Why You Need a Separate Phone Number for Your Business
When I started out on this journey of entrepreneurship, there was a lot to learn. I didn't have the good fortune of having a mentor to show me the ropes or teach me about the business basics that I'd need to make my day to day work life easier. Instead, I had to figure out a lot on my own.
I'm not complaining in any way. But do I wish it were easier in the beginning? Absolutely. Would I be further along if someone would have held my hand and taught me real life, business basics? Probably. But with tough times you get great stories and memories. Not only that, the challenges I had to face have meaning because now I can pass that learning on to you so you don't have to work as hard as I did or make the same mistakes.
So here's one of the first steps I want to share with you if you're ready to take your business as a solo lash artist seriously.
Get a separate phone line for your business.
I could easily repeat this one a thousand times but I'll spare you the time in reading it. Seriously, do not give clients your personal number. Here's why:
CLIENTS WILL RESPECT YOU AS A PROFESSIONAL
This might be hard to believe, but if clients have your personal phone number they will text you and call you at random times of day and night for appointments. You may think you're ok with that. Especially if you're just starting out and really need to get clients in the door. I encourage you to think bigger and not focus so much on now but down the line. Five years from now, do you really want clients texting you in the middle of the night about business when you're out with your friends and family? I doubt it.
I have a friend that's a hairstylist that made the mistake of using her personal phone as a business line. Clients text her all the time and they expect a fast response because they know it's her personal phone and its on her all the time. When she doesn't respond fast enough, they text over and over again until she starts feeling anxiety whenever her phone goes off. Over time she feels like clients have overtaken her life which leaves her feeling incapable of meeting their deadlines and demands.
Personally, I find it hard to draw the line between business and personal if a client has my personal phone number. Its a good thing for your clients to feel connected with you but when they're calling you late in the evening after a few glasses of wine, it's super uncomfortable. Believe me, I've been there.
It's important that you have boundaries with your business. You want to have business hours and personal hours as you would with a normal job. By having this in place, it trains your clients to know that you're not available around the clock and to respect that when you're off work, you're off.
So if you're starting out with a limited budget, how can you have a separate phone number for business on the cheap? Google Voice is the answer. Google Voice allows you to obtain a local phone number for free which includes text messaging and voicemail. What's even better is that there's an app you can use for Google Voice on both Apple and Android mobile phones. That way, you don't need a separate phone to manage calls.
A little trick that a lot of people don't know about is that with Google Voice you can add business hours. That means that outside of your business hours, phone calls and texts won't be forwarded to your phone.
If you want to know more on how to get a Google Voice Number and set it up, check out this guide.
And if you found this article helpful, please share!