All startup businesses have a bit of a chicken or egg issue. When it comes to growing the business and getting more work, you need to have a proven track record and have examples to show potential clients. However, it can be hard to make that happen with a limited budget and no clients in the first place. It can be hard to show your value when you’re still building and growing your track record. You need to be able to convince those in your industry that you are a competent business, even when you are new to it all. But how exactly can you do that? Here are some tips to make your new business look more professional, helping it to be more competitive, and help you to get more clients.
This is a contributed post. Please refer to my disclosure for more information.
Look the Part
First impressions are something that is important in the business world. Although you might not be making big money yet, you can still dress well and dress for the part. If you have new client meetings or meetings with retailers or wholesalers, make sure that you present yourself well. You are presenting the business to new people, and as such, it helps to present it well.
Build a Good Website
In the day and age that we live in, being online is vital for a small business. You need to be able to be found online, even if you don’t offer products or services online. When you have a good website and can be found with a search, then it helps to prove credibility, as well as helping potential customers or clients to know more about the business. Social media sites are great and need to be a part of this. However, they aren’t enough alone. Which is why a website really is key. You can hire professionals to help you with your website, or do it alone. Either way, make sure that the website is user-friendly, mobile-friendly, and has all of the necessary information on there, like address, phone number, email address, and a contact form. It helps people to be able to get in touch with you.
Virtual Office
When you’re starting out, you probably don’t have the money to have an office space to work from. However, just putting a residential address on a form isn’t likely to work well or look all that professional. Having a virtual office space gives your business a physical address, that isn’t your home address, and if required, office-related services. All of this can be done without having the overheads of a long lease and paying an admin team. When you have a virtual office, you and your employees (if you have any), can work from home, but still have things like a mailing address and someone dealing with phone answering, arranging meetings, and videoconferencing.
Use Professional Tools
For a small business, there are a number of things that are going to make life much easier. From handling finances to managing how much work you have to do each day, there are tools and software that can help. These tools can help to make you more efficient, as well as more professional, which is a must for a small business. Automation is another thing to think about. You can automate a lot of things, from payroll to emails. All of these things will help you to be more efficient, and in turn, help to demonstrate how professional the business is.
Professional Communication
If you want to be taken seriously, then you need to act in a professional manner. If you are sending out emails or texts to people, even those who work for you, then using things like emojis and slang words are best to be avoided. Although you may use them a lot in your personal life, you should keep business things separate. Before you send an email or a message, it is a good idea to reread what you have written and look out for different spelling errors, for example. Have a professional email footer with contact details, rather than ‘sent from my iPhone,’ for instance. These things may seem small and insignificant, but they can mean big things when you are trying to get new clients or send across a message about the business.
Once you have established that you are capable, reliable, and trustworthy as a business, then the next step is to deliver what you promise to clients. From there, it is up to you to keep customers and clients happy so that you get repeat work from them, repeat custom, and they stick with you. Word of mouth and recommendations in business is vital, so make sure that you are doing enough to earn them.
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