Step one in setting up your new practice, you really need to think about and research what you want to represent to your prospective clients.
What impression do you want to give them?
- a solo business owner
- a formal business like a partnership or a corporation
For the sake of set up costs and simplicity most small businesses start out as a solo business, usually run out of the home. There are some very basic yet very important things to do straight away to create your image.
- create a business plan and business goals – you need to know where you are going
- determine your target market – a narrow focused niche will help build creditability and save money in advertising
- create your business name – base your name on the image of big or small business, on your target market, on your vision for where the company is going and being totally authentic to yourself.
- set business hours – it really doesn’t matter what these are Monday & Wednesday 3:00 to 5:00 – STICK to it, this allows you to focus your activities and set boundaries for a balanced life/work environment.
- set up a SEPARATE phone line – Nothing is more unprofessional then a 5 year old answering your business line. If the baby is crying in the back ground or you are in the middle of making dinner, let the voicemail get the call. Be sure to create a voicemail message that conveys your business hours as well as the level of importance you place on your clients.
- create business cards and stationary – This doesn’t need to be $1000 of dollars, you can use a online service for a very reasonable price and they make it really easy to create business cards and letterhead that matches. Do spend the extra $10-$20 to have the print shops advertising taken off the material.
- set up a website and domain email address – Again, this can be accomplished for a very reasonable rate there are many websites online that can assist you with domain registration, web and email hosting.
Even if you choose the route of a solo business owner there is no reason that your practice needs to leave the impression that you are working from the kitchen table or the share bedroom.
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About The Passion Diva
