3 Free Things I Did to Start My Business

As my leave of absence was coming to an end, there was still a lot to get done.

Here are 3 more things I did to get my business started.

1. Made an appointment/registered for counseling with SBTDC at Fayetteville State.

There are a lot of free resources available to help small business owners.

You just have to know where to look and take action.

The Small Business Association is a great place to start.

They can help you plan, launch, manage, and grow your business.

They provide lots of free resources and counseling.

You can search here to find your local SBA resource.

Click here for their 10-step guide to help you start your business.

Once I found my local SBA partner, I was able to meet with a counselor and talk about next steps.

My biggest need at that time was with the legal aspects of my business.

I needed help creating documents and SBTDC was able to refer me to the Startup NC Law Clinic to help with my legal needs.

They were able to develop my Pharmacogenomics Consent form and their services were at no cost.

2. Get headshots

As I was getting closer to the launch date for my business, I knew I needed some professional headshots.

Luckily, I was able to ask our church photographer, Ms. Betty, to take my pictures.

I could have taken them on my phone but I wanted something better.?

I wanted them to be taken with a real camera.

So, one day after having my hairdresser make my hair look pretty, Ms. Betty came over to my house and took my pictures.

We did them in the early evening and outside, she said the lighting would be best at that time.

WORD OF ADVICE: if you know your business colors, take your picture wearing your business colors. If you don’t yet know your business colors, take your picture wearing black or white.

I wore two different shirts-one blue, one pink.

I don’t use the pictures of me in the pink shirt because it doesn’t go with my business colors. I could use some sort of software to change the color of the shirt, but that would require time and skills I don’t have.

3. Designed my logo

I was able to use vistaprint.com to make my first logo.

At the time, that was free.

However, that’s no longer an option.

They do offer a logo design package but it’s $149.

But, you can use Canva to create a free logo.?

The logo I have now is my third logo. (I’ll share in upcoming newsletters about the process to change it and who helped me.)

-Melissa

Have more questions about how I started my business?

Book a time to talk to me here .