URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/64574
Q: I've been a secretary for 20-plus years and have been toying with the idea of starting a secretarial service. Now with the downturn in the economy, I really want to do it. I feel that everyone has a computer, and I don't want to be viewed as a typist. What do I specialize in, and how do I find customers?
Name withheld
A: Secretarial services specialize in many ways, such as by the service they provide (data management, desktop publishing, medical transcription, legal transcription, Web-related work, editing, proofreading and billing). Also decide what industry you'd like to serve. Next, how will you position your company--as a secretarial service, a word-processing or typing service, or as an office- or business-support service?
Once you establish your vision, the next step is finding customers. Try the following:
> Participate in one
or more networking or referral organizations.
> Get listed in the
Yellow Pages under multiple categories.
> Contact other
office-support services about overload or work in which you
specialize and they do not.
> Advertise locally, such
as in a college newspaper, a chamber of commerce bulletin and in
publications published by organizations of which you are a
member.
> Build a Web site so you
can post copies of testimonial letters and list your
services.
> Cultivate relationships
with local merchants who are in a position to refer clients, such
as local office-supply stores and printers.
Paul and Sarah Edwards are the co-authors of 15 books, including The Entrepreneurial Parent. Send them your start-up business questions at www.workingfromhome.com or in care of Entrepreneur.