Proofreading Business Startup Checklist
Most people starting out do the right things in the wrong order, and the usual casualty is pricing: a rate set before you know how fast you read is a guess you then have to defend to a client. This checklist puts the steps in the order that makes each one cheaper than it would otherwise have been.
See the coursesEverything on this page is yours to copy and adapt. The courses cover the decisions behind it: what to charge, what to promise, and what to put in writing.
What yours needs to cover
- ✓ The decisions to make before spending anything, starting with which buyer you are for
- ✓ A speed-measurement step, because every rate you will ever quote is derived from it
- ✓ Registration, structure and insurance, sized to a home-based service business
- ✓ The software and reference books worth buying first, and the ones that can wait
- ✓ The proof to assemble when you have no license to point at: samples and a test edit
- ✓ A first-client step with a specific number of approaches rather than "start marketing"
How to use it
- Pick one buyer type. Everything below is different depending on the answer.
- Measure your words per hour on three real documents before you price anything.
- Register, insure and open a business account, which together take an afternoon.
- Assemble the proof: two sample edits you may legally show, and a test-edit offer.
- Make twenty specific approaches and track the replies, because ten is too few to read anything from.
Proofreading Business Startup Checklist FAQs
Do I need a qualification to start?
No. There is no licensing body for proofreading and no legal barrier to charging for it. That cuts both ways: nothing stops you starting, and nothing vouches for you either, so competence has to be demonstrated with a sample edit rather than asserted with a certificate. This is worth being clear-eyed about before you spend money on any training, including ours.
How much does it cost to start?
Less than almost any other business, which is genuinely the appeal. A computer you already own, a current style guide, optional software, a domain and some form of professional insurance covers it. Working through the startup cost calculator with your own figures takes a few minutes and beats any average.
What is the first thing to do?
Choose the buyer type, then measure your reading speed. Doing those two in that order makes every later decision, from which style guide to buy to what to charge, follow rather than be guessed at.
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