Running a small (tiny really) business from home

[glasgowken]

I'm in the middle of setting up a tiny business venture at home, printing low volume id and membership cards.

Apart from selling the odd thing on Ebay i've never ran any sort of business, has anyone got some tips ?
For example I was going to ask for payment before handing over the goods, instead of sending an invoice after delivery, is it ok to to do that, or is it just not done ?
Being a natural pessimist i've a feeling it will all go tits up rather quickly

[banjo]

my sons fiancee runs a small business from home and i think paypal is the method she uses.check it out online at,moniques live fish foods.if you have tropical fish or small reptiles and feel they deserve a treat.

[Doorstop]

Ken mate, I've collected debts (in a previous incarnation, so to speak) and take it from me - collecting debts for services already rendered can cost you more than you get back from your debtors.

As Banjo said, for your sort of thing get a PayPal account set up and charge up-front. Every other company does it and no-one bats an eye at paying for things in this fashion these days.

[Dave]

Yeah get money upfront, make sure it's cleared too. Have a returns policy that exceeds the current legal requirement.

As banjo says finance is everything, cash flow is king. You need to ensure you have enough coming in to cover the stuff going out. eBay is a good but expensive platform for online trade, ideal for starting out but in the long term you need to look at other options.

[glasgowken]

Thanks for the advice guys

Have a returns policy that exceeds the current legal requirement.

Could you point me towards an example of this ?

[glasgowken]

Something like "Full refund if not delighted" would probably be enough eh?

[Dave]

Here's a link Ken

Basically if someone buys a product under auction conditions then they kinda forgo their rights. If they buy at a fixed price, like in an eCommerce environment, then they have a 7 day 'cooling off period' within which they can return the product at their own expense for a full refund of purchase price including the original postage.

Take a look at the link but that's it in a nutshell for you. If you want to be more than fair in the online selling environment then offer a 14 day cooling off period. You may state that good should be returned in a 'fit to resell' condition but I'm fairly sure you can't stipulate that they must be in original retail packaging. Happy for others to correct my take on things,

Best of luck with it.

[Doorstop]

Well played Dave .. nice one.

[The Egg Man]

Maybe you could offer something in return for cash on delivery.

Working from home ought to allow you to be cheaper than firms with rent, rates, machinery, salaries, delivery vans and so on to pay so you might offer a small discount for COD.

Equally things like ID/ membership cards are going to be custom made for individual clients so you might want to ask for a small deposit so that if the customer folds/ vanishes you're not out the cost of the materials - just your time.

Initially at least you're not going to be as busy as the established firms and a swift turnaround or personal delivery might be something a client would find attractive and consider worth paying COD in return for.

Local Enterprise Company Small Business Gateways can be a bit hit or miss. A lot seems to come down to the individual adviser but they often have a network of contacts - people who might need your product or be able to supply something you need.

Good luck.

[Dave]

Cheers DS, I hope the advice provided checked out

I should also go back to the eBay thing and say that if you are going to use that platform then you should start selling as a private individual, this will give you access to free listings and other fringe benefits. If you that goes well you can upgrade to business seller, don't rush into it though...wait until you have some cred say 500-1000 positive ratings. You won't be able to post a link to your own site under eBay rules, but you can post an email address. Smart users will take note of the url of the address and maybe look at it. I note you are using a gmail account, but you own a domain, does your service provider not allow email or is there some other reason you don't use a [email protected] email address. If you need a hand with this drop me a line

[glasgowken]

Thanks for the info & advice Dave & Egg Man.

I do have email on my domain, but just out of habit I use gmail. I think my domain is set up to allow any emails to [email protected] to go to my gmail account, but you're right I need to sort out a proper address. I don't think [email protected], or similar would look right ? Although maybe better than the gmail ?
What I don't really want to do yet is get another domain but perhaps that's best in the long run.
As you can tell I haven't thought this through very well, apart from Googling a few other sites i'm not even sure what market there is

[Dave]

Perhaps [email protected] or [email protected], you should be able to set a catch all to one email address so you can use any number of email permutations and collect the mail from one place.

Just picking up on something The Egg Man said. The nature of your product would put it in the category of 'custom made' and as such are non-returnable, unless of course you make a mistake in the printing process. You would need to state this in your advertising on eBay or your website. Something like:

"Returns Policy - As these items are custom made we do not offer returns under Distance Selling Regulations. Please refer to the Office of Fair Trading website >>here<< for more information. It is the purchasers responsibility to ensure names and words for custom printing are correct at the time of submission."

If you wanted to demonstrate a policy which is more than fair you could offer a discretionary discount for replacements in the event of a purchaser error.

[glasgowken]

Cheers Dave Good advice.
I decided to buy another domain and webspace from my existing one, it's only £35 a year.
http://glasgowidcards.co.uk
I've still to tart the page up a bit obviously

[glasgowken]

Just one more question, how would you feel dealing with a business that only had a mobile 0750 number ? I don't want to use my house phone for this.

[Doorstop]

Personally I get a bit hacked off with companies without a direct contact number and while I'd be pleased to see a number there to contact I may be a bit wary of just seeing a mobile rather than a fixed line.

That having been said, going on my previous experience again, I usually only notice the phone numbers at all if I've got something to complain about .. if the order goes smoothly I tend not to look at that sort of thing. Although I really should.