The minute many people hear that a business is located in a home, they immediately jump to conclusions. Unprofessional is the main thing that comes to their mind. Therefore, it is imperative for a business only to do whatever they can to dispel this way of thinking. Home based businesses must learn the art of professionalism or, in other words, covering up the fact that the business is operated at home.
The first thing home based businesses should consider is incorporating. While this seems like a little extreme, the truth is, having a simple “INC.” at the end of your business name will do the trick. For one reason or another, it will lead others to believe that your business is professional.
Second, get rid of your home address. Think about it. If you are running a consulting firm and you have 123 Pet Lane listed as the business address, people will just assume it is not professional. On the other hand, if you have a PO Box as your address, they will think just the opposite.
Last, you must consider how you are going to handle any incoming phone calls, especially if you do not have a line dedicated to your business. Thankfully, there is voice mail or you can enlist the help of an answering service. Instead of answering your home phone, not knowing whether or not it is a personal call or business call, you can get someone else to do it for you and it will seem like a more professional business.
If these measures seem as if you are lying to your customers and clients, you are wrong. What you are doing is simply removing any assumptions about home based businesses. If someone is simply going to assume that your business is unprofessional because you do the work from home, the truth is, what they do not know is not going to hurt them.
