small things count,. Don’t use a free email service, get your e-mail address set up for your business. (rather than joesplumbing@gmail.com, use joe@joesplumbing.com.au). Get a 1300 or 1800 number which diverts to your mobile. You can even pimp it out with a professional answering message before it diverts to your mobile. It’s the small things that can make you look so much more professional.
To finish off, your business idea may be awesome, but small things can make a big difference, hopefully the tips mentioned above will help you plan your new start up and it is a great success! If you need any help setting up your business, website, logo or have any questions, just give us a call on 1800 550 262 to discuss what you need.
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