I can't be available during business hours - help!

[bacterozoid]

I'm trying to make my startup work, but in order to do that I have to work full time away from my business so I can pay the bills. All of my clients will be businesses, and I can't be available to them during the day when the calls and emails would be flowing in.

I'm in the process of developing business cards and putting together all of my marketing materials, and I'm trying to decide what to do. I want to put my phone number on my business card, but the best I can do right now is either "I'll call you outside of business hours" or "Please email me and I'll get back with you by the next day". I'm married, but my wife also works full time, so she's not available. My goal is to keep as much communication over email as possible, but I know some people just like to pick up the phone and talk to someone.

What do you guys think? I'm going to be targeting businesses with under 25 employees to start. Do you think people will be forgiving of my availability as long as I get back to them within 24 hours?

[Spider]

If you want to deal with businesses who work during business hours (which is why they are called 'business hours') and you do not want to work during business hours, don't give them your phone number. Just put your e-mail address on your business card.

There is no need to discuss your working hours - certainly not on your business card. Your business card is for two purposes only - to tell people who you are and how they can contact you. They can contact you by e-mail. Period.

[huggytree]

never discuss your working hours or your ability to contact them during normal business hours..

when i started out i was working full time for someone else....i worked for MY company Fri,Sat,Sun

i use my cell phone for my main business line (and still do)....i would answer those messages at lunch and then again at 4pm when i was done with work....you cant answer calls at 6pm at night.....its unprofessional

take a break for lunch and punch out...then pick up your cell phone and work for 1/2 an hour on YOUR business....find a way!

you need to hide the fact that your not a full time (REAL) business....fake it....

Fredericks E-mail idea may work...depends on what the type of business is

people always ask for advice and never explain what the business is...it makes a big difference in what your doing

WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS????

[Paul Elliott]

I agree with Frederick and HT.

What is your business?

Paul

[bacterozoid]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'm a software company, and my first product is web-based time tracking software. It's a subscription-based service ($x / employee / month). I have 0 clients right now, but will be walking into businesses starting November 1 (I still have several things to get in order) trying to sell my product.

I'm confident in my software and prices, but the first couple months will move slow. My goal was to get something out there that I can sell, not to make it perfect or have a million features. I'll be spending the first couple months working in those features and hopefully getting feedback from clients.

As far as my job goes, I can take 1/2 hour for lunch. I also start at 7:30 so I can get off reasonably early. Should I still stick to just my email on my business card, but use those few hours to handle any necessary phone conversation, then tackle emails after 5?

[greenoak]

im old fashiopned but i like a phone number and being able to talk to the business at MY convenience not theirs... within normal business hours...

[Steve B]

Even if they send an e-mail - you still won't be able to get back to them during most of the business hours. It's really no different than them leaving you a voice mail message. So, put your phone number on the card and handle the voice mails just like you would an e-mail.

Good luck - it's rough when you can't be available when your potential customers are available. Is your product any good for retail places? If so, many of them are still open after 5pm - maybe you can get lucky and catch the decision makers in the early evening.

[huggytree]

sounds like returning calls from 12:00-12:30 and 4pm-5pm will work for you....you'll most likely get away with those hours for a while....i did

somehow i got away with only working fri,sat,sun on projects worked too...i had to make up reason why i wasnt available m-thurs.....it worked for a few months...

if you dont get a hold of them at noon or 4pm leave a message that its alright for them to call 'after hours'.....your situation may actually be a plus....it may be easier for your customer to contact you 6pm-9pm.....there's always a way to make something work and typically a way to turn a neg. into a pos.

[bacterozoid]

Ok, I'll stick with the phone number on the business card, then. I'll do my best to avoid saying anything negative about my availability and put a positive spin on it. Steve, in answer: My clients are primarily going to be the 8-5 type for now. I'll move on the retail market once I have some additional value for them.

Thanks, everyone! I'm glad to get your thoughts on the matter.

[huggytree]

when you start out you probably wont get many calls anyways.....when you return their calls you can mention your preference towards e-mails for future contacts....when i started i was only dealing with 1-5 calls a day...it was easy to manage...hopefully you can keep the call time down to less than 5 mins per call to fit into your lunch 1/2 hour