How to Add Credibility to Your Home Business

When you become a sole proprietor, running your business from home is the easiest and most cost-effective way to sell your products and services. For one, you don’t have huge overheads to pay each month. Secondly, you don’t need to worry about daily commuting.

There is one downside to running a home-based business: having lower credibility than incorporated business owners. Thankfully, you can boost your brand’s credibility without needing to change your business’s legal structure.

The following tips and tricks will explain what you can do and inspire you so you can accelerate your brand’s growth:

Be Consistent With Your Branding

The first thing you should consider when boosting the credibility of your brand is to ensure there is a consistent approach with your branding.

For example, you should always use the same logo and tag lines on various mediums like letterheaded paper, social media, product packaging, and so forth. Otherwise, your customers may get confused about which business they are using.

On a side note, you should also consider getting your logo created by a professional graphic designer. Doing so will ensure your logo encapsulates the meaning and purpose of your brand.

Get a Branded Website and Email Address

One of the biggest mistakes many sole proprietors make is “cheaping out” on their digital branding. It’s not uncommon to see some small businesses using free email addresses from providers like Outlook and free websites from companies such as Wix.

Don’t make the same mistakes. You’ll need an email address for your business that tells recipients precisely where messages have come from and one that looks professional rather than an afterthought.

You’ll also need a website where customers can simply type in your domain name into their browser and immediately get directed to your site. Again, you don’t want your website address to be an afterthought.

Photo via Pixabay

Invest in a Virtual Address

It’s unlikely that you’ll want customers visiting your home to ask questions about what you sell or to purchase your products and services in person. Further, it’s also unlikely you want to start receiving lots of junk mail directed at your business.

One clever way to overcome both those problems is by investing in a virtual address, sometimes known as a virtual mailbox address. In a nutshell, you pay for using a commercial address, and any mail sent to that address gets forwarded to you at home.

It’s often possible to have the virtual address provider scan your mail and email it to you. In some cases, you could even pick up your mail in person. You can use the virtual address in all official correspondence, and it makes your home business look more professional.

Invest in a Virtual Phone Number

Lastly, if your customers want to contact you by telephone, do they have to ring your cell number? If so, it can make sense to have a virtual phone number that you display publicly. You can then have that number diverted to your mobile or home phone.

You’ll always know which calls are business ones if your virtual phone number shows up on your phone’s display, so you can answer the call professionally instead of just saying “hello?” to the caller.