How to Start a Service Company
- 1). Take a personal inventory of your skills to discover which services you could and should offer. Make a list of your past jobs, duties, education and hobbies. Be as detailed and descriptive as possible. Use this list to brainstorm for potential service offerings.
- 2). Narrow your possibilities from "Step 1" to two or three options. Investigate the feasibility of your top options and take into consideration the following: start-up costs, level of experience, potential clientele, profit potential and personal gratification. Choose the option that you consider to be the most advantageous overall.
- 3). Create a business plan that details what you will need to start-up and how you will deliver your chosen service to potential clients. For example, if you are considering a residential cleaning business, you would need to consider which specific cleaning services you are willing to offer. Will you do vacuuming, dusting and windows only- or will you perform any cleaning task that is requested? Consider what kind of supplies you will need to start. A cleaning business would need different cleaning products, mops, paper towels, etc. Decide what you will need to deliver your service to potential clients. Some service businesses require office or meeting spaces. Estimate how much your start-up costs will be and create a budget based on your disposable start-up capital.
- 4). Set a price for your services. Services can be priced at flat or hourly rates. The benefit to hourly rates are that you will not be under-selling yourself if a job takes longer to complete than you anticipated. The benefit to flat rates is that you don't necessarily need to keep track of your time and clients tend to favor knowing how much a service is going to cost upfront, rather than being surprised when they receive your bill.
- 5). Purchase necessary business equipment. At a bare minimum, most service businesses will need to have a telephone for client contact and any service-specific supplies. Additionally you may choose to purchase a personal computer and printer for keeping track of client records, scheduling, and printing invoices. You should have all necessary equipment purchased and set up before your first client calls.
- 6). Advertise and network. You must find a way to get the attention of potential clients. If no one knows that your business exists, you won't be in business very long. Place advertisements in your local paper, create television and radio commercials or post fliers in coffee houses in and around your community. Additionally, network with others who offer the same service. This will give you insight on how to improve your business as well as support when you need someone to field a question. Networking also has the potential to bring in new business via referrals from others in the field who are unwilling or unable to assist a potential customer at a given time.
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