4 Things to Consider Before You Start a Service Business
Do you have a unique skill you’re ready to share with the world? Then it might be time to consider starting a service business.
To start a service business, all you really need is the drive and commitment to provide a service of value to clients. But to start a thriving service business, you also need a plan. Here’s everything you need to know about setting up a service business, from ironing out legal details to adopting winning systems and tech tools.
What is a service business?
A service business is a company that provides intangible services or expertise to customers instead of physical products. These businesses generate revenue by offering skills, knowledge, or labor to meet the needs and wants of individuals or other businesses. Some examples of service businesses are consulting, accounting, creative services, healthcare, beauty services, event planning, etc.
Service businesses are great for solopreneurs who want to work for themselves, but they can also involve team members, partners, and freelancers.
How to start a service business
There are a few things to consider before you start a service business. Here are a few tips to get the ball rolling on your venture.
Play to your strengths
From customer service and marketing to accounting and scheduling, service business solopreneurs or small team leaders often have to oversee every aspect of a business. But don’t let that scare you!
As you think about how to start your service business, make a list of your strengths. Are you an incredible event planner with excellent people skills? Then you not only have the skill sets needed to start your own event planning business, you’ve also got project management and marketing know-how. List those as strengths alongside the services you’ll offer and look for ways you can capitalize on those advantages using tech tools and other resources.
Get your legal affairs in order
If you’re just starting out as a solo CEO, there’s a lot of paperwork. You’ll need some legal know-how to create contracts for your clients and any other freelancers and vendors you work with. It’s a good idea to have all these contracts ready to go before you take on your first client.
However, legal services can be costly, and navigating the process of setting up your business to operate by the book is both time-consuming and confusing. That’s why our Systems for Solo CEOs course is designed to educate you about the legal measures you need to take to protect your business and your profits. We’ve developed a course that includes a business legal training and a plug-and-play contract template from a lawyer who’s well-qualified to create them.
Set up your systems
One of the most important steps before starting a service business is to plan your systems carefully. We believe systems are more than just tech tools. Systems for service businesses are deliberately planned blueprints for simple and efficient processes to maximize efficiency and save you time while growing your business to scale.
Setting up systems that streamline your business operations involves careful analysis of your individual business needs, adoption of the perfect tools for those needs, and automating your tech to simplify day-to-day operations. Our Systems for Solo CEOs course will teach you how to document, simplify, and automate your processes from day one. Then, as your business grows, you’ll have a comprehensive plan in place to minimize growing pains.
Grow your network
Once your paperwork is finalized, your systems are automated, and your plan for growth is in place, it’s time to start growing your network! And while, of course, attracting new clients is always the end goal, building a network is about more than earning new business.
Make a plan for regularly posting on social media and use those platforms as a way to boost your visibility in your community. Make sure you’re responding to queries, have your business information visible, and regularly add insights into the value your business brings.
But marketing is more than social media! Establishing a presence as a thought leader in your field through blogs, podcasts, YouTube content, and other channels creates a foundation of evergreen content that you can use to further promote your business on social media and will also boost your search rankings.
Keeping your messaging consistent across digital channels can sometimes feel like a full-time job. But there are plenty of tech tools, like ClickUp, Asana, and If This, Then That, that can simplify your marketing strategy through the power of automation. Our Systems for Solo CEOs course can help you pick the perfect planning tools for your business and guide you through the process of automating your marketing to simplify the networking process.
Are you ready to start a service business? Our Systems for Solo CEOs course can help.
Improve your strategy to grow your business. Here’s how Day to Day Assist can help you create a solid plan for business growth.