Starting A Proofreading Business With A Global Client Base From 66 Countries
My name is Zac, and I am the founder and manager of Cambridge Proofreading LLC.
We provide online proofreading and editing services to a diverse range of clients, from students and academics to NGOs and businesses.
We have a team of more than 300 editors located all over the world, and in 2022, we received orders from 66 countries, reflecting how global our client base is.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
While studying for my master’s degree in Liverpool, England, I worked with several international students on a group assignment. As the only native English speaker in the group, I was tasked with compiling the different sections of text we had each contributed into one paper.
During this process, I would proofread my colleagues' work—correcting their grammar and punctuation, of course, but also refining their academic style and resolving issues with clarity in their phrasing.
This was well received by my classmates, and I quickly realized that it could be a valuable service for international students. With some 500,000 international students enrolled in UK universities each year, and more than a million in the US, there was meaningful value and a large potential market.
Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.
Good ideas are meaningless unless you do something about them, and I did not want to let this one sit and stew. I immediately set up a website to test the concept and see whether I could find any would-be customers to pay for the service. I paid a web designer friend £150 (about US$200) to help, and YourPerfectEnglish.com went online in 2010.
Next, I used Photoshop to design a basic flyer promoting the service. I had a few hundred printed and handed them out myself outside the student guild, where many ESL international students spent their free time.
The very next day, I received a contact form inquiry from a local student who wanted their essay proofread. I was ecstatic! The only problem was that I hadn’t yet hired any editors and had no idea how to manage an order. I told the prospective client that we hadn’t launched yet but that we’d get back to him very soon.
This gave me the proof I needed that I just might have a viable business idea, and I got to work reverse-engineering the rest.
Fortunately, shortly afterward, I landed a job working for a digital marketing agency as a trainee SEO/PPC executive. This experience was invaluable to launching the business, as it gave me the knowledge and expertise I needed to market the service online.
I had a friend in the industry work with me to design the website. Another friend helped me build a custom order management system that allowed us to manage client orders. Their help was critical, as I was able to do on a shoestring budget what would usually cost a new business owner thousands of dollars.
At the end of the day, it’s about providing something so valuable that someone is willing to pay for it. Do that consistently, and most of the other stuff takes care of itself.
Describe the process of launching the business.
First, I focused on making sure that we had the best shopfront (i.e., website) possible. I wanted the store to sparkle before we brought in the foot traffic.
I did a SWOT analysis of the competition to make sure our website had all their strengths while avoiding their weaknesses as far as possible. The most significant weakness I found was all too common: a complicated and clunky ordering process.
We worked to ensure that our ordering process was as easy and streamlined as possible. Our order form contained only fields for items we needed details for (no filler). We had flat rates, transparent pricing, while most of the competition required that you contact them to receive a custom quote via email. This was an early competitive advantage that we had. Many of our competitors ended up copying us but we got a head start.
I also applied a lot of the best practices I’d learned from the internet marketing agency where I worked to make sure that our website was optimized to close sales. This meant focusing on sharp design, easy navigation, compelling copy, and a clear sales funnel.
We paid particular attention to ways we could address and alleviate any concerns potential customers might have in ordering from us. As a small business in a niche industry, we couldn’t rely on brand recognition, so building trust among users was essential.
Things that can help with this include displaying contact information on all pages of our site; using a registered company address, trademarks, etc.; prominently featuring customer testimonials and reviews (ideally hosted on an independent third-party site); and linking to policies regarding privacy, satisfaction & returns, and security & confidentiality.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
Google Ads is saturated in many niches, and the proofreading and editing business is no exception. Still, we found several keywords in certain geographies that were profitable and brought in some steady business.
Facebook remarketing—that is, showing ads to users who have already visited your site—has also proven to be cost-effective at bringing in conversions.
Once we had a foundation of clients to build on, the business began growing organically through word-of-mouth referrals. Through our hard work, our Google rankings also improved as we gained reputation and authority, resulting in more business.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
We have been in business for 12 years now. In that time, we have developed a loyal client base and valuable connections with universities, journal publishers, and other sources of work.
Good word of mouth remains central to our client acquisition, and that’s achievable only by ensuring that we deliver outstanding work to every client—so we keep a close eye on the quality side of the business. A business is ultimately only as strong as the people who work in it, so we make sure that we hire only the best editors we can find.
We also provide our contractors with resources that help them grow and refine their skills while they’re working with us. Focusing on growth and retention helps us maintain good working relationships with our contractors, which in turn helps build loyalty; many of our contractors have been with us for more than a decade. That consistency helps us to give our clients a consistent level of service, which keeps them loyal too.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
I’ve learned that all business is highly competitive and that to be successful you must work hard at it. At the end of the day, it’s about providing something so valuable that someone is willing to pay for it. Do that consistently, and most of the other stuff takes care of itself.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
We have our own custom order management/CRM that we built from scratch using PhP, so it does exactly what we need.
We use Monday to manage our internal operations—its project management functionality is outstanding, and we’ve used it to build a system that manages all of our recruitment, onboarding, staff directory, scheduling, and complaint resolution processes. Its automation reduces the repetitive manual tasks required to run our daily operations.
Our internal knowledge base is built using the Squarespace platform, which we’ve found to be a robust and easily customizable WYSIWYG website builder that can handle all of our content requirements.
Finally, Slack has improved our internal communications and has helped us foster a sense of community among our editors, all of whom work remotely.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
The best small business book I have ever read was The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber. He recommended creating a “franchise prototype system” as a way to systematize all of the processes in your business, which made sense to me. Setting it up so the business can function without you allows you to focus on growing the business—you want to have the space to work on it, not in it.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
It’s good to think big but consider local and smaller business ideas, too. Many would-be business owners think a business idea needs to be a unicorn that creates a completely new market instead of simply servicing an existing demand in a better way. I would rather invest my time and energy into starting a business with a good shot at making six figures each year than a moonshot for millions.
A great way to find ideas or gain insight into industries is to look at businesses for sale on bizbuysell.com. You’ll find a wealth of information there about actual working businesses, including financial information, and you might be surprised at how many small businesses in “dull” or “normal” industries are making their owners a very nice living.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
We always welcome applications from well-qualified academic editors. The recruitment process is very competitive, and our clients are particularly keen to work with subject-matter experts, so we look primarily for master’s and doctoral degree holders who have some editing experience and a very good understanding of the English language.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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