Start A Telephone Answering Service Business - Business Ideas

Updated: September 15th, 2022
Start A Telephone Answering Service Business

Please note that the data provided in this article are estimates and may vary depending on various factors, and should not be considered as perfect or definitive.

Starting a telephone answering service business requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.

If you're interested in how to sell telephone answering service, or selling telephone answering service online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.

Key Stats

market size
$10.3B
starting costs
$11.7K
gross margin
90%
time to build
210 days

Startup Costs

Min Startup Costs Max Startup Costs

Office Space Expenses

$0

$7,000

Employee & Freelancer Expenses

$150

$250

Website Costs

$223

$7,015

Business Formation Fees

$600

$4,700

Software Expenses

$162

$2,894

Advertising & Marketing Costs

$0

$1,400

Total Startup Costs

$1,135

$23,259

Successful Businesses

Business URL Rank

LiveVoice

livevoice.com

995,971

24/7 Live Answering Service

answeringservicecare.net

1,291,998

OfficeHQ

officehq.com.au

1,451,871

UK Call answering service

answerpoint.co.uk

1,627,810

AnswerMTI

answermti.com

1,840,472

Southern Voices, Inc.

southernvoices.com

1,848,684

Centratel

centratel.com

1,880,836

Sunshine Communication Services

sunshine1.com

1,906,868

Phone Answering Service For Your Small Business

answerourphone.com

2,090,358

National Telephone Answering Service

answernational.com

2,236,535

hutchbug

hutchbug.com

2,238,020

Pros & Cons

Pros Description

Flexibility

You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.

Ability to start your business from home

It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning!

Little startup costs required

The cost to start a telephone answering service business costs significantly less money than most businesses, ranging anywhere from 62 to 23,259.

Rewarding work

Starting a telephone answering service business can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about.

Scalable

With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers.

No overhead costs

To get your telephone answering service business started, there are no costs associated with overhead, storage, packaging, etc. This will save you a lot of time and money!

Cons Description

Crowded Space

Competition is high when it comes to your telephone answering service business, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies.

Longer Sales Process

A telephone answering service business can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers.

Work can be inconsistent

As a telephone answering service business, the amount of work assigned to you and schedule tends to be more inconsistent, which may make your income less stable. It's important to set boundaries and budget accordingly based on the amount of work you plan to have.

Lack of benefits

With a telephone answering service business, you are typically self-employed and responsible for finding your own insurance, which can be quite costly and time-consuming.

Isolation

Often times, as a telephone answering service business, you typically work alone and do not have much face-to-face interaction with other team members.

Taxes

As a telephone answering service business, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it.