Whether you just want a little extra spending money or you go all out and even have an office, here's help to get you started.
First, choose something you enjoy doing. It can be anything, from making lanyard anklets to a neighborhood manicure place, from raking leaves to making stationary sets to creating personalized webpages.
Decide on employees. Do you want it to be something you do by yourself, or do you want to include some friends? If you have employees make sure the pay is fair.
Choose a name. It can be cutesy, cutting-edge, contemporary, serious, funny, a pun, or however you want to name it. For example, if you decide to wash dogs, you could name it after your own little pup. Your company could be called Rover's Rinses.
Get a head-start. Before you let your potential customers find out about your so-super new business, be ready. If you make hair jewelry, make sure you have a few on hand for when people want to shop. Also, set up your space. Clear some space on your desk, bookcase, or decorate a box for your supplies and slide it under the bed. Grab an address book and USE IT! Put any appointments for your customers in there, and include a few details with the message. For example, instead of writing "Narek, 2:00" write "Lissy Narek, pedicure, 2:00." This helps jog your memory about the who?what?when?where?and why?s
Advertise! Put flyers on school bulletin boards, or tape them to the windows of local hangouts. Tip: Put the type of flyer at the same type of place where they would go. For example, if you petsit, leave a stack of flyers at the register of a pet shop for customers to take on their ways out. Put flyers in neighbors' mailboxes, and if you're willing to spring for it, place an ad in the paper. If you sell handmade products, have a showcase at your house or yard (be sure to let potential customers know about the showcase!). Have tables out with the products displayed. Make placecards out of index cards with prices on them. Give away samples or door prizes (can be anything from cute erasers to brownies to beanie babies to gift certificates) is a fun way to attract more customers.
One good idea is to make your company a website. It isn't too hard; you don't have to know HTML. I reccomend http://www.maxpages.com or http://www.expage.com Other easy ones are at http://gURL.com and http://www.angelfire.com Or, if you prefer, I'll make you a site really inexpensively. (The price is different in each case and negotiable. Only a few bucks. $5 for a homepage, $2 for each additional page is the basis I work on.)
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