I want to provide services for small companies and individuals in their bookkeeping needs but i'm not sure were to start. I have some flyer's made and i've mail a few out but i'm not sure what other resources i can use to make it happen. How can i get customers? what should i do to start? I made business cards but since then i have moved to a different county and need to make new ones with the new info. What are the best ways of advertising my services? I can give you some pointers that might help...
Consider getting a second phone line for your business so that you are listed in the yellow pages.
Make some professional looking tri-fold brochures and mail them to businesses advertising in the newspaper for bookkeepers.
Go door to door visiting small businesses and hand out your brochures and business cards. If they don't need your service they may know someone who does.
Advertise in the newspaper. Here in our area we have a paper that is mailed out free once a week. Many self-employed people advertise in this paper - i.e. painters, plumbers, lawn care providers, etc. And it's not very expensive to run an ad.
Build a website - this does not have to cost a lot.
Become a QuickBooks ProAdvisor at www.quickbooks.com. When you become certified you can then be listed on their website with a link to yours. Once you become certified you can set up businesses on QuickBooks and train people to use the software.
You can check with the local CPA firms to see if they offer bookkeeping services. If they do leave them a card anyway just in case they get overloaded and need some extra help.
Word of mouth works! Tell everyone you know you are offering bookkeeping services.
Join your local Chamber of Commerce. There may be a business owner that needs your services. New business owners are always joining.
Good luck! I'm not sure where you are based, but a good idea would be to contact local Accountancy firms (many prefer not to get involved in day to day bookkeeping).
Advetise in Yellow pages and the like if in the UK, and consider responding to adverts looking for full time positions, and offer to consider providing the service on a self employed basis.
We just advertised for an Assistant bookkeeper and got a lot of CV's but many were lacking experience.
Let me know if you are in Bucks!! I could use a good bookkeeper, what are your qualifications, and what do you charge? Go here,
> http://affiliatestag.blogspot.com
> http://paidforwritedown.blogspot.com
> http://professionallab.blogspot.com
------------------- New business start ups can be pretty tough. I've been a bookkeeper for over 30 years and started up my own business in 1999, but I still remember what it was like not knowing where to go or who to ask for information and resources.
Here are a few of the things I've done to get the word out about my business:
I joined a couple of online business networks and post in all the sub-boards on a regular basis so people know who I am. I've made lots of friends and have a couple of new clients. BTW ~ it's best not to expect business right away but hang in there until people get to know you. Eventually, it will work.
You can get to the networks by clicking on these links:
http://www.ryze.com/go/crosscountry to view my Ryze page [neatly designed by one of the Ryze members to resemble a mini-website] and http://www.startupnation.com
Then I built a lens at Squidoo which served as a mini-website and didn't cost a dime, just the time to build it. You can see what I've done at http://www.squidoo.com/crosscountry
Over Memorial Weekend this year, I built a website on my own and the domain name was only $8.95 at Bravenet. The only other investment I had to make was my time. Then I started directing traffic to it through the networks I belong to.
My website is here: http://crosscountrybookkeeping.com.
You can build your own site by clicking the Bravenet link on the first page of my website or by going to http://www.bravenet.com
Once all those things were in place I designed a new forum to help small businesses find the information and resources that it's taken me forever to locate for myself.
The forum is called T.R.A.I.N. [Trade Referrals And Information Network] and can be found by clicking here: http://crosscountry329.proboards78.com/i...
It's free to join so if you need good, solid resources come on over and check it out. You'll find Forum Advisors that can help one on one in a chat room for general group or private discussions, a link library, a business-to-business and a social network, plus links to all the other networks I belong to.
You'll be able to find government links once we get them all in and will be able to request information to locate others.
The Forum Advisors consist of an all-volunteer staff of highly qualified professionals from the AIPB who are Certified Bookkeepers and QB ProAdvisors. Other Advisors include Website Designers, Virtual Assistants, Professional Organizers, Photographers, E-Zine Article Experts, and so much more.
Getting started, like I said, is not easy. A bookkeeping and payroll service like mine is even tougher because you deal with clients face-to-face or in forums and they need to feel they can trust you before they do business with you.
I make my own business cards so if I have corrections to make, I can do it myself. I only print about 30 or 50 of them at a time so I don't have to throw alot away.
I would also recommend advertising in all the "free advertising" website you can find. I recently added a client who saw my ad at BeKeen.com and I can't remember how long ago I posted it.
Good luck to you. You can e-mail me directly if you have other questions. Or go to the T.R.A.I.N. forum and ask for help. The forum is still under construction but it's open and the advisors are ready to help. I think the best place to start is in your community. Advertise on bulletin boards, give out business cards, attend events or gatherings and set up tables to talk to people face to face, have flers and brochures on hand - and tell them about your services. I think this is more of a personal type of service, people have to know they can trust you.
Another idea is to go to your competitors and ask them when they become over booked, can they refer some work to you.
I think this will help you get off to a good start. The following sites have some great free articles on starting and running a business:
http://mpoweryourself.com/business/index...
http://mpoweryourself.com/business-plan/...
http://mpoweryourself.com/home-business/...
http://mpoweryourself.com/self-employmen...
http://mpoweryourself.com/small-business... Join the chamber of commerce in your area.
Also you should join the Rotary Club if you are invited. networking is probably the best in your line of business. | 