| |
| |
|
Small Business Information |
|
|
|
How to Start an Office Support Service
Office support services can range from basic data entry to a fully-staffed office handling all the details of a client's business. An office support service company can start very small, offering only a limited selection of services and expanding as you gain the capacity to do so. This modular approach makes office support services very attractive for the talented entrepreneur with limited capital and the motivation to learn and grow over time. Start Up Costs and Financing Sources: $500 to $100,000+ depending on services offered With a strong and well-researched business plan, venture capitalists and angel investors may help with part of the initial financing. Do not depend on this, however, as your source of financing. Pricing Guidelines for Service: Set your prices to allow for at least $20-40 per hour (before taxes and expenses), but avoid charging hourly rates. Charging an hourly rate for office support services gives clients the opportunity to demand more and more work for the same price. Before long, it will begin to feel like you are trapped in the very same employment situation which you were trying to avoid by starting a business in the first place! So with that in mind, try your best to set a flat fee (based on volume) for each office support service you provide. As you become more skilled with specific office support services, you can charge less to a client while actually earning more per hour. Advertising and Marketing: Many help wanted advertisements detail office support services which are very suited to your company. Respond to these with a brochure of the services you provide, as well as the benefits of contracting with a service provider instead of hiring an employee. Temporary staffing companies get many requests for office support services. Sometimes they do not have enough qualified applicants to fill the positions. Rather than telling their clients that they have failed to fill the position, they might be willing to connect you with the client company. Work with other office support service providers in your area. Identify which services each provider excels at and cooperate to refer those types of jobs to each other. This valuable type of exchange will keep you and your "competitors" working on the projects which profit everyone the most. Get at least one ad listed in the yellow pages phone directory. Better yet, get listed under the heading for every specific service you offer. Essential Equipment: A decent computer with a comprehensive suite of office software is necessary in any office. At least one telephone line will be necessary. Two telephone lines and a dedicated fax line would be even better. A three-in-one printer/copier/fax machine can save precious desk space; however, if you do a significant amount of one of those three tasks, it is a good idea to get a dedicated machine for it. You will need an adequate amount of general office supplies such as printer paper, paperclips, staples, pens, pencils, Post-It notes, mailing labels, etc. Filing cabinets and similar paperwork storage space will help to keep your work area organized. Income Potential: $15,000 to $100,000+ Your income is really only limited by the amount of work you can do in a day. This is definitely a choice business for someone who is good at streamlining and automating their daily tasks. After you have an efficient system in place, you can begin to hire employees to take care of the menial things which can't be automated, greatly expanding your earning capability. Target Market: Small businesses which are growing rapidly and have an excess of paperwork to handle. Staffing agencies which specialize in office support services and have trouble finding qualified applicants for a project. Tips for Success: Develop a strong eye for detail. 99.9% accuracy might sound excellent, but that one-in-a-thousand error could cost your clients big money and cost you your contract. Automate! Identify the areas where you are spending most of your time and determine if it is possible to automate parts of the tasks and save time. Research software which could do some of the dirty work for you. For example, certain data entry projects can be done by an image scanner and optical character recognition (OCR) software, leaving you with just the job of auditing the final data for accuracy. Training, Skills or Experience Needed: It is useful to have a background in accounting, business management, etc. Working as an employee for a year or two in an office support services environment is enough to develop the basic skills you will need. Typing is a big part of the business. Hone your typing skills to at least 70 words per minute with 100% accuracy. Stay organized. When you need to find paperwork or supplies, they should be right where you expect them to be. © Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved. Randy has dozens of home based business articles such as Become a Mystery Shopper, Vitamin Business, and Build a Medical Billing Business.
MORE RESOURCES:
Small-Business - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
How to Curb Antique Shop Theft Inexpensively If you have ever had your antique shop or mall ripped off, you understand that it's very hard to detect. There are simply so many items to keep track of, and an item can be missing literally for months and you may not realize it. Business Plans - What Consultants Don't tell You! Do you have a Business Plan? Congratulations, but you are in a small minority. And if you have a plan, is it integral to your business, and instrumental to its growth? If the answer to this question is yes, then you need to read no further. Why is My Restaurant Not Full Every Monday Night? In a quest for customers and to keep those customers, restaurants are now compelled to develop a marketing plan. Marketing plans are a crucial component for anyone who has the desire to make their restaurant a success. Arent Small Businesses Lucky? Why? Because they have access to world class public relations no matter how small they are.That's one way of saying, take care of your key target audiences, Mr/Ms small business owner, and they'll take care of you. Are You Really the Boss in Your Own Business? I recently met with a very successful magazine publisher who was telling me how a chain of retailers for his magazines wanted everything their own way, even at the expense of losing revenue for their stores and missing out on the opportunity to provide real customer service to the customer.He was mainly concerned that some of the members of this chain, which, was made up of basically "mum & dad" store owners honestly thought that as it was their business, no one else should ask them to do anything over and above what they wanted to do. QSR Quick Service - Fast Food Restaurants Labor Situation in United States One of the major complaints in the QSR Quick Service-Fast Food Restaurants Industry is the deplorable Labor Situation. In United States teen labor has become somewhat slim on ethical standards, showing up on time, drug use (both recreational and problematic), work ethic and trainability. Business Reviews that Work What is the satisfaction & expectation review of the business history to date?You have spent a lot of time and effort gathering information about your clients and potential customers. You have kept track of everything that you need to know and have followed-up with precision. Going Public: The Process for Small and Mid-size Companies to Go Public It's the dream of every person who starts a business to some day see it trading in one of the stock exchanges even after they are no longer associated with the company. The first step (#1) is simple since most small company are already incorporated and have a board of directors, so we will start with #2. Politics, Environmental Rules, and Mobile Car Washes During the California Recall Election, I was very interested. Without getting into the political scene at all; my entire company, The Car Wash Guys, and all our staff and franchisees were closely watching The California Recall and Election. Postcards Make It Rain Referrals One of the simplest ways to expand your marketing efforts is through the consistent use of postcards. Create a list of narrowly targeted prospects and then hammer away at them with powerful marketing messages. You Are Invited Business card size works well for invitations to special events.What do you visualize when you think about invitations? More than likely you are thinking about a wedding or a party. Change May Be Your Ace in the Hole Whether it has been thrust upon you by external market forces or it has simply bubbled up from the internal dynamics of your enterprise, change itself always presents opportunity for improvement. And in a knowledge based economy, change may be the only thing we can count on as small business people. The Failures Guide to Small Business Success How many "get rich schemes" have you joined? Or have you invested in numerous legitimate business endeavors only to have them not work for you? Have you started you business and now facing a complete shut down? Do you consider yourself a failure? Are your loved ones pressing you to give up?Risk-taking is a large part of entrepreneurship, in fact it is what drives it, and it's why so many people avoid small business, despite its many potential rewards. Those of us who have tried it only to have failed may find ourselves right back where we started, which could leave us feeling like total failures. Be Nice to Your Payroll Department Ok, so next to the taxman, your company payroll department might well be the most criticised people on the planet. Of course, when your pay is accurate and on time then you love the payroll people with a passion but when things go wrong it is a completely different matter. Top 7 Small Business Resources for 2005 If you want to start a business in 2005, and start making money almost immediately, the sites listed below are some of the best I have found. I've chosen each site because it is absolutely outstanding in providing the tools you need to get started, as well as taking you through the steps you need to get started immediately. How to Sponsor an Event for Fun and PROFIT How do you sponsor an event and get personal introductions at the same time?So how can sponsoring help you to be visible to the business community and gain the right contacts? It is actually quite simple, you need to find events that are visible to the audience you are interested in.Find out: Whom you wish to do business with Which sports they like What community events they like Where the upper management families live and their community involvementThe events that they watch are the ones that you should sponsor. Doing Business With Friends: Five Tips for Preserving the Friendship... and Your Sanity! My colleague, Jane, recently lamented to me an all too familiar story about mixing business and friendship. Jane subcontracted copywriting work out her friend, Joan. Get Out Of The Rut And Back On the Track Do you sometimes find yourself just going "through the motions" of your business from day to day? Has the excitement gone out of your daily routine?What happened? Remember way back when you began doing this? You were excited and enthusiastic about what you were going to do. What went wrong? Where did the excitement and enthusiasm go? More importantly, how do you get it back?Of course, this may be a signal that it is time for you to make some changes or to "move on. Perception: What Are Your Patients REALLY Hearing? Never underestimate the power of perception! Perception plays a major part in what is actually said -vs- how it is heard. And to patients. Five Quick Ways to Speed Up Cash Flow At one point or another, almost every business runs short of cash. Whether due to normal fluctuations in demand or an unexpected decline in sales, cash shortfalls are the bane of every company, and are responsible for sleepless nights for many business owners.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
