Creating a Professional Image For Your Home-Based Business
Like it or not, there is still a segment of the population who
will erroneously conclude that you and your business are less
than professional and competent just because you run your
business out of your home.
Dumb? Obviously. Narrow-minded? Yes. Wrong? Absolutely. Unfair?
No question. Want their business? Well ... yes. OK, then you're
going to have to play the game and beat them at it. Here's how
to do it. It's a little sneaky, but hey, all's fair in love and
home-based business.
HARMLESS FICTIONS
The name of the game is creating the right image ... employing a
few harmless fictions, in other words. First off, incorporate or
register a fictitious business name. Nothing screams
"PROFESSIONAL!" to Potential Client as an honest-to- goodness
corporate or business name on your letterhead and business
cards. Never mind that anyone can spend ten bucks and register a
DBA, it at least *looks* professional, and that's what counts.
OFFICE ADDRESS
The next problem you have with Potential Client is that you
don't want your home address to give you away.
What do you think looks more professional in Potential Client's
eyes: 123 Cherryblossom Way, Apt. 103, Suburbia or 123 Major
Blvd, Level 37, Big City?
The answer is a serviced office. These don't have to cost a lot
of money if you use them pretty much as a post office but they
CAN give your business all the big-city prestige your potential
client is looking for. You can also use a post office box for
this purpose but many a Potential Client will be on to you in a
flash. They didn't just fall off the turnip truck, you know.
(Right.)
An additional advantage is that you can use your serviced office
to meet with Potential Client. After all, the last thing you
want is to have him coming to your REAL office. Heaven forbid!
Most serviced offices will make meeting rooms available for a
flat fee.
TELEPHONES
This is probably the trickiest part of all. How do you know it's
safe to answer the phone in your home office even though the
sounds of your young children playing just outside your office
door will be heard by the caller? You simply don't.
There is a simple way of dealing with this. Only give your home
office number to existing clients. They already know you are
professional and competent and should therefore have no issue
with the fact that you work from home.
For anyone else, give out the number of an answering service
that will answer the call in your business name and can tell
callers that you're in a meeting with another client and take a
message. Your serviced office will offer this service as well.
You can then return the call at a time when you know tell-tale
background noise won't give you away.
In fact, a trick some people who work from home use when
returning calls is to run a tape of office background noise.
This both gives the impression you are working in a large office
AND it masks any slight tell-tale household noises that may,
despite your best efforts, give you away.
Once Potential Client becomes an actual client and you've proved
to his satisfaction that you are professional and competent, you
can tell him that you've decided to start working out of your
home to reduce unnecessary overheads and give him your direct
phone number.
No matter how enlightened your client-base is as a general rule,
it is imperative that the telephone be answered in a
businesslike manner. I don't care how sympathetic, supportive
and admiring your clients are of your decision to balance your
work and family commitments by running a successful business
from home, there is nothing cute about a five year old answering
your business line. It's unprofessional, not to mention
downright annoying.
So have a separate phone line for your business and lay down the
law to your household that no-one, NO-ONE, is to answer it but
you (unless, of course, you're employing your teenage children
in your business in which case they should be instructed on how
to answer the telephone in a professional manner). If you're
away from your office, divert your calls to your answering
service.
EMAIL
Something else to think about is the image of your email
address. Which is Potential Client to consider more
corporate/professional: maryann@isp.com or
m.entrepreneur@mycompanyllc.com?
It's worth spending $35 a year on your own domain name just for
the professional email address, even if you never intend to
create a website. Mind you if you're going to have your own
domain why NOT create your own website? But that's another
article ...
STATIONERY AND PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
It goes without saying that your stationery, business cards and
other promotional materials should reflect a professional image.
If you have incorporated your business or registered a
fictitious business name as recommended earlier, this is a good
start. A company or business name on letterhead and business
cards can't fail to convey a professional image provided they
are professionally printed on quality stationery stock.
OFFICE EQUIPMENT
There's no point having quality stationery if you're going to
use a cheap and cheerful inkjet printer for your correspondence.
Invest in a medium quality laser printer instead. They don't
cost a lot of money these days and you can get a unit that
triples as a fax machine and photocopier for only a few hundred
dollars.
So, what do you think? You may be thinking "I wonder whether
it's really worth the effort to try and please just a small
number of potential clients". Is it worth it? Well, look at it
this way. Are these suggestions really anything more than basic,
common sense, professional business practices? Regardless of
what your potential and existing clients may think about the
concept of businesses run out of their owners' homes, first
impressions DO count.