Today we continue discussing how to start your online service business (part 2 of 2). In the second part of this article, I discuss Steps six through ten. Steps that teach you about your niche to your audience, brand design, and even budgeting in your startup business.
Step Six: Your Niche
If you are starting a business you have likely heard how important choosing your niche is as part of setting it up. This is all about the service you provide and/or the type of client you serve. Deciding on the type of services you want to provide for your clients is a big decision.
A great way to decide on your niche is to take a few courses in the niche service area you are interested in providing. This applies unless, of course, you are highly skilled already in the area of service you want to provide for clients.
Owning a Business is Journey not a Sprint and There are Many Stops and Transitions Along the Way.
You may worry that you’ll be locked into this area for the life of your business. This is far from true. I tell my clients that owning a business is journey not a sprint and there are many stops and transitions along the way.
You may find, after providing services in your expertise that you tire of it. When this happens many service providers transition to providing a new service. Often the way to do this is by becoming educated and/or trained in this new niche. Then you can easily transition the business to providing those services. [For more on transitioning your business read my in-depth article on transitioning your business.]
Example:
When I started my business I provided virtual assistant and bookkeeping services. These were a good fit because I had several years of experience in the corporate world with accounting, administrative, and management.
After several years, however, I grew weary of providing bookkeeping services nor did I want the risk of handling businesses financial data any longer. I took social media management courses and was able to stop providing bookkeeping services. I transitioned the VA Agency into virtual assistant with social media services. Eventually I transitioned into the digital marketing agency I ran for many years until the end of 2020.
Step Seven: Define Your Audience
Another step to starting your online service business is to define your audience. You must know WHO you want to serve in the market place. Now that you know your niche the next step is to decide on and find your audience.
Defining Audience:
“For online service providers, an audience is a group of people who are likely to be interested in a product or service, or who visit a website:
Target audience: A specific group of people who are most likely to be interested in a website or web page. This group can be defined by demographics, such as age, gender, income, and education, or by behaviors, such as purchase intention.
Web analytics audience: All visitors to a website.” -Google Search AI
How to Find Your Audience
One of the best ways to find your audience is through market research.
Market Research:
“Market research examines consumer behavior and trends in the economy to help a business develop and fine-tune its business idea and strategy. It helps a business understand its target market by gathering and analyzing data.“ –Investopedia
It is important to understand your audience (or avatar) in order to reach them with your marketing efforts. After doing your research you can also find them on various social platforms. It is good to be informated on which platform is the best one to reach your potential clients.
Defining your audience can include the following:
- Age
- Behavior
- Gender
- Average Income
- Hobbies or Habits
Knowing these will help you complete your buyer persona for each service or product you offer. If you have not done so feel free to download mine on the free offers page.
After doing market research and completing your buyer persona (avatar) you want to find out where your audience hangs out online.
Ways to Find Your Audience Online:
- Facebook Groups specifically for your audience
- Online Forums
- Social Media Platforms
Step Eight: Brand Design
Brand Design would be the next step. Once you know your potential clients and where they are you should develop your brand design. I really like the way that Bynder says it:
“Digital branding consists of creating a consistent brand voice, tone, and style across online content, including interactive marketing tools, video content, landing pages, video ads, social media content, and more.” –Bynder
Brand Design Includes:
- Brand Colors – choose 2 to 3 colors that should compliment one another or are opposites on the color wheel. You should also consider the meaning.
- Brand Voice – how you represent your brand out in the marketplace and advertising platforms.
- Logo – encompasses your brand identity in graphic form. It can include a shape, graphic, or simply your business name displayed in as a graphic.
- Icon – your icon is a part of the logo in shortened form. Mine for example is my superhero in a smaller format.
Fearless Business Boss’ Logo & Icon :
Logo:
Icon:
“Online branding is the process of creating and maintaining a unique and appealing identity for your business. It is expressed through your business’s website, logo, social media accounts, blog, video, podcast, and other digital assets that convey your business’s values, mission, vision, and personality.”
OSSISTO
One of the biggest things about branding is being consistent in keeping your brand in front of your audiences. Make sure to use your brand colors and your brand voice online. Even if you have someone creating and posting content for you they should still have gotten to know you, your brand, and your brand voice before starting. Then it will show consistency throughout.
Showing up online is not only about content but also consistently showing your brand and messaging. Your audience will quickly be able to identify your content very easily.
Step Nine: Budgeting
The last thing I must mention is financial in nature. As a business owner, you should do a yearly budget. If not yearly, at least quarterly. Without having financial goals along with your business growth goals you cannot know where you are headed.
What should a budget include?
- Expected Revenue – pulling your profit and loss can help if you expect to have the same loyal clients plus estimated new ones. If clients are project-based then you should estimate the length of time and if the project will run into the year for billing).
- Expected Expenses (larger small businesses with employees should also budget by department) – this will include…
- Advertising expense – can include ads on various platforms, as well as directories you have to pay to be included on. You may also include graphic, photography, and video sourcing platforms.
- Business Equipment costs – including computers, printers, monitors, and more.
- Cost of Doing Business (especially important for businesses that sell products as you must know how much each product unit costs to produce before you can set the selling price for the product)
- General Operating expenses – may include licensing and professional fees.
- Overhead expenses – include the facility rent, utilities, phones, and other similarly related expenses.
- Payroll expenses – will include all employees including yourself (although for the solopreneur you will most likely distribute it as “paid to owner” or other similar terms). You may also include contractors and subcontractors within this category but ask your accounting professional to determine how they want it categorized in the general ledger of the accounting system you use.
These are the basics, but there can be more. It is always wise to consult an accountant (or CPA) for help with financial matters in the business.
Insurance Reminder
One last thing I must mention that should be included in your budget is your professional insurance. This includes E & O Insurance and some businesses need general liability depending on the services you offer.
Step Ten: Contracts & Intake Form
In this step, we will discuss your contract and intake form.
Contract
It is crucial to have a good contract. I suggest having a lawyer review or create your first contract. After that, you simply need to adjust for each client and service you are providing. It is not expensive to have them simply create a quick contract.
Some sections to consider including in a contract:
- Who is the party receiving services
- Who is the party providing services – with details explaining the scope of the services you will provide.
- Date the service will begin
- Confidential Agreement – a section about confidentiality and how you will keep specified work with them.
- Intellectual Property – an agreement about what intellectual property is and who owns the work.
This is a general overview of a contract but as I mentioned getting a lawyer only for a look at your contract is worth the price. If you do not have the funds for that you can always sign up for Legal Shield. I belonged for a long time. They will help you with contracts and many other items.
Intake Form
The intake form is another imperative. It will collect crucial data from your clients that will help you perform your services. The client’s basic data such as their full name, address (both physical and mailing), email address (personal and professional), and phone number (both office and cell) is a must.
Other Data:
- Brand Colors
- Company Name
- DOB – if desired so you can send birthday greetings.
- Directories – if they are listed on directories it may be helpful to know.
- Performed Communication Method – do they prefer to communicate via text, email, or phone (provided you allow clients to use all of these methods).
- Profile Photos – if you are doing social media management this is important.
- Request for their Logo
- Social Profile URLs – again important if doing social media.
- Website – company’s website and any sales page URLs.
- Other Data & Resources- any other data you may need to perform the services agreed to with your client. Resources may include online articles, curated blogs, directories, and more).
Final Words About Starting Your Online Service Business
There are multiple factors to consider when starting your business for the first time. These articles will help but are not everything involved in starting a business with good foundations completely.
I’ve recommended lawyers for your contracts and other needs, and accounting professionals for your financial needs; I think it is wise to hire a business coach to help guide you through starting and setting up your business (and further if want).
As a business coach, I can help take you step by step through the processes of setting up a business as well as the systems you need to operate your business. You do not need to choose me there are many capable business coaches. If you are reading this article, however, I’ve probably resonated with you and there is a good chance we would connect. You owe it to yourself to set up a FREE mini-coaching session with me and find out.
I Wish you the greatest success as you begin your business journey. If I can help you please reach out.
