There is a strong entrepreneurial spirit in the UK at present. Whether that is driven by the intrinsic individualistic nature of the population, a genuine wish to better ourselves, a need to get rich quick or just get out of the traffic jam is open to debate. The fact is it is there, the government is keen to promote it and there are lots of people doing it: some succeeding, some surviving and some, unfortunately, failing.
The perennial problem that all new startups have to face is how to not look like a start up when you are pitching for that large job that will feed you for the next 6 months and will allow the business to get on its feet.
The internet is a good starting point of course and although the phrase is less used these days it is still true that: "on the internet no-one knows you are a dog". Not unless you 'let' them know of course.
But the same can be as true off-line as well as online these days as technology makes it easier and easier to create that corporate presence from your back bedroom.
Before getting started on this in earnest, it is as well to address one specific issue that may already be in the back of your mind. Yes, it is possible to address this issue by tying up with a national business centre that will offer at least some of the things I am going to outline below. Before leaping into this, check the pricing - it will make you think again. The steps below will cost you a great deal less.
Step 1 - Establish an Address This can be a surprisingly tricky one. It is a relatively simple step to set up a post box with the UK Post Office. There is information on the Post Office website about this and at a basic level it will cost you about £60 per year - more for additional services such as mail forwarding etc.
If you are operating as a sole trader or partnership, this may be enough. After all you will see many very large businesses giving their correspondence address(es) as a post box, or range of post boxes these days as it is a good way to manage or re-direct mail towards the correct specific department.
If you are setting up through a Limited Company, then you may have difficulties in deciding upon the right head office address and using your home address sort of gives the game away. In this instance it is worth looking at an alternative business address that may be prepared to handle your company related mail. As long at it is restricted to Companies House type mail and not much more, you may find your accountant would be willing to have their premises used as your registered head office. After all, a large proportion of your Companies House correspondence might end up going their way anyway. Failing that, try a friendly solicitor or a even a friend with an established business that may be willing to help.
Obviously what we are looking for here is something for free. Remember that a post box can still be used for normal business correspondence - we are just looking for a head office address at this stage.
Step 2 - Get One or More Telephone Numbers Do not mess about here. If you are working from home to begin with you will need to put a second line in for four main reasons: 1 - it will be much easier to manage your bills / accounts 2 - you need to know when the phone rings that it is a business call and everyone in the house needs to know how to deal with it (and / or behave) when a business call comes through. 3 - The last thing you need is your phone tied up with your family chit chat while a business customer is trying to get through 4 - You do not really want to have your private telephone number bouncing around in the public domain from both a privacy and security perspective. More of this later.
Yes, the additional line will have an associated cost, but not having it will have a much greater hidden cost.
Least Cost Routing (LCR) can be used to cut your outbound call costs if you have a BT line and there is a link on the bottom of this article to Phone Lines 2u who offer a very competitive service in this area.
In terms of the number you give out, it makes a great deal of sense to mask the location of the number by using a national 'marketing' number. Remember, we are wanting to look like a substantial business here. Initially there are three types of number you might consider using:
0870 - national number with a national cost no matter what the origination location 0845 - Local call rate number no matter what the origination location 0800 - free to the caller, the receiver pays
All of these numbers are re-directable ones. That is, you will still have your normal phone line and phone number, but when someone calls your dedicated 0800, 0870 or 0845 number they will be re-directed to your normal phone line.
From a general marketing perspective, 0845 and 0800 numbers make good sense. However they will cost YOU money to RECEIVE the call and in a start up situation it is difficult to recommend these numbers unless you have substantial funding behind you.
The 0870 number option is commonly used with large businesses these days and has the added benefit of generating an income from inbound calls. This can make good sense if you expect to receive many calls, but it might be a high expectation if you are just starting up.
What the marketing number can do you for you is provide a mask to the real destination number. This makes you look like a bigger player, but can also have the added benefit of maximising your flexibility behind the number. So if things go well and you move out of the back bedroom into dedicated business premises, your literature, business cards, website and advertising do not need to be changed.
Equally, you can have a range of numbers and may choose a different number for each advertising campaign so that you can measure the relative effectiveness of each. Phone Lines 2u offer a reporting service on these numbers for free on 0870 numbers, so you do not even need to do any work to get the analyses.
Step 3 - Get a Fax Number
This does not necessarily mean get a fax machine as it is possible to receive faxes via e-mail for very moderate fees. Again, you can choose a national number in line with the telephone number you may have selected in step 2 to cement the national presence. Faxes arrive by e-mail as an image so you can view them on any standard PC or Mac with a whole range of viewing and printing software - the vast majority of which is either available for free or bundled with other software you may have (e.g. MS Office).
A link to advice on how to set this up is on the bottom of this article.
Step 4 - Get a Virtual PBX By PBX I mean a telephone exchange system. Like the big boys use, but virtual. A telephone call comes into a virtual call handling centre and handles calls just like a large business would, eg: "Welcome to our company, press 1 for sales, press 2 for accounts, 3 for production and 4 or hold for all other enquiries."
You may have 2 or three colleagues all working in different places: one who handles sales, one handling accounts and one responsible for producing the service overall. Depending upon the choice made, the caller will be directed to the right person.
There will be a charge for the redirected call, but if you are using an 0870 contact number, the chances are that the total amount you make on the O870 call will negate any re-direct call charges from internal transfers.
Setting this is up is easier than you think - details are available on the Phone Lines 2u site - see below
Step 5 - Get to grips with Video / Audio Conferencing If there is more than one person in the virtual business, you will need to meet up / talk on a regular basis. The quickest and cheapest way to do this is 'virtually', either through video or audio conferencing.
Basically what means this is everyone involved in the meeting on the line at the same time, controlled by a chairman.
Lets begin with video conferencing first as this can be done for free. All you need for this is a PC each, a basic web camera on each machine and a microphone of some sort. I saw a basic video conferencing pack on sale in the supermarket the other day for £10 - so you do not need to break the bank to set this up. Software to manage the call is available free from Skype or MSN and it is relatively easy to set it all up.
Failing that, or in the (probably common) instance that not everyone can get to their PC at the time of the meeting, then audio conferencing works the same way, but over telephone lines instead of the internet. Yes there is an added cost to this either by subscription or additional call charges, but it will be minimal when measured against fuel costs, travel time and lost productivity if every one has to travel into a central location for a face to face.
Audio conferencing also work well for those who work in low tech environments, out on the road a great deal or for people who are just plain technophobes. It is as simple as making a call at an allotted time, putting in a pin number and getting on with the meeting. There is a little bit of additional skill involved in managing this type of meeting, but that is something for a future article I think.
In conclusion then, having a small startup (or even larger ongoing) virtual business is cheaper and easier than you think. You can look like a big player to your customers on the one hand, but the tools and techniques above will also make the whole operation much cheaper to run and more effective too. Yes there are some associated costs, but the savings and increased sales opportunities far outweigh any downside they may present.
Not only that, but the virtual business is environmentally friendly - it is nice to know that making the business more efficient and saving you money can also save the planet too.
More details on Marketing Numbers, Virtual PBX, Fax to E-Mail and Audio Conferencing can be found on the Phone Lines 2u website at: http://www.phonelines2u.co.uk.
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