Week 6: Part 2: The Set Up
Website
I knew I wanted some kind of web presence. so let's just have a re-cap. I chose to go for this business, formed a company emails to go, name, colour, logo all sorted. So why hold back with a website, plenty of profitable businesses running without the backing of a webpage. Is it necessary? Will it benefit me? well earlier if you remember when I said I was doing this 100% so I guess the website was non negotiable. This is why I made that decision in the first place so every step I take I don’t have to have a mental battle of shall I, shall I not? Given this day and age not being on the world-wide spectrum to save a few lousy bucks was just not worth it.
Ever heard those sensational stories where businesses were created in the garden shed like, (Apple’s anyone?) Well being Opulent meant I certainly couldn’t start this in some shed so it was off to the Slug and Lettuce on my lunch break to work on my website. I know, a pub of all places!.....haha it is a British company after all. This brought about a whole new set of problems do I learn to do it myself or ?........you guessed it, I swiftly delegated to a pro. Having said that I had to create all the content myself, pages, text/copy, images, story’s, layout the lot. It was really strange having witnessed numerous websites throughout my life but, this time I had to write one for myself, the mind goes blank.
It’s uncomfortable the second you have to start blowing your own trumpet and singing your own merits. Like a porcupine it just made me want to curl up into a ball. The homepage, the about us page, the services and the contacts. It was all done and just needed someone to put it together. Now, i’ve heard about Wix, Squarespace, Weebly but with time being of essence I did what I had to do. After all, attending all those events made me a good little student and implemented what I was taught. “Get the experts in and let them do what they are good at so you can do what you are good at”. My website gal was recommended by a once mentor of mine who also happens to date this lovely gal. Okay don’t know why I said that, not important. Anyway she was God sent and for a small fortune of £200 created Magic......‘It’s Alive! Alive!’......no, not Frankenstein’s Monster but my website and it is beautiful www.opulentpi.co.uk. Short, snazzy and superior, it’s mine and I can say what I like.
Plan your digits
A phrase that’s often used in business. Now that the emails and website have been ticked off from the ‘to-do’ list next in command was ‘to land-line or not to land-line’? You could use your current mobile but how professional does that look? You could opt for an 0800, 0345’ etc but like everything there is a cost. Very early stages I was using a local number redirected to a number of my choice. Buyers be aware! your phone could be ringing a lot and out of hours too. There is no right or wrong here just a matter of preference and priorities, as many businesses still operate with mobile digits. My business is my number 1 priority so I went for the full shabam, land-line, mobile and domain based email. Other things to think about; do you really want two handsets? If not, what is the alternative? giving your personal number? Im thinking Gumtree, personal ads, strangers!.....urgh rather not.
In the end I ended up getting one of those foreign phones which can operate two sims simultaneously (oooh how fancy) because I absolutely hate carrying unnecessary stuff. You will also have to think about having systems in place for when you can’t answer the phones. If like me you had the fun of starting out a business whilst in full time employment then someone is going to have to answer that call for you. I was fortunate enough to have a family member answer my business line as their job was much flexible than mine or shall I say their boss was a lot more nicer than my ******boss. Oh and there is always that call answering service but I opted out since the spending was spiraling out of control and I figured why not hone that budgeting skill of mine which is long overdue.
Location Location Location
Last but not least your place of abode. At the time I was operating out of many coffee shops, boutique hotels, libraries and of course the outdoors in the summer. I then upgraded to a mobile office better known as Hot-Desking on a small(ish) monthly fee. I was able to use all their meeting rooms, lounge, printing, mail forwarding oh and not forgetting the kitchenette for the all important tea-break! But this little perk was curtailed due to it being a want rather than a need and I found myself emptying my belongings into a box and back to the home-office. It was an executive decision on my part as I was in charge of the office kitty which could no longer justify this spend. I was paying a fortune for the package when in essence, all that was required was a mail forwarding service. But, it’s only a small set back when looking at the bigger picture, so I have to wait.......delayed gratification anyone?
Business Cards
With all this in place it’s off to the printers or shall I say my friend Moo (on-line) to get my stationeries done. This will be your last job in the set-up stage as all your contact details, web-page and logo will have to be done prior to this. After a few calls to the print shop, local and not so local, I decided to settle for an on-line service. This allowed me to upload my own logo and text exactly the way I wanted. So being the control freak I am, this suited me just fine. It was simple enough even for the likes of me. I wanted great visuals so I chose a company called ‘Moo’ absolutely fantastic designs but with an equally not so fantastic price tag. With the business name being Opulent I was not about to cut corners. So after a battle of standard vs premium, high-gloss vs soft-touch and 450 gsm later my card was finally printed. Some may say that a card is a card and why spend xyz?? My answer to them, ever heard of the phrase ‘out of sight, out of mind’ ? I may not be in their sight but my card will defo be on their mind. That’s exactly what I intended when designing the card so, it works for me long after I’ve gone.