EnTrends

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 and they did
start it.

INCORPORATE

First off, incorporate. Nothing screams
"CORPORATE!" to our friend the dumb,
narrow-minded, wrong, unfair Potential
Client as an LLC, Pty Ltd or PLC
(depending on where you conduct
business) on your letterhead and business
card.

Not only does this appease Potential Client,
there are some very good tax and other
advantages to incorporation which are well
worth the modest cost. Talk to your
attorney or accountant about this.

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.

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 company 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.

Speaking for myself, I also find it annoying
and unprofessional for a spouse to answer
the business line. I'd much prefer to leave a
message with your answering service than
your wife or husband, thank you very much.
At least I can be sure you'll get the message.
But that may just be me ... decide for
yourself.

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.

Something else to think about is the image of
your email address. Which is Potential Client
to consider more corporate/professional:

maryann@isp.com

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 corporate image. If you
have incorporated your business, this
is a good start. A company 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? Maybe. But look back over
the suggestions I have made. Are they
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.

Wouldn't the above approach be a
good one to take with ALL your
potential clients whatever their
personal disposition? Just something
to think about.

Elena Fawkner is editor of A Home-
Based Business Online ... practical
home business ideas for the work-
from-home entrepreneur.
http://www.ahbbo.com