15 Tips to Start Secretarial Service Business

0Secretarial Service Business: This article discusses the most important things you need to know before you open a secretarial services business.

Thinking about opening a secretarial services business? We tell you what you need to know to get started.
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One strong point of a secretarial and office support business is the wide range of services that you can provide. Services of this kind of business can include any of the following:

  • Transcription
  • Resume writing and career consultation
  • Word processing
  • Editing and proofreading
  • Business writing
  • Preparing spreadsheets and presentation materials
  • Bookkeepingand billing
  • Database and contact management
  • Desktop publishing, graphic design, multimedia presentations
  • Office management and organizing consultation
  • Web site design
  • Internet research
  • Social media marketing
  • Article marketing
  • Answering service

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Secretarial Service Business

A secretarial business can also be called a virtual assistant business.

Where you offer various secretarial services online and remotely.

Nowadays, an increasing number of clients need help in managing and answering their emails.

There are also a number of clients who need help in building and developing their social media presence.

Your first step should be to determine what kind of services you will focus on for your secretarial business.

Secretarial Service Business

The possible markets you can tap for this business include the following:

  • Brand new businesses with no support staff.
  • Most of these will also be small businesses and self-employed individuals that may need some help on as-needed business.
  • Other small business entrepreneurs have little time or desire to do their own administrative work, and your service will be of great help to them.
  • Small and medium businesses experiencing difficulty in hiring full-time staff. Despite the good economy, attracting good employees is a major problem of most small businesses. Labor market is still tight nowadays, that even established firms are continuously looking for temporary help to do administrative tasks.
  • Students, either college or graduate students, oftentimes need help for their research. You’re organizing and research skills can come in handy for this segment.

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Secretarial Service Business

If you want to target traveling businesspersons, contact hotels about offering your services to their guests.

A lot of business travelers need office support of all kinds when they are on the road.

This can be a good market for your business if you are living in a major urban area or city that can attract a lot of business travelers.

Secretarial Service Business

Marketing Your Secretarial Business

Your quality of work and ability to meet deadlines are two of the most important factors you need to succeed in this business.

Your plans to market your business are definitely a step in the right direction.

Secretarial Service BusinessSecretarial Service BusinessSecretarial Service Business

Here are some other suggestions:

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Secretarial Service Business

1. Creating website

Your plan of creating your own web page is a smart first step for your business.

Websites are a must-have tool to market any business.

It is your online brochure that works 24/7 with a worldwide reach.

Your website needs to show the services that you offer, how potential customers can work with you.

You also need to give potential customers a peak into who you are and why they should choose you over your competitors.

Give them reasons to trust you and be confident in choosing you using signals such as testimonials as well as other showcases of your professionalism and the quality of your work.

Secretarial Service Business

2. Doing Word of Mouth 

Word of mouth is the best form of marketing your secretarial and office support business.

Capitalize on your good reputation in the industry (and even your present employment) to find clients for your business.

See also: 15 Tips to Open Topical Blogging Business in Nigeria

Secretarial Service Business

3. Doing Networking.

Your present job is a fertile ground for meeting prospective clients’ sources of referrals.

Join any professional organization in your field, if you have not done so already.

There are also many opportunities online for networking.

Create social media accounts showcasing your business and actively participate on Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media sites.

Secretarial Service Business

4. Joining Freelance Sites 

More and more people are looking for help in freelance sites such asBusinesHAB.com,  and others.

On BusinessHAB for example, some of the jobs related to a secretarial business include building contact lists based on websites, Quick books secretary.

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Secretarial Service Business

5. Job Boards and Listings

Network with virtual assistant forums and use job boards specifically for virtual assistants as those can be fertile grounds to find potential clients and businesses.

Craigslist can also be a good source of potential customers for your business.

Secretarial Service Business

6. Get a listing of new businesses

Getting a listing of new businesses in your area and send out information about your business to them.

Some local business newspapers provide a listing of new businesses within the locality.

You can either send a direct mail, business postcards, or half-sheet cards with a listing of your services. Then follow up mailings with phone call.

See also: 14 Tips to Advertise Children’s Products Online in Nigeria

Secretarial Service Business

7. Contact similar businesses.

While some will refuse to cooperate (much less talk with you!), there is something to be gained from building strategic alliances with competitors.

You can work together on some accounts, particularly businesses that they cannot handle because of work overload.

There can also provide you with leads on accounts that they do not cover but falls within your expertise.

Present to them a win-win situation, and chances are they will agree to your proposal.

Secretarial Service Business

8. Advertising your business

Advertise your services in local publications within 50 miles of your home.

You can place ads in your church bulletin, country newspaper, chamber of commerce bulletins, university newspapers and related clubs.

If you wish to concentrate on providing legal support, advertise in any legal publications in your area.

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Secretarial Service Business

9. Market your business

Marketing your business on the Web is a smart move.

Make sure that you get listed in search engines.

Particularly your directories focusing on your city or locality.

Be prepared to devote considerable time in developing and promoting your web site.

Consider adding a blog or some other type of content that will keep your site constantly fresh, which both users and search engines love.

Secretarial Service Business

10. Online Directories.

Yellow Pages advertising is still a very effective way to get your secretarial business noticed — especially its online component.

Usage of the hard printed Yellow Pages books have significantly dropped in recent years, but their online versions are growing.

Get your business listed in as many targeted and top online directories.

Consider using Google My Business, and get listed in Google Maps if you want clients to come to your place of business.

See also: 18 Tips to Get Online Accounting Business Degrees in Nigeria

Secretarial Service Business

 11. Get Secretarial Services Business Plan

A business plan isn’t just another startup formality.

It’s a core business document that will guide your secretarial services business’s decisions and activities on a go-forward basis.

The best business plans are practical documents that reflect actual business realities.

Fudging the numbers is the equivalent of sabotaging your secretarial services business’s strategic interests.

The bottom line is that a first-rate business plan is probably more attainable than you realize.

As a further guide, consider what the experts say about business plan writing.

Secretarial Service Business

12. Evaluate the Competition

Long before you open a secretarial services business in your town, it’s worthwhile to determine how strong the competition is.

Use the link below to find competitors near you. Just enter your city, state and zip code to get a list of secretarial services businesses in your community.

Gain a knowledge of how existing firms have positioned themselves in the marketplace, and then design your business in a way that sets you apart from the others.

Secretarial Service Business

13. Getting Advice from Experienced Entrepreneurs

If you are seriously contemplating launching a secretarial services business, it’s essential that you have a conversation with someone who is in the business.

If you think your local competitors will give you advice, you’re being overoptimistic. What’s in it for them?

On the other hand, an individual who has a secretarial services business outside of your community can be a great learning resource for you, as long as they don’t view you as a competitive threat. Indeed, many experienced entrepreneurs enjoy offering advice to startup entrepreneurs.

If you are persistent, you can find a business mentor who is willing to help you out.

How do you find a secretarial services business entrepreneur in a different locale who can assist you?

Here’s one way to do it. Just use our link below, find somebody and call them.

See also: 32 Tips to Open Consumer’s Products Online Business in Nigeria

Secretarial Service Business

14. Get the Guidelines

There are a lot of reasons why it may be preferable to acquire a secretarial services business instead of starting a new business venture.

An acquisition isn’t necessarily a bed of roses.

You’ll need to thoroughly evaluate the factors involved with buying a business.

Right away, you’ll want to make sure the business is capable of meeting your ownership expectations.

If the business appears to meet your requirements, you’ll need to verify your impressions through broker-assisted due diligence and legal research.

Secretarial Service Business

15. Get a Franchise

The odds of achieving your primary goal of being a successful business owner are much greater if you purchase a franchise instead of doing it all on your own.

If you planning on starting a secretarial services business.

You may want to investigate whether there are good franchise opportunities available that might increase your chances of success.

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