People & Planet

This business makes a positive difference by...

• Helping non-technical people keep in touch with the modern world.
• Helping people avoid loosing their documents by keeping a digital format.
• Helping people save time in typing
• Making someone feel good because they know that they are helping you develop your business and computing skills. 

Before You Start

Do Some Market Research

Conduct a quick survey among your neighbours and friends asking them:

• Do they have loads of hand-written documents that need to type out?
• Do they sometimes wish they could dictate a document for someone else to type out?
• Are they slow typists?
• Have they ever wished they could get help without paying an arm and a leg?
• This would give you a clear idea on how your business will perform

Get Yourself Sorted

• Make sure you can type as fast as you can talk!
• If you think you need a brush up on your typing skills, get on an online typing course (it's free!): http://www.goodtyping.com/
• You must also have a reference to the different document formats.
• There is a fixed format for many document types like a letter, a resume, or even a report.
• Do some research about such formats or simply ask your client if they need any formatting.

Things You'll Need:

• A computer (duh!)
• Up-to-date word processing software like Microsoft Word installed in your computer.

Finding Clients  

• Start with your neighbours and friends - You have the advantage that they already know and trust you. 
• Have a creative and convincing flyer to give to interested people
• Once you're more experienced you may want to: Place an ad in your school or a local school newsletter, place an ad in your community newspaper, pin flyers on community notice boards (make sure you're allowed to do this first)

Pricing: Most typists charge per page. They don't usually charge per hour as that means slow typists will be paid more!

Figure out what is a reasonable rate that you can charge your customers - and the more pages a client gives you to type, the cheaper the rate should be.  

Think Safe!  

• Although you will be doing your typing at home, whenever you're visiting the house of any client you don't know really well, always have an adult present. Also, always make sure that your parents know where you're going.  You can trust most people but it's better to be safe.
• During loud thunderstorms, it is highly recommended that you avoid using your computer and disconnect any power connections to avoid getting electrocuted!
• Make sure that software used is legal and not copied from an unauthorized source. You have to play it safe - you wouldn't want to be sued do you?

Get on with it  

You really do not need a typing lesson from us now do you? We hope not. Instead, here are some tips on getting the job done.

Using Templates: When you start to type out the document, check out the templates that Microsoft Word provides. It may help you in formatting your document. You can find this by clicking on "File", then "New…"

Proof-reading: When you finished typing, make sure you do a good job by using the spell-check to check for any spelling or grammar errors in the document.

Make the necessary changes but if you are not sure about a mistake, ask your customer.