Starting a home-based business is a great way to get a better work-life balance and make money on your own way in your own terms, but that is not to say that it is an easy thing to do!
Establishing a brand new business is always going to be hard work and you will be facing an uphill battle to attract customers when there is so much competition also trying to woo them.
One thing that can definitely help is ensuring your home business looks the part, and by that, I mean making sure that your company looks professional. You might be running it out of your home, but as far as the customers are concerned, your business needs to be as professional as possible. After all, no one is going to take a chance on a new business that doesn’t seem to be professional – there are too many scams around for that.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few things you can do to ensure your home-based business looks just as professional s much bigger operations.
Accept all major credit cards
First thing’s first, ensure that your company is able to accept all major credit cases by using the best merchant services you can afford. Companies that can offer more than just Paypal payments are always going to look more professional, and be more convenient for the customers, than those that do not.
Use a professional business and email address
Yes, you might be running a small operation from the comfort of your own home, but the customer does not need to know that. You can rent virtual business addresses in professional locations so that your company looks more legitimate, and so that you can maintain your own privacy.
When it comes to emails, ensure you have your own domain name, so instead of myhomebusiness@google.com, for example, you have an email address which is myname@mybusiness.com. This always looks more professional.
Offer excellent customer service
You might be a small business run by just you, but that doesn’t mean you can leave people waiting to have their emails answered for fr too long or that you can ignore customer complaints, for example.
If you’re serious about running a successful home-based business, then you need to take customer service very seriously. You need to make getting in touch with you easy; you need to solve problems as soon as possible; you need to be open and honest in your communications.
Ensure your website works
Your website is like your company’s calling card online, If it does not work well, is not easy to use, and has lots of errors contained within, then nobody is going to be impressed, so be sure to get it right, make it professional, and give your business a fighting chance.
The more official you make your business look, the more likely it is you will be able to convince customers to take chance on you, and that is very good news for the future success of your company.
