Hiscox are making an ‘Ode to…’ series of videos that pay homage to the little things that make a big difference in the life of small business owners. Here’s the first one:
Mmm, I just fancy a cup of tea now….
Anyway, I decided to make my own video about my unsung hero. Here it is:
What little thing makes the biggest difference to your life as a small business owner?
Running a business from home is an increasingly popular choice for individuals with creativity and flair who don’t want the constraints of conventional employment. For such creative people; working from home bases can be a sensible choice, but it isn’t to everyone’s tastes.
There are certainly cons as well as pros. Yes, home-working is probably the cheapest possible option, which clearly makes an inordinate amount of business sense in minimizing overheads and, therefore, prices if need be. But it certainly brings its own challenges.
For some people, the distractions are simply too great. There are endless other things to do when you’re at home – and you don’t get the true separation between work and leisure, that you generally do if you travel to a different place of work every day. On the other hand, hours of your day aren’t wasted in commuting. But there’s a lot of self-discipline required.
Then there’s the danger of “cabin fever” – seeing the same four walls all day long can get to you if you aren’t careful. Some home-workers are too easily distracted; watching TV, going for walks, making endless cups of tea as they procrastinate about work. Others, though, face the opposite problem of never leaving their desks. Before deciding whether to work in this way, you need to judge whether or not you can really balance these two extremes.
Of course, you won’t truly know until you try it – and like anything in life, you’ll improve as you go along and get used to managing your new routine effectively.
It can also be difficult to maintain a front which is 100% professional if you have babies crying in the background while you’re sitting in your nightie or pyjamas! So it’s essential to try and do everything you can to designate a certain amount of time as work time and other as leisure time – and to physically separate the two within your own home if you possibly can. Similarly, it’s essential for the sake of your own sanity to leave the house on a regular basis – whatever the reason may be.
Also – try and set yourself goals and rewards to keep motivated: “If I can complete this piece of work by three o’clock this afternoon, I can take a few hours off for a gym session / swim / round of golf” or whatever you enjoy etc.
Remember, too, that many cafes and restaurants, and coffee shops offer WIFI facilities free of charge, so you may be able to simply take yourself out for the sake of it and work with other people around you for a while in a lighter frame of mind.
And finally – do everything you can to communicate with fellow professionals. This will keep you sane and connected. Try and find people who think and work like you do and meet up with them.
If you can truly master it, working from home can be an excellent lifestyle choice – particularly for the free spirits out there.
Would you like a copy of my latest workbook, Make That Decision! Your ultimate procrastination-busting guide to what to do next? Just click the link!
Establishing a new business of any kind takes a lot of effort. In particular, aspiring online businesses have special challenges to overcome because the online marketplace is already extremely crowded. Successfully overcoming the obstacles and building your own online business requires preparation and extreme determination. The following are some of the things that you can do to build a successful business online.
Computers (Photo credit: aranarth)
Design your website so that it is attractive but also easy to use.
Visitors to your website should not arrive at your website and have to click on the link to the help page after reading the first page. The website layout should be simple enough that anyone could figure out what to do once they arrive at your website. After all, if visitors to your website have to struggle too much to figure out how to navigate your website, they might seek the website of one of your competitors rather than emailing your company to ask for assistance.
Have a brief but memorable domain name.
Get a brief domain name that is very reflective of whatever product you are trying to sell. In that way, people will be easily able to recall the name of your website. If people can recall the name of your website, they might be more likely to go to your website to make a purchase. Sometimes it is easy and free to register the domain name that you prefer. Of course, if the domain name you seek already belongs to someone else, it will be necessary to purchase the domain name that you seek.
Market your website in innovative ways.
Use Facebook and other social media sites to market your business. Also, you could go to local businesses and ask the business owners if you could leave some of your business cards in their store. Another thing that you could do is choose some small item to give away for free to the first twenty individuals who purchase your company’s product. Giving customers something free helps build good relationships with customers. Customers feel more satisfied. Satisfied customers might be more likely to make future purchases from your company.
Brainstorming (Photo credit: MikeOliveri)
Start a blog where you have articles about any topic you deem relevant.
The articles can be related to the product that your company sells. Or, the articles could pertain to some other topic. Within the articles on your blog page, include several links to your company website. Your blog will attract readers who will read your blog articles and then click on links to your company website. In this manner, you will drive more traffic to your company website.
Do an effective job with all of the aforementioned steps and your business will be on its way to success. Your customers will be very happy. Naturally, if customers are happy, they will tell their friends. In this way, you will continue to attract new customers. Your profit margin will increase.
All businesses are taking extra care with budgets and there is no room for waste. However, because small businesses don’t benefit from the same economies of scale as large businesses, it’s even more critical to take control of the budget. Why not spend a few minutes working your way through this checklist in case there are any new ideas you haven’t tried yet?
Aim Low
Most businesses work to targets, whether that’s a sales target, or a footfall target. So, a good way to motivate yourself to improve your budget control is to set yourself a reduction target. For example, if you set yourself a five per cent budget reduction target for the next year, then that is much more likely to motivate you into sitting down and looking for areas to cut. To ensure that you’re on track, it’s a good idea to put regular budget slots in your diary. That way, you have time planned to deal with budgetary matters.
Power Down
Gas and electricity prices can be a worry but there are lots of ways to cut down on usage. For example, take a look at your opening hours. Many small business owners are on the premises a long time before opening and a long time after closing. Consider whether this is really necessary, or whether you’ve been drawn into the habit. If you’re not the first in and last out, make sure that your employees aren’t falling into the habit of face time at the cost of your power bills. To get a better idea of power peaks and troughs, invest in a small wireless monitor. This can be installed in minutes and only costs a few pounds. Very quickly, you will be able to establish whether power usage is matched by productivity and you’ll be able to adjust your opening hours accordingly.
Staff Hours
No one likes to cut staff hours or lay people off. However, in difficult times, sometimes there’s no choice. Before going ahead, it’s worth finding out whether anyone would like to reduce their hours voluntarily. It may be that one or more of your staff would like to work shorter hours so they can pursue another interest, take a part-time course or spend more time with family. Before taking any action though, it’s well worth checking the ACAS website to make sure you’ve taken account of all the ins and outs first.
Surprise Suppliers
Scrutinise your suppliers and determine whether you could get more for less money. Many suppliers rely on customer inertia to get away with pricing that is less competitive than it might be. Even if you’re otherwise happy with your suppliers, it’s worth opening up discussions. They may be willing to cut a deal with you as it’s usually cheaper for them to retain loyal customers than it is to go out and find new ones. Work your way methodically through every supplier, from your gas provider through to the window cleaner and get the best deal you can.
Don’t be Stationary with Stationery
Carry out an audit of working practices and ask yourself (honestly) whether they’re as effective and efficient as they might be. For example, if you regularly send out festive cards to your customers, consider whether an electronic message might be just as well received. This will save a small fortune in time, stationery and postage. Similarly, if you regularly send customers reminders and other letters, why not think about putting in place an email reminder system? Again, this saves time, stationery and postage and may well be more convenient for your customers.
By setting aside a small amount of time on a regular basis, it is possible to make a significant difference to your outgoings. Keep up the good work by scheduling a yearly budget meeting with yourself to review the year ahead and ensure that your business is not paying out more money than it needs to. That way, you can minimise the impact of annual inflation on your company.
Would you like a copy of my latest workbook, Make That Decision! Your ultimate procrastination-busting guide to what to do next? Just click the link!
Soooo many people want to work from home. Whether you’re in a job that isn’t working for you and want to do your own thing or you’re at home with kids and want to earn more money, working from home is something many people aspire to. In fact, the phrase ‘work from home’ gets 22,200 searches on Google every month in the UK alone.
And you can see why. The thought of working whenever you want, day or night and in your pajamas is pretty appealing. As is being able to work around your kids and reduce what you pay on childcare. It can be done (I’m doing it! ) but it isn’t as easy as it sounds. Here are five reasons why working at home isn’t quite as much fun as you may think:
1. The thought of clients coming around for meetings Continue reading “Five reasons why working from home might not be as much fun as it sounds”
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