More people are starting businesses from home each year. Some do so to create a secondary income stream through freelancing, while others prefer to work from home and build a brand to replace their existing 9-5 jobs.
Whether you’ve started your home business or not, one way to accelerate growth in your enterprise is by making it appear more professional to your target audience.
This article aims to give you some ideas on how you can achieve that goal with your home business. Here’s what you need to know:
Design A Professional Logo And Branding
Firstly, your business must have its own unique identity – even if you’re the only person who will ever be in it. Whether you have a unique trading name or use yours, creating a professional logo and branding makes sense.
Consistent, professionally-designed branding can get used online, such as on your website or social media, and offline, with banners and other pop-up promotional materials.
The good news is you don’t have to invest in image editing software or learn how to use it, as hiring graphic designers for such purposes is inexpensive, and you’ll be guaranteed professional results.
Get A Virtual Business Address
A downside of running a home business is advertising to the world where you live. A brilliant way around this problem is paying for a virtual business address.
The way that works is simple:
- You pay a small monthly fee to a virtual office services company;
- They let you use their business address as yours;
- They’ll keep or forward any post to you that gets received by them;
- Your customers won’t know where you live.
Create A Professional Website
Much of your sales will likely occur online. With that in mind, one of your top priorities should be to create a professional website.
Whether it’s one you create yourself using pre-designed templates or a unique site designed by web designers, it should be easy for customers to access and navigate.
Consider adding value-added features like live chat integration and order tracking capabilities to your website to boost your brand’s professional image.
Use A Call Answering Service
You should consider using a virtual answering service, as you can ask the provider to take messages on your behalf or even provide customers answers to frequently-asked questions. What happens if you are busy during your opening hours and a customer wants to speak with someone at your business? The last thing you want to happen is for them to reach an engaged tone or a voicemail greeting.
Invest In A Virtual Phone Number
One final tip to consider for making your home business more professional is by investing in a virtual phone number. It can be a local geographic number, a local or national-rate one, or even a freephone number.
When customers call that number, it automatically diverts to any landline or mobile number. You can program the service to use your business number as the caller ID so you know that the caller is a business-related one.
Conclusion
The above tips and tricks will make your brand appear on a more even footing with its competitors. What’s fantastic about these ideas is that they don’t cost much money – meaning even those on a tight budget can take advantage of them.