Building your own business from the ground up is tough when you’re starting from scratch and don’t have whole departments to deal with various issues, and you certainly don’t have a whole lot of capital to spare. Because of this, many startups go without all of those little extras that make big business so attractive, like professional copywriting services, attractive logos, and custom websites. This might be fine in the very early days, but once you’re up and running, you need to do more if you want to compete with the competition.
The good news is, you can compete with the big boys, and it doesn’t necessarily have to cost you much. Here are some ideas, which if implemented, will boost your brand and make your company a better prospect to buyers:
Get a Business Line
Using your mobile number might have worked when you were brand new, but if you don’t want to mix business with pleasure and look like a small fish in a big pond, getting your own dedicated business line is a must. You can do this cheaply using an online service like Skype, or by buying a second smartphone for business use, or you could pay a bit more and get an impressive toll-free number if you have cash to spare!
Register a Domain
Really, this is something that you should have done as soon as you started your business, but if you haven’t already, register your own domain name. Try to make it as short and simple as possible, and make it as relevant to your business as you are able. That way, more of your target audience will be able to find you quickly.
Set Up a Business Email Account
Once you have your own domain, you will be able to at up a linked email account, which will look much more professional than an @hotmail.com or @gmail.com address and help to convince customers that you are a serious company.
Get Your Own Logo
Having your own logo shows people that you are serious and it really doesn’t have to be expensive. If you have even the most basic Photoshop skills, you should be able to whip one up in an hour or so, and if you don’t, you can hire a freelancer for $50 to create something for you. Used in conjunction with templates for invoices and when placed at the top of letterheads and your website, it will make your business look as good as those big corporations with huge budgets to spare.
Pay Someone to Create Your Website
Unless you really, and I mean really, know what you’re doing, just bite the bullet and have a professional design your website. That way, you’ll get a polished product that is easy to use and which works well with a range of devices. You should also think about hiring a professional copywriter to create your content if you don’t want to be let down by spelling mistakes and the like.
None of these things are particularly difficult or costly to implement, but they will make a huge difference to how people view your company, so implement as many of them as you can right now!
