Whether you want to supplement your current income, break the bonds of commuting life or are simply looking for a new career, How to Start & Run a *Profitable* Home-Based Transcription Business by Sandra K. Shirah (CLA) offers insider knowledge into general, legal, medical and law enforcement transcription.
She begins by defining the job (what is a home-based transcriptionist, what education is required) and moves right into getting your business started -- including building a business plan, standard tax deductions, setting up your home office and crucial filing and organization tips.
Chapter Six delves into marketing your services (including local and global marketing strategies -- from business cards and fliers to websites and online resumes). Rates (and staying competitive), subcontracting through national transcription companies, methods of delivery and increasing potential workloads through networking make up Chapters Seven through Ten.
Wrapping up with related opportunities, references and resources, Shirah summarizes five keys to starting and operating a successful home-based transcription business and then devotes the remainder (more than half) of the book to appendices of sample forms, letters and templates. While these appendices are invaluable, the downside is that the rest of the book is too short to provide a lot of guidance. “Chapter” Nine is only one page long. And personally, I don’t think quotes from the Bible have a place in a working guide to starting and running a business; I found these boxed sidebars to be distracting from the subject at hand.
How to Start & Run a *Profitable* Home-Based Transcription Business has good links to additional information, some great tips and valuable templates. It’s just too short and in need of an editor to say “no, that doesn’t belong here” and “please beef up this chapter.”