We're Part Five of "The Bare Minimum to start a Tech Consultancy". How exciting!
The most important part of a successful business is cash flow. Cash flow is a chain that's made of several links. The links we're going to look at today are related to communications. How are your customers and vendors going to contact you? Where will they send their checks? Do you need a fax number?
You need a business address, a phone number and perhaps a fax number.
I'm going to assume you'll be working out of your home (though we'll address leases soon). You're going to work out of your home until you know your business plan is working well. You may find that the plan is good, but that all of your customers are 50 miles away. It would be bad to lock into a lease and then find out you have no customer base!
This is the 21st century. Faxes are of the 20th century. Remember the dark ages we refer to as "The 80's"? That's when faxes were big. Still, some customers and vendors need to be able to trade faxes with you. If this is the case for you, I suggest finding a service that will catch faxes to you and email them. You should also be able to send faxes by hitting the print button and selecting the fax printer. If you have paper (*shudder*) that you need to fax, head down to a copy store and fork out your dough.
DO NOT BUY A FAX MACHINE
I'm not sure you heard me, so I'm going to say it again. Don't buy a fax machine! I don't care that it can print and copy and scan too. The drivers and software that come with cheapie faxes are going to bog down your PC. The good fax machines are going to cost you over $1,000. You can't justify that at the beginning of your venture. I don't care if you're offered a great lease or financing or a loan. Just. Say. No.
You need a phone number. It needs to be local and have voicemail.
NO ANSWERING MACHINES. Remember the dark ages...
There are several ways to get a phone number.
You can pay for a voicemail service in your area. The customer calls, they hear a ring and then they're in your voicemail. They leave a message (or just hang up) and that is that.
Call up the local phone company and pay for a telephone line and voicemail. This costs more than voicemail but at least you can answer the phone when you're in. Also, you'll make calls and your customers will see the caller ID. You'll need to buy a phone. Go cheap.
Hosted VoIP. What was that? No, I didn't sneeze and if you're a techie, you've heard of Voice over IP. This is a great choice if the price is right. The chances are that you'll have DSL or some kind of Internet access. Hosted VoIP will use your Internet connection instead of a phone line. This is good when the VoIP monthly cost is cheaper than the telephone line. There is a downside. If your Internet is down, so is your phone. If your Internet connection/network is slow, your phone quality goes down. There are many positives though. You can run software on your PC that turns it into a phone (it's called a softphone). Where ever you have Internet, you can get phone calls and make them. You may want to buy a "hard" phone. They'll start around $99. If you go this way, try to find a company that will introduce you to other businesses at networking functions.
Buy a phone system. There are digital phone systems and VoIP systems. Don't buy either until you're established in business. You don't need to invest money here...yet.
Go back to your local business owners and ask them what they use. We can also help you out.
Time to get an address so those fat checks can roll in! I recommend a P.O. box or a box at a shipping store. The P.O. box is good for billing and all the other stuff that the bookkeeper is going to need. The shipping store can be good because you can receive parcels from any delivery there.
Let's talk about business cards. Plan what you want on the card. I recommend a colorful logo that's recognizable as yours, even from 10 feet away. Put your phone number and email on it. For now let's not add twitter or other accounts. Have the front of it be shiny and the back blank and not shiny, so you and others can write on it.
I recommend that you order cards from someone local. This is more important than saving $20 or $30 on the Internet. You can engage different people who can do this for you. They should be listed at your local chamber of commerce as marketers (which they aren't). Find one that you think will help you meet other businesses and give them your business. Order a minimum amount. If they do a good job, recommend them to other people. Ask them to introduce you to others at networking functions. It may be that they can't help you network. At this point, order cards from someone else and try again. You'll probably want to change the look of your cards at this point anyway.
We're in the home stretch--just a few more posts to finish this series. As always, please contact us if you have any questions! www.acmetechworks.com. We look forward to your comments and questions!
When I started my first business, I went too far with the initial expenses. I would have done so much better if I would have skimped and followed the advice listed above. To the customer's perspective, it would have appeared the same.
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