Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello Everybody!

I worked in a few companies so far doing administrative and consulting jobs. What I realize in every company was, that all the people are working with Microsoft Excel and Powerpoint all the time, often doing very easy work everybody could do - they waste time...

Now my idea: Today companies need to be more flexible and the amout of work load is changing strongly from time to time. But companyies can`t hire and fire people as fast. What do you think about a company that does this Excel and Powerpoint work for other companies? This would enable businesses to concentrate on their core competences, they can be more flexible and don`t need to hire and fire people so much. Businesses could send their files to the Outsourcing company with a description which work has to be done and the OS Company does the work and sends it back.

Do you think that be an interesting idea? Do you think companies would use this kind of service to be more flexible and concentrated?


Businesses might not outsource their day to day work because already have full time employees. It`s probably more interesting for companies doing project work where the work load changes a lot. In peak situation they can`t hire so fast so they could use this new excel/powerpoint outsourcing service.

I discovered that there are alreday companies doing that kind of things: http://inteleants.com/ - is an India based company (cheap employees in India) doing exactly what my idea is and more, they are offering a lot more services.

Do you think a similar company can be successful in the US employing people here in the United States (e.g. cheap college students)? because I think in the beging when I don`t have so much money I can`t effort to open an office in India...


thanks a lot for your feedback!

John

john,

just so i understand, are you saying you would be an outsource resource for individual excel and powerpoint projects?

if so, i think this is a VERY interesting area to explore. it comes down to issues of "comfort" and "confidentiality" of information, and your ability to understand the vision of the customer with enough granularity that you can NAIL what they`re looking for.

also, just the nature of people, projects will often be "urgent" due to people`s likely procrastination/last minute habit patterns. will you be able to react/deliver?

very cool idea.

rich

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Rich Sloan , Co-Founder, Chief Startupologist, StartupNation

I have been contracted on many occasions for PowerPoint work. There are some compatibility issues from PC to Mac and operating system version to MS PowerPoint version. Compatibility seems to always be an issue.

With that said, I DO believe you could stay fairly busy with PowerPoint tasks alone. Excel becomes a bit more tricky, (confidential numbers and application complexity) but I don’t see why you couldn’t earn a decent return on your design time.

I have been doing this for previous employers (before I went into business for myself) for about 2 years. The difficulty is connecting with individuals in the position to hire and distribute required information and graphics.

I say go for it. Don’t quit your day job, but build your clientele first. I have not concentrated by efforts to do this on a full-time basis, but do receive new offers by word or mouth.

I would also add, properly designed MS Word documents. (Properly designed means using styles sheets, and other technical parts of MS Word.) The difficulty with designing in MS Word is its instability. It is not a design application, but (compromises in mind) a designer can get a pretty good final MS Word design.


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Vincent Wilcox (a.k.a. KRAKR)
Drummer
My band: Letters Make Words

John,

I think that you have a great idea.  Just keep in mind that if you are trading hours for dollars you aren`t going to have enough time to make a really good living. 

You might want to build a network of freelancers that you trust, have the skills, and can work in virtual teams to accomplish your projects so that you can focus on marketing and selling your services.  Obviously in the beginning you will have to the brunt but this would allow you to focus on the business / profit producing. 

Also, this allows you to find the best freelancers by creating an entrepreneurial environment and getting them at the cheapest price which will increase your profit margin.  

I`m sure that you can do some initial investigation for freelancers at www.guru.com or www.elance.com . 

I would focus on your local businesses because I`m sure that even there is enough to get you going and keep you busy.  This will allow you to perfect your system and build infastructure then you put yourself out there on a regional or national market. 

A good place to field some business is www.craigslist.com  I offer my services there twice a week and get about 85% of my business from that website.  Otherwise you can just start cold calling local businesses and trying to speak with the decision makers and project managers. 

I hope this helps I think that you have a great idea.

I might even be interested in your services.  Send me an email and we can discuss what you are capable of doing.

Good Luck

 

Thanks Aaron, Vincent and Rich for your interessing and innovative comments!

I`m wondering how I could organize my advertising... I also think craiglist is a great place to advertise. What do you think about google ads? I think most of the people searching for a service do this on google.
Do you think I should concentrate on online or offline advertising?

thanks so much!

John

John,

I would only concentrate on online advertising and direct advertising.

Online:  I would get your self a website and even if it`s just a contact page have something that people can refer to and learn a enough about you to give you a call or email you.  Later you can build a real website but while you are getting started just reservce a good name and use the template service.  Second, I wouldn`t yet use Google ad words because you don`t know your demographic enough yet.  Post ads on all of the free classifieds and directories out there and write some articles about the benefits of outsourcing your excel and powerpoint needs.  Later you can start targeting adwords but I think that you will get enough business to keep you busy and get some experience through these methods in the beginning.

Direct:  Get some business cards made.  These will be invaluable.  Create a flyer/brochure and start mailing it to companies that you feel would be interested in your services and attach your business card.  Start going to Chamber of Commerce and other local networking meetings and you will get enough business to get you going.

Later you can expand to more advanced methods of marketing but while you are building experience and infastructure you don`t want to over extend yourself and you want room to make mistakes.

Answer: Focus on both but focus on what`s free / close to free and that yields the highest returns.  Later when you can afford to pay for serious advertising you can expand.

Good Luck

Hi John,

The idea is a good one BUT...most larger companies in corporate America have people like me (a Sr. Admin.) who takes care of Power Point presentations and Excel worksheets.  Most Admins and Sr. level secretaries are trained in Microsoft Office applications extensively. 

I do, however, think that this idea would work for smaller companies that do not have admins. as full-time employees.  When I was a temp., I used to do a lot of this kind of work.  Now that I am full-time, I run around helping managers, directors and executives make a well-polished product that they will use in high-level presentations to show to their bosses or clients.  There is a lot of work...but just enough for a full-time admin. like myself to complete without them having to hire temps.

My business idea is to offer my services to SMALLER companies that can not afford to keep admins or executive assistants on salary with full benefits and other compensation that is due to full-time employees.  I think this is the way to go.  You have to convince prospective clients that your services will help them save TIME and MONEY.  This should not be too hard to prove if  you just tell the how much it would cost to pay for benefits alone for a full-time employee, not including their salary.

Hope this helps.  Good luck to you!

Regards,

Entrepeneur in San Diego, CA


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Giving you More Time for Life!

Hi John,

Though this is a very old post, just want to check if you still have the idea to start up a PowerPoint Design Studio.  If yes, I am interested to work for you from India.  I have a small team of presentation specialists who can produce excellent templates and slides on PowerPoint.  Please visit www.philsysta.com to know more.  Kindly contact me on the id listed in our contact us page if you need any further information.

Thanks,

Raj

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There are lot of company in internet which offer PowerPoint Templates and excel services but how will you judge company whether it is a good or bad so always check portfolio of that company . after checking portfolio , Price is also matter . Outsourcing is good for price because they can take less money for execution .

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