S13 Professional Services for Small Businesses

Show small business clients that you understand businesses like theirs, drawing on your experience of working with or in them

Get to know each client and what they want from working with you

Learn about the client's business, its market, how it works and what affects it

Find out what the client already knows about your technical area, and fill the gaps in terms they can use

Put forward practical, workable options that will benefit the client

Before starting any work, set out clearly what it involves, how long it will take and what it will cost

Leave decisions about which of your services to buy firmly with the client

Point out where the client could work more effectively, with the likely benefits and costs

Refer the client to other experts and to business support when their services may help

Collect and use client feedback to improve your service

What running a small business demands day to day

How business owners' outlook can differ from that of employees (for example in how they view risk)

The rules and requirements in your field that apply to small businesses at each stage of their development

Where your core service could usefully stretch to cover related issues that matter to small business clients

How to put technical language into plain terms

How to set prices that small businesses can afford

Why it pays to look at the client's longer-term needs and to build their own capability

How much small business owners rely on personal recommendation

The other professionals and support services that work well alongside yours

Frameworks and tools for identifying the improvements a client has made after an assignment