Periodically, I like to celebrate some of the little things that make a home business special. We all know that there are some disadvantages to being so small, but there are also some really great things about being a tiny home-based business too. One of the benefits to our clients and customers is that they don’t generally have to sit on hold or get passed from person to person when they call into our businesses.
Since so many of us are “one-person shows” or such small operations that either we are the only official worker at our businesses, or it is a family business, when customers or clients call in they have a pretty good chance of getting us. Even if we have the technology to put people on hold (and I admit that some of us do), we don’t generally need to. Sure, we might have to do some legwork and call them back—but there is a good chance that when a customer or client picks up the phone to call us, they will reach us in the flesh on the other end of the phone line.
The person-to-person contact and the strong relationships we can build with our clients and customers is definitely a plus for working with a small home-based business. Instead of having to go through departments and managers and various “floors”—our customers know that when they purchase from us, or work with us on a project, they are in direct contact with the owner, operator, salesperson, etc. I think this is a real bonus. And for someone who doesn’t particularly LIKE being put on hold or getting one of those automated systems with the maze and puzzle of numbers to push, I think NOT having to sit on hold is a big plus for the small home-based business!