Having a mobile number is a dead giveaway to the fact that you’re a sole trader. Instead, consider a service like diverttomobile.com.au or trade to a 1300 number, suggests Michelle Wright, founder of a national physical training franchise.
“Mobile numbers are a dead giveaway. It’s OK to route the call to your mobile or use a dedicated landline, but not a home phone number,” Wright says.
Also make sure you have a decent email address, she adds.
“Something @yahoo or @gmail or, God forbid, @hotmail, just screams sole trader,” she says.
Nothing says small fry more than a poor website. Make sure you update it regularly with new content, that the design is of good quality and navigation is easy.
Also, register your business name, own your domain, have your own space on the internet and think global when you consider the best way to approach your marketing, suggests Leticia Mooney, content and communications strategist at Brutal Pixie.
“If you’re in business in 2013, you exist in a global market, so you need to act like you command it,” Mooney says.
You may not be financially ready to hire staff, but you can afford it if you’re prepared to look offshore. There are companies around that will take care of the hiring process for you, making it an easy process.
Kevin Mallen is the sales and marketing director of Virtual Coworker, which sources skilled people based in the Philippines for Australian companies, conducting a full screening process on their behalf. Accents are often minimal and skills are high, he says. Australian businesses are hiring these people as personal assistants, for data entry, social media, CRM, web development and graphic design for as little as $6 an hour, he says.
“When you’re just starting out, it can be hugely beneficial for a business to have cheaper staff on hand who are based overseas. It also gives your business an office in Manila, ” Mallen says.
Your business might be super small, but use language that doesn’t tell the world, recommends the founder of Slim Secrets, Sharon Thurin.
“For the first four years at Slim Secrets I was running it on my own. However, when I spoke to others, I always spoke about ‘we’ not ‘I’.
She also outsourced the marketing aspect of her business and would always reply to advertising opportunities that she would need to speak to her ‘marketing consultant’.
“Always portray as a strong unit and this will give confidence to those wanting to do business with you. We have won a number of awards now over the years and happily display them on our website, on the signature of my email and anywhere else we are able to,” Thurin says.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
