Home Business Ideas
Start an Answering Service Business
With an answering service business, you can contract professionals and business persons to receive and answer their calls, right from the comfort of your own home. This type of business has a wide reach as all types of professionals can be your potential clients.
The Concept
Many times, professional
people such as lawyers and
doctors as well as business
men are so busy that they do
not find time to answer
their own calls or filter
through junk calls. They
need someone who can answer
their calls and take down
any messages. This is where
your answering service
business can benefit your
clients. When people call a
particular business, all
these calls will be diverted
to your answering service.
You will have to answer some
basic queries and receive
messages, if any, for your
clients. You will also be
required to distinguish
between genuine and junk
calls for your clients.
Many professionals, who run
their businesses from home,
have to depend on their
spouses or answering
machines to take their
calls. Also, they have to
accept a lot of junk calls
which often takes up
tremendous valuable time. An
answering service business
can be useful for your
clients as their customers
will be able to speak
directly to live and
informed people, who can
also clear some of their
doubts.
It would be better to have
some telephone answering
service experience before
starting this type of
business. If you have worked
as a receptionist,
telemarketer or call
operator, then such
experience can come handy in
convincing potential clients
about your capability and
familiarity with this type
of service. You will need to
have some knowledge about
your clients? business as
this would help you provide
better service. A flair for
oral communication is always
helpful. Clients can be
charged either on a per call
basis or for a fixed number
of calls per month. Calls
exceeding this limit can be
charged additionally.
Startup Costs
The cost involved in starting a home-based answering service business depends on how many clients you are planning to deal with. If you prefer to run your business on a smaller and cheaper scale, then you can divert all the calls to your single home telephone number. But if you are interested in building up your business, then you will have to invest additionally in more telephone lines, switchboard and a computer. You may also need fax machines. Your expenditure may involve the cost of printing business cards and information brochures for passing on to potential clients.
How to Market It
Posting an advertisement
about your business in the
local telephone directory or
local and national
newspapers will make people
aware about your business.
You can also increase your
business exposure by posting
information about your
services on internet
business forums and web
sites. Sending mails to
potential clients will
increase knowledge about
your business. You should
also try to contact local
business persons personally
and pass on information
about your business to them.
Prepare attractive monthly
packages before contacting
potential clients for better
results.
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