When you’re starting your own business there are a thousand and one things to do. You’ve got all of the big picture stuff like designing a product, coming up with a name and a brand identity and a great marketing strategy. Then you’ve got the less exciting stuff like sorting out your finances, registering the business, and dealing with your tax affairs. That’s just the tip of the iceberg and those first few months are going to be non-stop. When you’re working that hard, you’re inevitably going to forget some of the smaller details, but they’re all important. These are the details that people often forget when they’re starting a business.
Phone Numbers
Customers are going to need to get in contact with you if they’ve got any problems with their products or have general queries. There are all sorts of great new technologies like live chat services that they can use, but some people still like the good old fashioned phone. One thing that people often forget to do is get themselves a dedicated phone number for the business. It would be a disaster if nobody could contact your company so make sure you don’t forget. You also need to make sure that you’ve got a toll free number so customers aren’t paying for calls, that’s not going to sit well with them. If you’re a bit unsure how to get 1300 numbers, there is plenty of information online. This should be set up before you start trading because you never know when somebody will want to get in touch with a query.
Business Cards
Networking is an important part of business and if you want to get ahead, you need to master the art. Imagine that you’re at an event talking to somebody that could really help your company out, they ask for your details and you start scribbling down an email on a piece of scrap paper. It makes you look pretty amateur and they might think twice about dealing with you. What you need is a professional looking business card that you can carry with you at all times and produce whenever you need to pass on your details. They’re also a good way to get your company name out there if you pass them out to a lot of people. Business cards are so cheap to get made and you can get them printed online from loads of sites so there’s no reason not to get one.
Register Your Domain Name
This isn’t one that people necessarily forget completely, but they do forget to do it right away which could cause problems. Your website is a big part of your brand and the name needs to match the company name, otherwise, customers are going to get confused when they’re trying to find you. If you create an entire marketing campaign and pay for a load of materials, only to find that the domain name you want is already taken, you’re in trouble. As soon as you decide to start a business, register the domain name right away before somebody else does.
These only seem like tiny details but forgetting them will hurt your chances of creating a successful business.
