As we move further into doing more online, the opportunities available to set yourself up from home with a remote business has never been more timely. A lot of women I come across in the online world consider starting a virtual assistant business, and then, when they have been working for a while as a VA, they consider niching even further. One popular area that I see people specialise in is resume writing. 

In this article, I cover off my top 5 tips for how to run a profitable resume writing business. While you are likely to already have the skills to craft exceptional resumes, there is more to establishing yourself as a highly sought-after professional resume writer and ensuring you are successful and profitable right from the start. 

5 tips to run a profitable resume writing service

Tip 1 - Get paid upfront

As a small business owner you should never act as a bank for your clients, essentially offering a free loan for a service provided in the form of a delayed payment for your services. Be sure to issue your invoice and get paid before you start work. Because it may be too late once you have issued the documents to your client. It makes it much more difficult to chase them for payment once you have passed on the work.

I have had clients in the past who have felt sorry for a client and completed their resume or cover letter in good faith and then they were not paid. Once the documents have been passed to the client, there's really no incentive for them to pay. When you think about it, some of the people you are writing resumes for may not have a job at the moment and may not have the funds available to pay you. So I usually recommend that resume writers request the full payment upfront as opposed to a partial payment.

The clients who are willing to pay upfront tend to value your services more and also be a more active participant in providing you with the background info you need to complete the job. When people have made payment they are usually more forthcoming and timely in providing the content you need to complete the work too. Early payment also puts you in a confident position and you will find it will give you the right energy to pull together a resume for them.

You can guarantee payment upfront by having a client agreement in place.

Tip 2 - Make sure you have an excellent Client Agreement in place

By having a client agreement in place you can ensure that both you and your client are on the same page. An agreement makes the terms of your engagement clear and includes the price of your services and the turnaround time. If you are going to take a week to complete the resume, your client needs to know that. This is important because if the client needs their resume tomorrow to apply for a job, you need to know and you might consider charging an urgency fee. All of this information, and more should be part of this legal document.

A Client Agreement for resume writing should also specify how many revisions are included in the price to reduce the chance of scope creep occurring. You might only offer one or two revisions. Documenting this in an agreement helps ensure you don't have the client coming back in a few weeks time when they're applying for another job and expecting you to revise their resume again . An agreement spells out the details about what is not included.

You also need to protect your intellectual property (or “IP”). This means things such as the way you set out your resumes or any other methods you use. So, making it clear that your work is written specifically for that client is important as well. That way they cannot share it with others. While that might sound unusual, often people share their resumes and things like cover letters with key selection criteria included with the resume because they're applying for, for example, a government job and the approach to that type of resume is different to a standard resume. Your client agreement should state they cannot share the resume with others for the purpose of copying it. .

As your business grows, you may look to hire subcontractors to help you with your workload. If that is something you see yourself doing it is wise to have them sign a Contractor’s Agreement. This can ensure that your business remains yours and covers off the terms of their work with you and your clients. You can find a template Contractor’s Agreement here.

Tip 3 - Make it clear what your resume service does and does not include

You need to ensure your client knows that while your resume writing services might increase their chances of getting an interview, you cannot guarantee that they will get an interview or land the job. It also needs to be clear exactly what your service does not include. For example, you might prepare a resume for someone, but you don't offer career coaching or guidance. So being transparent about what is included and what isn’t, needs to be covered off by disclaimers relating to the fact that there are no guarantees of a certain outcome. 

For example, you want to reduce the risk that the client might come back and want their money back because they didn't get the job they were going for. Or they might want further amendments because they feel the work completed was not suitable because they didn't get the job. But as you would know, when it comes to getting a job there are so many unknown factors. Such as how the client performed in an interview, what the employer is looking for and what the other applicants were like.

You also want it to be clear to the client that the information you provide in their finished resume is based on the raw data they provide to you. So the onus of truth falls back onto your client. It is important to ensure you are not held liable if the client gives you information that is included in the resume that is false. 

Tip 4 - Ensure your online presence is up to scratch

Most professional resume writers run their business online as opposed to having an office in external premises. So ensuring your website and social media presence is up to scratch is an important part of growing your successful resume writing business. 

You will need to ensure you have a content plan in place to ensure you are posting regular and helpful information to position you as an authority in your field. It is also important to ensure your website covers off the legalities around terms of use and the protection of people’s data - especially given the level of sensitive personal information you may be privy to as part of your role. Having a privacy policy is really important to assure your clients that you treat their personal information really seriously.

Tip 5 - Consider a niche area of resume writing

Deciding to niche your resume business can feel a little nerve wracking at first as it can feel like you might be limiting the pool of clients available to you. But in fact, what niching often does is attract the right clients to you and more quickly position you as an expert. As a niche resume writer you can often get better results for your clients because you know all the tricks and lingo in that specialised area and you are able to charge more because you become well known for your area of specialisation.

For example, I’ve had clients who have done a few years of resume writing, but now one only helps people to apply for government jobs, with a focus on key selection criteria. And the other client that comes to mind has moved more into coaching people and helping people in mid-life with their resumes and a career transition. But there are plenty of other ways you can specialise too. For example by industry, such as medical professionals or the mining industry.

Niching also opens you up to the potential to create other product or service offerings such as an online course on resume writing for certain career professionals. Niching can allow you to help more people, and sell to more people than you could with the hours you spend now servicing a few clients at a time.

Ready to get going?

I hope these tips have given you lots of food for thought on how you can grow and profit from a resume writing business. Ensuring you are paid fairly and have the right agreements in place so that your clients expectations are clearly spelled out can save a lot of headaches down the line. 

If you would like expert advice and support to set up your resume business for success, you can book an obligation free chat here. Alternatively, get sorted with our templates. We have the following available, Template Resume Writer Agreement, Website Terms of Use & Privacy Policy Bundle or Contractor Agreements.