MY FIRST 10 YEARS IN BUSINESS –THEN VS NOW

By Nicole Coggan

I started my resume writing business in 2012 and as of last year, have been operational for 10 years. Before going into business for myself, I had worked as an Employment Consultant for major employment services such as DSDS, ITEC and MAX. After the birth of my first child, I really didn’t want to be bound to the normal 9-5 routine, so I started my own resume business. This has allowed me to work from home to service private clients located right around Australia.

Marketing

SOCIAL MEDIA: Of course, the first thing I did when I started my business was to sign up for Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook but to be honest, I didn’t find it that worthwhile. Other advertising mediums such as AdWords were much more effective for the time and money spent. I did try my hand at Facebook and LinkedIn advertising but didn’t see any results.

Now I only have LinkedIn and Facebook, but I don’t really do any marketing on them. I just keep them updated and post about twice a week. About 1% of my customers come through these mediums.

ADWORDS: When I first started out, 99% of my customers came from AdWords. I used the strategy outlined in The Four-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris and had my first customers within hours of going live. It was so exciting! Now, most of my customers come through referrals from previous customers so I only advertise during quiet periods such as school holidays and Christmas. Last year around 15% of my customers came through this medium. If I wanted to go big and hire more staff, I would use this medium to get my customers, but I LOVE owning a small business and don’t want the stress of hiring staff.

WORD OF MOUTH: At the start I relied on Google AdWords for nearly all my customers. Now over 50% of my clients have been referred to me by a previous customer. This is great news because it means that my past customers are happy with my work and spreading the word, and I don’t need to pay for advertising.

WEBSITE: My website was a major pain point for many years. When I first started out I had my website on Webs but I got the idea in my head that I should transition to WordPress. Huge mistake! My tech skills are not the best so I really struggled anytime I needed to do an update or get something to work. Now I use Wix and I couldn’t be happier. It’s so EASY! The rest of my clients come through my website. I have a blog and it brings in quite a bit of traffic which then converts to paid clients.

GOOGLE MY BUSINESS: One of the best FREE ways of advertising my business has got to be having a Google My Business profile. Even though I service clients Australia-wide, I saw a massive increase in local traffic once I started using this medium. Awards: This year I also won the Australian Enterprise Awards 'Best Independent Resume Writer of the Year' Award which has resulted in some great publicity for my business and really helped with my marketing.

Financial Management

CASHBOOKS VS XERO: For the first two years I was in business I used a simple free cashbook online to keep track of my finances. I had to input everything manually and it took way more time. I also managed my own accounting the first couple of years including the end of year returns.

Now I use Xero and it’s super simple to keep track of my expenses. I have also outsourced both the book-keeping and the accounting to the professionals. It has ended up saving me heaps of money because the accountant knew how to legally claim much more than I did.

Customer Service

PAYMENTS: When I first started out, customers didn’t have to pay me until they had the work. I used this strategy to set myself apart from the competition but the follow up was time consuming and occasionally people would take the work I had done and run, never to be seen or heard from again. Also, sometimes it would be literally months before they would pay me.

About three years in, I switched to upfront payment. I thought this would plummet my sales but 99% of people were good about it and most expected it anyway. It saved so much administration time.

BUSINESS BOUNDARIES: One of my biggest issues at the start was business boundaries. This was completely on me. I wanted to provide the best customer service out there, so I responded to calls and emails as soon as they came in – even if it was 1am in the morning (CRAZY), on weekends and on public holidays. I remember once I was on a family trip with my husband and kids to the coast and I spent the whole holiday glued to my laptop. I ended up completely overwhelmed and crying all day because I couldn’t relax.

Now I switch the phone off outside of office hours and leave the laptop behind if I’m on holiday. Down time is so important. You can’t serve anyone if your cup is empty!

HIRING/OUTSOURCING: At one stage I decided that I wanted to hire some help. Mostly for the time consuming tasks such as social media management, answering the phone and responding to emails. I tried outsourcing a bunch of things with limited success. Originally, I outsourced the phone calls to a Virtual Receptionist who was located in rural NSW. She was amazing and this worked for about two years. When she retired, I tried to find an alternative Virtual Receptionist but the service was nowhere near the same and I moved it back inhouse. In about year five I hired a full-time assistant to do everything except write the resumes. She was amazing but I found that I didn’t quite have enough work to justify a full-time employee. Now I have a Virtual Assistant who works five hours per week and handles most of my social media, graphic design tasks and website updates. I also have my original fulltime assistant who now works for me on a casual basis when I am on holidays or super busy and a bookkeeper who manages all my accounting and invoices. This seems to be the best mix.

THE OFFICE: I kept the home office for the first 8 years and then identified that I really missed an office environment, so I rented a small office in a coworking centre. This was amazing however after about a year the centre shut down and I had to find a new office. Now I rent a small office in the Toowoomba City for days when I see clients and work from the home office on the days when I don’t have meetings which brings a nice balance to everything.

The Future

I’m really happy with the way my business runs, and I love working with clients from around Australia to help them get more interviews and the job of their dreams. When I first started out, I priced a resume at $99. Ten years later I’ve only raised it to $159. At some point this year, I will need to raise my prices again to keep up with inflation but at the same time I really want to make sure that everyone can afford a professional resume. It’s the number one thing anyone can do to improve their career and I don’t want people missing out because they can’t afford it.

Nicole Coggan is an experienced resume writer with over 12+ years’ experience helping Australian clients write a resume that gets more interviews. Specialising in resumes, cover letters and selection criteria writing, Nicole uses her experience to create resumes that get results.

When she’s not writing resumes or criteria, Nicole is an avid Game of Thrones fan who loves playing netball, indoor rock climbing and exploring lifestyle and music festivals around southeast Queensland.

0439 160 982 nic@nicolecogganresumes.com

Web: www.nicolejessicacoggan.com

Facebook: nicolejcoggan

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