Home Based Business: How To Get Business
To Come To You
By Tom Egelhoff
 Being a home based business I know the
problems you face when starting your business. In most cases
you have limited funds and that means you have to do something
we all hate to. You must go out into the real world and "sell"
what you do to others. A large number of great business ideas
fail each year because the business person cannot or even worse,
"will not" go out and sell the business.
The good news is, you don't really need to go out and sell
your business or service. There are practical ways to get the
word out at low cost and entice customers to come to you instead.
The upside is that you will always have customers. The downside
is attracting more business than you can handle.
The first steps
Before you can attract people to your business you need to
be prepared for your customers. It's not going to do you one
bit of good to attract customers, only to find when they arrive,
that you are not a professional business.
Before you can attract people to your business you need to
make sure that whatever the customer sees puts your home based
business in the best light.
Here are
a few things to consider:
If customers are coming to your home to purchase products
or arrange for your service:
- Your home is now a storefront.
Make sure the yard and front of the house are well groomed. Grass
cut weeds pulled. How your home looks will give the customer
a positive or negative impression of who you are and how you
will do business.
- Kids: We all love them.
They are the future of the world but the have no business interacting
with customers. Train them to go somewhere else or arrange for
someone to be there to care for them while you take care of business.
Just because you are comfortable around kids doesn't mean everyone
is.
- Pets: Almost as bad as
kids. Cat boxes and dogs that come out barking or sniffing customers
do not make a good impression. If customers are coming make sure
the house doesn't smell like a kennel and keep animals confined
away from customers. Always check with customers before hand
if possible to let them know you have pets. Many people are subject
to allergies and may have serious medical reactions to some animals.
- Clean house: If you must
take the customer through other rooms in the house to get to
your office make sure those rooms are as clean and fresh smelling
as possible. Bathrooms must always be spotless for customers.
Most will not ask to use them but some eventually will. Be prepared.
- Your office: Make sure
your office is clean and organized. We've all walked into business
offices and seen piles of papers everywhere. I always have a
negative impression of businesses that look like this. Clutter
and mess don't demonstrate a well organized person. The customer
may feel that their job could be lost in the shuffle.
Getting customers to come to you
"Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path
to your door." Unfortunately this is rarely true. Unless
the world can find out about your mousetrap it will simply sit
on your workbench with no customers to buy it.
So how do you get customers to come to you without going out
and meeting strangers? How do you get people to come to you?
The biggest mistake most new businesses make is they fail
to let the most important people know what they are doing. The
first step is promote your business with those you know. Your
friends and family. These are the people who know you and would
feel comfortable telling their friends about you.
Take a piece of paper and make a list of everyone you know.
No exceptions. It doesn't matter how well you know them. These
are the people that will do your selling for you. They will talk
about your business to others they know.
Contact everyone on your list and give them a business card
and explain to them all about your business. They will be the
base of your referral network.
Establish
a "niche" market
The more specialized your business is the less competition
you will probably have. The better you are at producing a specialized
product or service the more in demand your business will be.
Most home based businesses are built because the business
owner has found something that is missing in life. A new product
or service that no one else has thought of. In my case, marketing
and advertising is full of experts on a variety of niches. My
web site is the only one I'm aware of that deals with small business
in small towns. Small town marketing is my "niche."
To establish your niche ask yourself the following questions:
- What skills do I bring to the business? What do I do best?
- Who are the people who need what I do the most? Your target
market.
- Is this niche large enough or is the demand high enough to
make the profit I want to make? Is this a hobby that makes a
little money or do I want it to eventually replace my current
jobs income.
Become an out source for other businesses:
A medical transcriptionist for a hospital may branch out and
start their own transcription business. The hospital may be willing
to give that person the overflow during business periods. The
transcriptionist may also recruit business from other nearby
hospitals.
Are there businesses that may be willing to pass their overflow
over to you and your new business? It never hurts to ask.
Become
a marketing expert
Most business people are not great salespeople but the successful
ones are usually good marketing people. Take the time to learn
about marketing. There are several helpful articles on this site.
Most important things to know in no particular order???
The Last Word On Getting Customers
To Come To You
If I was forced to define business success in one word that
word would be "communication." All business success
is geared to communication with the customer. How, where, and
when you communicate with your customers is the key. Communicate
with your customers and let them know what you do and how well
you do it.
Do that and they truly will beat a path to your door.
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This article may be reproduced for your non-profit
group or organization provided it is not altered in any way and
the following is attached:
©1998 - 2004 Eagle Marketing PO Box 271 Bozeman, MT
59771-0271
http://www.smalltownmarketing.com - (406) 585-0219 - Toll FREE
(888) 550-6100
email: tommail@smalltownmarketing.com
Based in Bozeman, MT, Tom Egelhoff is the author of How To Market, Advertise & Promote Your
Business Or Service In A Small Town, and The
Small Town Advertising Handbook: How To Say More And Spend Less.
He is also a seminar and workshop presenter
and trainer. He may be reached at 888-550-6100 or PO Box
271 Bozeman, MT 59771-0271
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