Running your business from a personal profile

Key takeaways

Using a personal Facebook profile for business is a mistake because Meta's terms say personal profiles are for individuals, and business use risks restriction. It also blocks ads, insights and shared admin access. Move the business to a page, keep your personal profile for personal posts, and share from one to the other.

• Personal profiles are for people; business pages are for businesses.
• A page unlocks ads, insights and several admins.
• A restricted personal profile can take the business with it.
• Your personal network can still share the page's posts.

Why do businesses run from personal profiles?

Businesses run from personal profiles because that is where the owner's friends and local contacts already are, and early customers came from them. It feels natural to post jobs there. The problem appears later, when the business needs ads, help from staff or proof of results.

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What does a business lose on a personal profile?

On a personal profile a business loses access to advertising, page insights, message tools, booking buttons and reviews, and cannot give staff or an agency safe access without sharing a password. It also risks the profile being restricted for commercial use.

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How do you move to a business page?

Create a page with the business name, category, area and contact details. Post a few proof posts before announcing it. Then tell friends from your personal profile, ask happy customers to follow and leave a review, and point any old listings at the page.

• 1. Create the page and complete every field.
• 2. Add a second admin you trust.
• 3. Post three proof posts.
• 4. Announce it from your personal profile.

Should the owner stop posting personally?

No. A personal profile that shares the page's posts and talks about the work as a person often reaches more people than the page. The mistake is running the business only from the personal profile, not the owner being visible.

• Founder-led social media: staying consistent as the face

How do you spot that your business lives on a personal profile?

Your business lives on a personal profile if customers send friend requests to buy from you, if you cannot run an ad or see page insights, or if nobody else can reply without your password. Business posts mixed with family photos on the same profile are another clear sign.

• Customers send friend requests.
• No access to ads or insights.
• Staff need your password to help.
• Business and family posts mixed together.

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a sole trader with a busy personal profile full of jobs, who cannot run an ad or let an assistant reply. Setting up a page and sharing posts from the personal profile keeps the friendly reach and adds the business tools.

• See client work
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Personal profile checklist

• Create a business page.
• Add a second trusted admin.
• Move business posts to the page.
• Share page posts from your personal profile.
• Ask customers to review the page.

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Next step

If customers message your personal profile, set up a page this week and reply there from now on.