Office support services can range from basic data entry to a fully equipped office that handles all the details of a client’s business.
Office support can start very little by offering only a limited set of services and expanding as you get the opportunity to do so. This modular approach makes office support services very attractive for a talented entrepreneur with limited capital and motivation to learn and grow over time.
Initial costs and sources of financing:
From 500 to 100 000 USD + depending on the services offered
With a strong and well-designed business plan, venture capitalists and angel investors can help with some of the initial funding. Do not depend on this, however, as a source of funding.
Pricing Guide for Maintenance:
Set your prices to at least 20-40 dollars per hour (before taxes and expenses), but do not pay hourly rates. Charging the hourly rate for office support services gives customers the opportunity to demand more and more work at the same price. Soon you will begin to feel that you are in the same employment situation that you tried to avoid by starting a business first! Therefore, having in mind, try your best to establish a fixed fee (based on volume) for each support service you provide.
As you become more experienced in specific office support services, you can pay less for a client, actually earning more per hour.
Advertising and marketing:
Many of them wanted ads to provide detailed office support services that are very suitable for your company. Answer them with a brochure about the services you provide, as well as the benefits of a contract with a service provider instead of hiring an employee.
Temporary staff members receive many requests for office support services. Sometimes they do not have enough qualified candidates to fill posts. Instead of telling their customers that they were unable to fill this position, they may want to connect you with a client company.
Work with other support providers in your area. Determine which services each provider exceeds and collaborates to refer to these types of tasks for each other. This valuable type of exchange will allow you and your "competitors" to work on projects that bring profit to all.
Get at least one ad listed in the yellow pages phone book. Even better, go to the rubric for each specific service you offer.
Essential equipment:
In any office you need a decent computer with a full set of office programs.
At least one telephone line is required. Two phone lines and a dedicated fax line will be even better.
A three-in-one printer / photocopier / fax machine can save valuable table space; However, if you perform a significant part of one of these three tasks, it is a good idea to get a special machine for this.
You will need a sufficient number of common office supplies, such as printer paper, paper clips, staples, pens, pencils, Post-It notes, postage stamps, etc.
Filing cabinets and similar storage facilities for documentation help keep your work area safe.
Income potential:
From 15,000 to 100,000 USD +
Your income is really limited only by the amount of work you can do in one day. This is certainly a business choice for those who are well versed and automate their daily tasks. After you have an efficient system, you can start hiring employees to take care of black things that cannot be automated, which greatly expands your earning potential.
Target market:
Small businesses that grow rapidly and have an excess of processed documents.
Recruitment agencies that specialize in office support services and cannot find qualified applicants for the project.
Tips for success:
Develop strong eyes for details. An accuracy of 99.9% may seem great, but this error of a thousand can cost your customers a lot of money and costs you your contract.
Automate! Determine the areas where you spend most of your time and determine if you can automate parts of tasks and save time. Research software that can do some of the dirty work for you. For example, some data entry projects can be performed using an image scanner and optical character recognition (OCR) software, leaving you only with the task of verifying final data to ensure accuracy.
Training, skills or experience:
It is useful to have experience in accounting, business management, etc. It is enough to work as an employee for a year or two in the support environment of support services to develop the basic skills that you will need.
Typification is a big part of business. Hone your typing skills to at least 70 words per minute with 100% accuracy.
Be organized. When you need to find documents or materials, they should be where you expect them to be.
