How to work from home but look like a big business

It used to be really easy to know whether you were dealing with a small or big business.

In the days before mobile phones, advanced telephone services and the internet, businesses needed premises, plus staff to answer the phone and greet personal callers.

Everything’s different now. Many successful small businesses are run from homes, yet project the image of being much bigger firms.

Some customers could be put off if they knew your business was run from home, so here’s how to look big while acting small:

Smart telephone options

It’s dirt cheap and sometimes free to get an 0845 local rate number, or 0870 national rate number for your business. Not only can you hide where you are based, but you can usually divert these numbers to any phone. Beware: having an 08 number will put some people off ringing you, especially if you have an 0870 where they could pay a fortune for the call.

If you use a normal landline number, it’s good practice to get a dedicated business line. Not only does this stop your business calls from being answered by your children (!), but it gives you a better chance to escape work calls in the evenings. These days you don’t need to invest in an actual second line – you can use a VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phone, which uses your broadband internet connection. There are cost effective solutions such as Vonage, where you pay a fixed price each month and all of your landline calls are free.

Unless you send a lot, you no longer need a dedicated line for the fax. Either get a machine that can share your normal phone line, or get a free 0870 fax number… that will turn faxes into pdfs and email them to you.

It’s not good practice to use a mobile number as your main business contact number, or to divert your main enquiries number to your mobile. That’s a hallmark of a business thinking small.

Get a disguise

There are many reasons you could have for wanting to hide your address. Apart from “29 Smith Close” looking domestic, it also stops people turning up on your doorstep! The easiest option is to hide your address with a PO Box number. This is easily set up with Royal Mail, and costs about £60 a year, plus the same again to deliver the mail to your home. You have to get a PO Box from the same delivery office that delivers your home mail. And you can shorten your address to just your PO Box number, town and postcode.

However, some people will be put off by a PO Box number – if you are selling to consumers you may be better off with a domestic address. Many banks won’t accept PO Box numbers. Plus sometimes your mail can be a little delayed. And remember that anyone can ask the Royal Mail what actual address they deliver PO Box mail to.

If you don’t fancy a PO Box, many small businesses “rename” their house. If you live in Smith Close, why not give a business address of “Smith House, 29 Smith Close”… at least it will make the postie smile!

Another option is to rent an address from a secretarial service or redirection business. It’s possible to have a central London address, while actually running your business from home in Swindon. Again, you will have an extra delay before you get your post, plus you will find yourself paying to receive your letters – including junk mail.

One other thing on hiding your address: if you are a company director, your home address is in the public domain and available from Companies House, so anyone that wants to can easily find your address. Some directors are able to get a confidentiality order to stop this, if they fear they could be in physical danger (for example, the directors of animal experimentation companies).

Get help

Another option to successfully run your business from home is to use external help. A call handling service will give you a big business feel for just £50 or so a month. Calls are answered in your company name. Urgent messages can be texted to you, and the others emailed.

When you pick a service, ensure you go for a growing local firm rather than a big national call centre. A small firm will get to know your business over a number of months, and regular callers will recognise the person who answers the phone. With a big national firm it can sound like you’re speaking to a call centre – is that the image you want people to have of your business? Plus it’s rarely the same person answering the phone from one day to the next.

Another option open to you is to use a nearby serviced office for your business meetings. This can be a very cost effective way of appearing to have premises. You just hire a meeting room when you need to meet a client. If you use the serviced office’s address as your business address, there will be great continuity for clients. Many serviced offices offer call handling and secretarial services too.

Partner big business

When Simon Woodroffe opened his first YO! Sushi, he put a sign up on the door saying he was sponsored by several multinational Japanese firms – household names you’ve heard of. In reality he wasn’t… he had simply bought things from them, the same as any other customer. But that perceived sponsorship helped YO! Sushi immensely. You can use the same principle, if not the same practice, to help your small business.

Where you need to rely on another business to deliver part of your product or service, make it a big national business that people love. Some people will assume there is a connection.

Use clever marketing

These are basic tips but work. Ensure your business has its own domain name – anything ending in @yourisp.com screams small business.

If you sell online ensure you use a major payment handler (Google Checkout is rapidly gaining ground as a very cheap alternative to “serious” payment options).

Finally, remember that you should never really lie about the size of your business and where it’s run from, but it doesn’t hurt to bend the truth a little!