How I Used My Degree And Experience To Start A Resume Writing Business
A step by step guide.
When we think of starting a business, the first thing that comes to mind is the amount of capital we have at hand to invest in it.
Recently, I thought of how I can use my skills and creativity with a minimum income to start a venture. As a law student getting legal experience is crucial, so one of the primary ways to secure a placement is having a good resume and a cover letter. I have had previous experience in securing placements and internships. So I thought I can take advantage of that and be helpful to other law students as well as earn a profit.
These are the chronological steps of my entrepreneurial journey:
1. I figured out how much I will charge for the services
I already knew my target market, which are law students or law graduates. The second step was to identify how much I will charge them for the writing services. I had to do that bearing in mind that many students don’t have a stable income, and the fact that I am only new to this, so I kept the prices very reasonable, up to £40 for a resume.
2. I figured out how to make it more profitable
As a graduate myself, other students may think that I am not as professional in resume writing. To resolve this I told customers that the resumes will be validated by a solicitor friend, this makes it much more reliable and more persuasive to gain customers.
3. I figured out how I will correspond with customers
I did not want to create a website just yet because I am new to this. Thus, the only way to correspond is through emails. I figured that I would initially try to get to know the customer and what are their expectations, experiences, skills and so on before I start writing resumes.
4. I Created a business flyer
There are many sources online to create business flyers. I found one within a few minutes and started planning out what I will put on it. I put the basics, such as the title of the business, the services offered, and my contact details. I did not want to cram it with loads of information and preferred to keep it simple.
5. Advertised on social media
The only way to get the word out is to use social media. I promoted it on Instagram and on law Facebook groups. Like many startups, I was not successful with it at first, and it took a few weeks to get my first customer. This was after ruthless advertising on social media.
6. I built a rapport with customers
This is really important for me, my main goal was to be helpful to my customers. Therefore, building a close relationship with customers is crucial. What makes me different from all these big corporations is that I can empathise with people, and I am genuine and sincere. This also helps to build trust. But, if you are overdoing it then it can be counterproductive and even off-putting.
The downside
There is immense competition in resume writing businesses. Customers would prefer an established corporation to get their resumes written and this makes it hard to not give up. One of the main things I learnt is:
Starting a business takes time, grit and unhealthy amount of love for the act of building something.
I knew it would take time and I did make a lot of mistakes but I learnt from them and carried on improving my venture. It is very easy to give up once you see that it is not working, but even one customer can act a motivator to carry on. Resilience plays a key role in here because if you are resilient, you will find ways to protect yourself from stress.
One last advice is to not give up. No matter how hard or impossible it may seem to grow a business. Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon started off with selling books, now he sells everything!
To summarise, I found a way to make a profit using my existing skills and experience. Most of all, I am being helpful to my fellow customers, this is really important in business. I do not have a stable income from this venture yet, but I will continue to build and invest in it.
