by Nigel Hilton

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Today’s article is for all the home business owners out there. I know it can be difficult to try and compete with other companies when you run a small business from your home office. In fact, one of the biggest struggles is trying to convince everyone that you’re a proper business that’s the real deal. A lot of people don’t take you seriously because you seem like an amateur when you don’t have an office and operate from home.

So, here are a few things every home business owner should do that will make a huge difference almost instantly:

Get A Proper Business Number

It’s hard for people to take you seriously if you hand out business cards with a mobile number on it. Or, you use your home landline and run the risk of your children or partner picking up the phone. It’s unprofessional, and you can immediately change things with a proper 1800 business phone number. If you want to know how to get a 1800 phone number, then it’s very easy. There are services out there you can use to set things up very quickly. Now, you can use a proper business number as your contact details, then forward calls through to your mobile, so you never miss them. Nothing has really changed with regards to how you take calls, but the perception of your business will alter dramatically and leave you with a better reputation.

Purchase A Virtual Business Address

Following on from this, it doesn’t look great when you list your home address as your business address - for more than one reason. Firstly, it’s terrible for your private life as now everyone knows where you live. Secondly, it doesn’t make you look like a proper business when people Google your location and see it’s in the middle of a residential area. Thankfully, you can change all this by buying a virtual business address. You pay a monthly fee and will now have a proper address in the middle of a busy business district. You still work from home, but it gives the illusion that you have a fancy office somewhere. As such, your reputation continues to grow.

Install Live Chat Support On Your Website

Lastly, this one simple trick can turn any website into something far more impressive and professional. We’ve all been on sites before that have a little pop-up chat feature in the corner. The idea is that you can type questions and get them answered right away. This is a brilliant feature as it improves your customer service right away. Some live chats allow you to answer the questions yourself, while others call upon customer service pros to do all the answering for you. It’s a much more affordable option than outsourcing a customer service company to handle phone requests, and it just visually improves your website as well. So, do this, and you will instantly boost your reputation and improve your customer service all in one go.

These three things may seem like minor changes, but you won’t believe the positive impact they have on your home business!