Ask by WinterRose: I want to type documents for people that can’t type, or can’t type fast. Where do I start? Do I need a permit?
I really want to use my typing skills to help people that either can’t type at all, or just can’t type fast. I would like to start a service where people either scan and email, fax, or verbally dictate their document to me (either for school, business, or personal) and I will type it up for them, and then either email or mail (or both) the typed copies to them.

My question is: Where do I start? And do I need a permit to do this? What are some ideal rates to charge? I was thinking of $ 0.05 a word.

Is there anybody already doing this that can maybe give me some advice?

Also, as part of this service, I would like to help limited English speakers by editing their papers and fixing the grammar and mechanics for them.

Please help!

Answer:

Answer by daisy5263
First off , personally I think 5 cents a word far to cheap… I think maybe 1.50 to 2.00 a good rate per page… you are offering far more then what people would be expecting to get…

As far as a permit concerned – unless you were starting this as a full time business/ job, I wouldn’t worry about it just now….
you would have to think this in terms as a wage, salary…

you want to advertise as cheaply as possible, so maybe post at schools, dry cleaners, any public bulletin board…. you could even open a my-space account and advertize…. make use of your Yahoo id, advertize….

I think your idea is great, word of mouth is the best advertisement – use it….

good luck.

Answer by Lui
I think 5 cents per word is stupid, plain and simple. Charge a flat fee, do away with complex systems for figuring out how much you charge. A confused customer is not a happy customer.

Offer a flat fee, like 1 page , 10 pages , 50 pages , 100 pages . Something like that. Remember deals if they need a lot of pages.

You may also want to add collating and binding as well, which you can get done at Staples I think or a company like Staples.

Then get some business cards made up, they just need to say your name and what you do. If your business laws are like Canadian laws you won’t need to register the business if you just use your real name, so long as you make under 000 per year. The difference is you’ll need to pay your income taxes because you won’t have an employer deducting it for you.

Then maybe make up a resume or something, stating how much experience you have in typing, and how fast you can type and so forth, along with something else stating your services and their costs.

Then I suggest going to law firms and other businesses that will need a lot of stuff typed that’d dictated and offer your services there. City services would be good for this too.

Some places nowadays use services like yours from overseas, they outsource it to places like India. You may be able to become successful because of this move to decentralize services.

So yeah, you shouldn’t have to register a business, you should have uncomplicated flat fees, whatever you think is reasonable, my examples were just random examples, but keep it super-simple. And then go for businesses that may be looking to outsource dictation services, they’re your best bet for success.

Answer by keisha h
I don’t think that a permit is necessary at the present time. I would suggest that you advertise your services in in order to get your name out there. If I were you, I would probably charge a little more than .05 per word. You have a great idea going and I wish you the best of luck!

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