Getting Started – Page 6 – Business Plus Baby

May 6, 2013May 5, 2015

Do I need business insurance?

Insurance. It’s definitely not the most exciting part of starting a business but you really do need it. There are a range of different types of insurance that you might need, even as a one-person home-based business and I’m going to cover the basics here:

Liability Insurance

If you injure someone or damage their property and you are found to be at fault, you may need to pay damages. Liability insurance protects your business against these costs. Liability insurance isn’t just for big companies who have to cover themselves against employees falling off ladders. If you’re a cleaner you could stain a client’s carpet, for example. Even an IT consultant could find a client tripping over their laptop case!

General liability insurance can cover a range of different things like employees, customers and damage to property and tools.

Professional Indemnity Insurance

Professional indemnity insurance covers you if you need to pay to correct a mistake or cover any legal costs because of negligence e.g. giving incorrect advice or making a mistake in your work. You’ll need this if you offer advice or handle clients’ data or intellectual property.

Home insurance

The home insurance you already have may cover your business at no extra cost, especially if your business is basically just a laptop. But it’s important that you give your insurance company a call to tell them that you’re running a business from home. Otherwise they may refuse to pay if you make a claim.

Check the terms and conditions of your mortgage too, as your mortgage provider may also need to know about your home-based business.

Motor insurance

If you’re using your car for your business, don’t forget to tell your motor insurance company. As for house insurance, not informing the insurer may make the policy invalid if you need to make a claim.

Adding business cover to your policy doesn’t usually cost much and it may even be free.

Other types of insurance

Depending on your business, you may need more specialist insurance too. For example, if you have expensive stock in transit, you’ll probably want to insure that. And business interruption insurance can cover you if your business has to stop trading due to e.g. broken equipment or fire damage. Or perhaps even unoccupied insurance.

For more information on the type of insurance that your business needs, it’s best to talk to an insurance broker.

April 4, 2013

How to tell if your business is really a hobby in disguise

Have you been stuck in start-up mode for too long? Then perhaps you’ve got a hobby, not a business.

I’ll come clean here. When I first started Business Plus Baby, I was in a crowd with some mums who were running successful businesses and some who were making a few pounds (or dollars) from a hobby.

I was determined to run my blog as a business, dammit. I had a new family to feed and I wasn’t going to be faffing around with a hobby. In my mind, the difference between a hobby and a business was this: a hobby makes pocket money (if you’re lucky) and a business makes proper money. An income you can live on.

Continue reading “How to tell if your business is really a hobby in disguise”

March 13, 2013March 13, 2013

How to make money online

It’s not long now until Business Plus Baby’s fourth birthday. In the last four years I’ve seen a LOT of business opportunities and I’m still being approached by people who want to recruit me to theirs.

“I’ve just found this amazing new opportunity and it blew my mind. Here, take a look..”

No thanks.

(By the way, if you want to avoid getting ripped off or taken for a ride take a look at why aspiring work at home mums are vulnerable.)

It’s not that I’m being obnoxious, I really do admire anyone who has the get-up-and-go to start any new venture. It’s just that wanting to make money online (or anywhere else for that matter) is completely the wrong place to start.

There is no quick or easy way to make money online. You have to do it the old-fashioned way, which is…

Work out what people want
Provide it at price they are happy to pay
Promote it so lots of people know about it

Yep, find something of value and ask people to pay you for it. And if they don’t want to pay you, keep changing your offer until they do.

Don’t be put off by all the doom and gloom of the ‘current economic climate’, if you’ve got something that people want they will pay you. If they aren’t paying you then you’re offering the wrong thing, so change it.

I know that all sounds simple, and it is. But it’s certainly not easy – ‘simple’ and ‘easy’ are two different things. I’ve tied myself up in knots many times trying to find something that works. No, I don’t know how something so simple can be so bloody difficult to do either. 🙂

So whenever you hear those words ‘how to make money online’ remember that you’re starting from the wrong place. Instead ask yourself “what can I offer that people want to exchange money for?”

Nobody cares that you want to make money online. They want to know what you can do for them.

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February 26, 2013

Is it taking too long to get your business started?

One of the huge problems I faced when starting a business from home around my kids was the frustration. It just took soooooo long to get anything done. That was for both things like writing articles (I was so tired and got distracted by kids!) and the way it took months to see much progress in my business in general. I was in start-up mode for YEARS.

If this all sounds familiar to you, you can hear me talking about it some more here:

listen to ‘Making slow progress as a business mum?’ on Audioboo

Yes, in this audio my children show exactly why it takes so long to do anything with kids in tow. 🙂

This slow start can be a problem if you need an income quickly, so here’s my advice on how what to do about it:

listen to ‘Don’t have time to start a business as a work-at-home-mum? Try freelancing instead.’ on Audioboo

Here are those links I mentioned in the second audio:

Elance

People Per Hour

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Don’t miss a thing here at Business Plus Baby Click here to get my newsletter and I’ll also send you a copy of my e-book Running a business around a family: 9 steps to success.

November 23, 2012October 13, 2015

The easiest time ever to start a business. Seriously.

Seriously? After the credit crunch and double-dip recession? Yes.

Sage recently carried out a piece of research on entrepreneurship in the UK and found that…

… more parents (50%) are considering starting their own business in the next 2 years than those with no children (40%). One in five budding entrepreneurs wants set up their own business as they want a job that fits around their family life. However, on the flipside, half said they are concerned about starting their own business as their family life means they appreciate the stability being employed gives them.

To that I would say “So what’s stopping you?”. The old days when you had little choice but to give up your job, get a huge bank loan and then work full time on your start-up are now over.

Instead, you can start a business in your evening and weekends, test your concept and grow your entrepreneurial muscles all without risking more than a few hundred pounds. How? Start any business that doesn’t involve a commitment to bricks and mortar or much stock, so I’m talking eBay, pop-up shops, Etsy and stalls at events or markets as well as online stores.

In my experience, what holds people back is the way we have been trained to only accept payment in return for employment. There’s this weird mental barrier in finding something that people want to buy and exchanging it for money. Learn more about this exchange process (selling in its most basic, one-to-one form) and how to do it well and you’re well on your way to starting up on your own.

Yes, the fact that starting up is so easy means that there’s a lot of competition and many copycats out there. But many don’t have the stamina, creativity or determination to keep going. You do.

So are women’s attitudes different to men’s? Sage say..

Women (41%) are less likely than men (44%) to consider starting their own business in the next two years; with the greatest challenge for women (23%) being not knowing where to start. For men the biggest perceived challenge is access to funding (28%). Women also worry more about the stress of starting their own business (30%) but interestingly are less likely than men (19% to 24%) to feel they don’t have what it takes to succeed in the current economic climate.

It’s no surprise that women are less willing to risk debt, and I’m sure the fear of stress comes from already having a lot on our plates. But how much of this is a vague fear that comes from out-of-date assumptions about what it takes to start a business?

Of course, if you genuinely have problems with debt then it’s best to seek insolvency help or debt recovery advice or get in touch with the Citizens Advice Bureau.

As for the economic climate, yes people are more careful with their money at the moment. But there are signs that things are picking up and our communities are actively looking for new businesses to revive them. The Portas Pilot Towns (my home town Bedford is one) are a great example of this.

So don’t be held back by outdated beliefs about starting your own business. Keep it simple: find something, sell it and learn from the process. Then repeat it.

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