Tips and Tools – Page 162 – Business Plus Baby

February 23, 2011March 6, 2011

What You Need to Know Before Buying a Franchise

Thinking of buying a franchise? Today we have Pippa Highfield’s second post on franchising. (If you missed her first post, here it is: Five reasons to buy a franchise)

Having searched ‘flexible, part-time jobs in north Bucks and Beds’ for the millionth time and still come up with nothing I realised I needed to be a bit more creative. I didn’t set out to become a business owner, less to launch the Bedford edition of Raring2go! – a guide aimed at local families – but here I am four years on operating a profitable franchise business that can be run during school hours.

Being a fairly cautious and risk adverse person I did a lot research before I signed the agreement to take on the franchise and here are some of the key questions I asked:

Do you believe in the product/service? Being passionate about the product or service you are offering is a key business success factor and the same is true in franchising. Can you see yourself being enthusiastic about your business and feeling proud of what you do?

Is the business idea viable? If the business has been in existence for sometime and you have a verified set of accounts this can really help you analyse the opportunity. If the business is relatively new it is important to ascertain how the franchisor has come up with their financial projections.

You should also be mindful of how the product will be received in your local area. What is the level of competition for similar products in your location and is your territory big enough to sustain another competitor? Does your area have a similar demographic to other successful territories already in operation?

What are your obligations as a franchisee? Not only is it important that you take legal advice before signing a contract, but you need to be clear about your day to day, month to month and year to year obligations to the franchisor. It is important to read your contract and make sure you understand what is required of you and build any requirements into your working plan.

Can I work with the franchisor and other franchisees? Like any other job it is important that you are comfortable with the ethos of the company and your ‘colleagues’. Make sure you meet your franchisor and their support team plus get in contact with as many franchisees as possible to get a real ‘feel’ for how the network is run.

What value am I getting for my franchise fee? There should be lots of tangible benefits of being part of a franchise such as training, technology support, marketing support, business advice and possibly a centrally managed website. The franchisor should also be marketing the brand centrally and expanding the network of franchisees, both of which will positively benefit your business.

This is by no means a definitive list of questions you need to ask when considering buying a franchise but will, I hope, give a flavour of some of the issues you will need to investigate before making a commitment. There is lots of good information available from organisations such as Business Link and the British Franchise Association which will help you analyse and asses a franchise opportunity for yourself.

After four successful years Pippa is now planning to move on to new projects. So if you think franchising could tick your boxes and would like an informal chat about taking on the Raring2go! Bedford franchise please contact Pippa on 01908 583232 or bedford@raring2go.co.uk

February 21, 2011August 1, 2011

Self Employed and Thinking of Starting a Family?

Business Plus Baby has always been about starting a business after you’ve become a mum. But what do you do if you’re already self-employed and are thinking of starting a family?

My own experience is that I was self-employed for six years, then employed for two years, then I had two babies close together, then I became self employed again (are you still with me?!)

So I know what it’s like to be self employed with and without babies, even though I cheated a little and had a permanent job when both my babies were born. I didn’t plan it this way, honest!

Here is my advice if you’re self employed or run a business and are wondering how on earth you’re going to deal with having a baby…

Learn about Maternity Allowance ASAP

You need to get clued up about this as soon as you can, preferably before you get pregnant. If your friends who have had children are in employment it’s easy to assume that maternity allowance works in the same way as maternity pay, but it doesn’t.

The good news is that there are two articles here at Business Plus Baby that tell you what you need to know: Protect Your Right to Maternity Allowance and Self Employment During Your Maternity Pay Period.

Don’t assume your pregnancy will be plain sailing

Within 2 weeks of conceiving I felt queasy and by week 10, I was on a drip in hospital because my morning sickness was so bad I couldn’t eat or drink! Up until that point in my life I’d been totally healthy so this came a quite a shock to me – I had no idea that the early stages of pregnancy could be so debilitating. Of course this was an extreme case and many pregnant women feel fine, but it’s best to cut yourself some slack just in case…

Assume you’ll feel more tired than usual so if you need to work long days or travel, allow some recovery time in your schedule.
Plan who would cover your workload if you did have to take a few weeks or months off work during your pregnancy – could you work in partnership with another self-employed person? Could your outsource?
I’d heard of so many pregnant women staying at work until the day before the baby was due that I naively assumed I could do this too. The truth is I was so knackered I couldn’t struggle on beyond 36 weeks. Luckily I was employed so it wasn’t a problem to start my maternity leave a few week earlier than I’d planned, but it could be trickier if you are your own boss. If your work is physical in any way you may need to leave even earlier.
Take care of yourself. Often, as self employed people, we do things that we wouldn’t be allowed to do in employment. Working for long hours hunched over a laptop in an inappropriate chair or lifting heavy boxes, for example.

Your priorities change completely after your baby is born. Plan for the unexpected.

This is a tough one, because you really can’t predict how your priorities will change after you have a baby. I fully intended to go back to my job full-time after my baby was born but I completely changed my mind once she arrived. And I’m certainly not alone.

Read through your childcare options (nursery, childminder, nanny…) before the birth so you have some facts to think about. But accept that your feelings may change after the baby arrives.
If you plan to go back to work full-time, have a ‘plan B’ that you can turn to if you change your mind and want to work part-time instead. If you intend to take 3 months off, how might you cope if you don’t feel ready to return until the baby is a year old?
You can’t claim childcare vouchers as a sole trader but you might be able to if your business is a limited company. As this can be quite a saving it’s worth talking to an accountant about whether it’s worth ‘going limited’ before your baby arrives.
Even if you work from home and your hours are pretty flexible, you will need at least some childcare if you’re going to work more than about 10 hours a week. You can’t really achieve very much with a baby or toddler underfoot and there are only so many hours you can work when they are asleep.

If you have any more tips or advice, please do leave me a comment!

If you found this post helpful, you might like to join my mailing list. Sign up now and you can download your copy of my e-book Running a business around a family: 9 steps to success.

photo credit: iampatsajak

February 11, 2011February 13, 2013

Fear of Failure: Is it Holding You Back?

UPDATE Feb 2013: I wrote this article after I was a guest speaker for Become a Mumpreneur, a training programme which has since closed.

I had a great time being the guest speaker on Become a Mumpreneur’s Expert Webinar this week. I’m a trainer by profession and after eighteen months of basically being a writer I only need half an excuse to get talking again!

During the webinar Erica Douglas (co-owner of Become a Mumpreneur) and I were talking about getting started in business. I first started out as a freelancer back in 2000, so I’ve had a lot of ups and downs as a self employed person. One of things Erica and I discussed was failure and how it’s really nothing to be ashamed of if you’re in business. In fact it’s pretty much inevitable that you’re going to fail at some stage.

If you’re being held back by the thought of failing, or if you’re trying to come to terms with failure in the past, here are five tips that might just help.

Don’t be so British!

The USA has a higher proportion of entrepreneurs than the UK, partly because the American attitude to failure is much more positive there than in the UK. For us Brits, failing in business is something to be embarrassed about whereas in the US it isn’t. If you want to be an entrepreneur, it could really pay to lose your stiff upper lip!

Failure is an essential part of the learning process

If you’ve watched your children learn to walk, you’ll see them stand up, fall over, then stand up again. Over and over again. Sometimes the only way to learn is to try, get it wrong, then try again until you get it right. We don’t expect babies to get it right first time and we shouldn’t expect ourselves to get it right every time either. The best lessons I’ve ever had in self employment have been as a result of screwing something up!

Fail fast, then move on

Now it makes sense to avoid failure if you can, but when it does happen just accept it and move on. Don’t linger on your failings, learn the lessons that need to be learned and get on with what comes next.

You should be failing sometimes

I would even argue that if you never fail, you need to get out of your comfort zone. If you never take a risk you’ll never give yourself the opportunity to try new things, to learn and to develop.

Of course you need to be sensible in the level of risk you accept (don’t risk money unless you can afford to lose it, for example) but a little risk could open up opportunities you simply won’t see otherwise.

Each failure brings you closer to your end result

This is Erica’s attitude to failure and it’s just brilliant. Each time something goes wrong it shows you’re one step closer to where you want to be.

photo credit: Jekkone

January 31, 2011January 25, 2011

Why You Need To Think About Growing NOW…

Every small business owner is short on time, but if you’re a mum running a business part-time, your time is even tighter. If you add up the hours you have to work, then subtract the time you spend on admin and marketing you may be surprised how few you have left. Worse still, if your normal working day is squeezed into evenings and pre-school hours, you don’t have any spare time to do extra work. You’ve got no contingency at all. Having too much work seems like a dream when you’re just starting out, but that day could arrive faster than you think.

If a big order or project landed in your lap tomorrow, would you be able to handle it?

That’s why you need to think about growing your business now.

Here’s what you could do… Continue reading “Why You Need To Think About Growing NOW…”