America’s small business owners create jobs, original products, and services, and these entrepreneurs make things happen for their companies – even during the rough times. What you might not know about half of small businesses, though, according to the Small Business Administration, is that they are run from home.
How to Start a Business From Home
Running a business from home can be a simple undertaking if you take the right steps to start. There is no end to the types of businesses that are run from homes, and they can range from providing financial services to selling art and antiques on Etsy or eBay. In all honesty, you are very much unlimited when it comes to the type of business you want to run from your home. In order to execute it, the most important aspects are to have the right tools to reach the right audiences, while also having the best tools to actually run the business.
Virtual Tools for Maximum Efficiency
If you are one of numerous Americans who run their small business from home or if you’re thinking about starting a small business from home, there are a few ways that Global Call Forwarding can help your business grow.
Purchasing virtual phone numbers from Global Call Forwarding can help small businesses establish a presence in places the business cannot physically be in. The numbers act as a point of contact between customers and businesses. The following includes a list of ways virtual numbers can benefit your business from home with maximum efficiency.
Keep Your Professional Life and Personal Life Separate
Having a virtual phone number attached to your home phone, cell phone, desktop, or tablet gives you the freedom to take work calls on your personal devices without having to give out your personal phone number. Now you have the choice and ability to walk away from your office phone without eliminating communications.
Set Business Hours
No one can be available 24 hours a day, but having a virtual phone number gives you access to many features. You can choose what time your business hours are, and then you can set up a voicemail message to let your customers know what time those business hours are or direct them to leave a message. Not only can you set up a personalized business voicemail, but you can also set your hours by visiting your account page and updating your settings. That way you won’t have to be bothered when you’re sitting down to dinner.
Put Them On Hold
Your customers won’t think its professional that you have a crying toddler in the background or a barking dog every time the mailman walks up to the house. If you run a business from home you may run into problems occasionally, and luckily that’s what the Hold Button is for. Once you’ve soothed your crying toddler or saw the mailman safely make his way to the next house, you can return to your call. You also have the option to transfer the call to another phone. If you run your business with another person or have someone working for you, you can simply dial their extension and forward the call over. Your small business will seem like it has all the bells and whistles of a large corporation.
Change Up Your Ringtone
Global Call Forwarding offers local ringback tones for anywhere in the country. The familiar ringing tones in each country are different from one to the next. Customers calling from other countries will prefer to hear their local ringtone, and you can customize your phone line to give them exactly that.
Call Recording
The Call Recording features will benefit your business in numerous ways. Being able to record calls and play them back will help you with your customer service skills. You will start to learn what works and doesn’t work and change your approach accordingly. It also helps when training a team of people, that way everyone can have a script of what they will say to customers. In the event of a legal situation, which is an unfortunate situation that businesses may have to deal with at some point, you can use the recorded phone call as evidence on your behalf.
Time of Day Routing
This feature allows you to route your calls to the device of your choosing when convenient. For example, if you normally work at a desk in your home, but step out to go to lunch or pick your children up from school, you can get your phone calls routed to your cell phone when you are away from your desk. You can also reroute your calls to an automatic voicemail message if you like to work within certain business hours. This automatic rerouting allows you to be present with your business as much as you would like to be, at your convenience.
Running a Business From Your Home
Running a small business from your home has never been easier than it is today. Your time is precious, and you deserve the freedom to work from wherever you want to be. Global Call Forwarding will help you on your way to expanding your business while looking professional and making the most of your time.
