Small Business 101 - Helpful Tips!

So, you've been thinking or dreaming for a long time that you want to own your own business?  You have sketched out your ideas, your visions, a rough draft of your business plan/model, layout of your office, etc.  Some of us just stop there and it is awhile before we can go any further.  Others may have the opportunity to move quickly or have several connections to help them where they need to go.  Regardless, our focus is to start and own our own business, right?  Entrepreneurship!

Well, like all things, everything starts at square 1.  As in our previous post, we discussed how, in the business world, "The elevator is out of order, you have to take the stairs."  We ended that post with starting with "Step #1" and working your way up to however many stairs you need to to reach the top and beyond.  There is no cap-off!  Keep climbing those stairs one by one and be successful at each one along the way.  It is one awesome journey!

I know, myself, I am very laid back and love a great challenge now and then as I also do tech support at home in addition to my other many adventures in business.  I fix and build computers on my own time and am a tech support person for family and friends who just cannot seem to figure out that crazy computer problem or cannot get rid of a bug or virus.  I am working on turning this into a full-time business as well, along with my website design business and try to marry the two together somehow LOL.  I've been doing home tech support, on my own, for about 10 years and website design for about that long too.

I have learned in the beginning though, that a business does not come to you, you have to build it!  Ideas come in, but it is focusing on bringing those ideas to reality and looking at the market to see if there is a need for those ideas!  My specialty is technology, I have loved it since the internet was born!  I guess you can say it is in my blood.  I also love business and work hard every day to accomplish the goals I have had in the works for several years.

I wanted to share a few tips that I have developed and live by as a small business owner.  These are just my own opinions and advice and ideas, but they could help you as well in succeeding with your business.  From one entrepreneur to the other!

Small Business Tips 101 (Working at Home):

1. Give yourself a clean spacious office and be sure to be organized!  I use file folders, cabinets, book shelves, etc to organize my materials.  
2. I am working on this myself, but be sure and have a business phone number for clients to get ahold of you.  I would not recommend your home phone number, but most people use that!  I, myself, am working on a 1-800 dedicated to my business.  
3. Get a P.O. Box for mail purposes.  
4. Schedule your office hours around family time and other times where it might get distracting if you are dealing with your clients, to avoid interruptions.  
5. Get yourself some business cards!  Even working at home, you need a business card.  When you go out for errands, dinner, etc, pass them to friends, strangers, whoever!  Make yourself known!  Some grocery stores and other department stores sometimes have corkboards where you can put your business card to let people know who you are!
6. Advertise!  Use social media to get your name out there!
7. Tell friends and family to spread the word about your business!  What a better way to get your name around, because who knows you better than family and friends, right?

Those are my, what you might call "Lucky 7" tips.  They are simple, nothing formal, but I go by them every day!

In future posts, I will get more down and dirty with business and technology tips that I use and will post some articles from some of my favorite sources.

For those viewers interested in Photography, I will eventually be expanding Twisted Elements Design with Photography :-)  More on that to come....

Until then, design on!
Shannon