Starting your own Business
Reasons to be your own Boss
There are so many reasons why anyone would consider starting their own company, and for many, they would include:
• Long-held ambition
• Unemployment
• Lifestyle change
• More flexible working hours
• The chance to work from home
• Opportunity to make your own decisions
• Opportunity in the market place
With over 33% of the British workforce claiming not to enjoy their jobs, the lure to start a new way of life has never been stronger.
Are you Ready for It
If you put the romance of owning your own business aside, the reality can be something completely different. 20% of businesses fail in their first year with 60% closing their doors within three years of starting. If you don’t want to become one of those statistics, you need to get a hold of what you intend to do. Get your planning right, and running a business could be the best decision you ever made.
Planning & Preparation
A business could fail for a variety of reasons and chief among them would be the lack of planning and preparation. As the old saying goes, ‘Fail to prepare. Prepare to fail!’ A well-thought-out business plan would reduce the risk of failure and would generally include:
• Sales & Marketing Plan
• Financial Planning (inc. Cashflow Forecast & Projections)
• SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis
• Market Research & Targeting
• Competitor Analysis
• Data Back-up & Recovery Planning
It may sound daunting but it could save you from unnecessary stress and heartache. You will be amazed at how it begins to take shape once you’ve put your mind to it.
The Essential Tools
Once you’ve drawn up your template for starting the business, you will need to start thinking about the everyday essentials. Location, staff, bank account, IT, specialist software, website and social media will all be among the considerations. And one of the most important tools within your business will be the telephone – the absolute life-line of any company. How you deal with callers to your business could have a huge impact on the fortunes of a new company and should be high on the list of priorities.
Telephone Stats and Facts
7 out of 10 callers refuse to deal with an answerphone which could be disastrous for a fledgling company as every enquiry needs to be dealt with professionally. Leads need to be treated like gold dust. Here are some sobering stats which suggest that many companies do not take their call answering duties seriously enough:
• 98% say poor phone skills leave a bad impression
• 4 out of 5 people will hang up if call rings for a long time on queued
• 7 out of 10 customers ended their relationships with a company due to poor customer service
• 61% of consumers who encounter bad customer service take their business elsewhere
• UK Businesses lose £32bn because they fail to answer calls
Sobering thoughts, but totally avoidable.
How answermyphone.biz can help You?
We’ve been helping start-ups and small businesses with call answering solutions since 2005 and were even voted the most liked Welsh company in our industry! 1000’s of companies have relied on our call-handling services to provide a professional image so they’re left to concentrate on what they do best. Avoid needless distractions and nuisance calls as our highly trained operators decide whether to patch the call through to you or take a message. All your calls are answered in your company name and callers will never know the difference. Details of the call are also emailed to you in real-time so you’re kept in the loop.
Call us now to start your FREE 2 Week Trial
02920 695 999
We’re much more than a call answering service to our clients – we’re the extra member of the team. Our optional services include lead follow-ups, diary management and appointment setting so you don’t have to worry about breaking away from the important stuff. Call us now to find out more or to arrange a FREE 2 Week Trial.
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