Business Plus Baby

November 7, 2013November 6, 2013

Business Parcel Delivery: 3 Top Tips

Companies that rely on parcel delivery will require a speedy, reliable and efficient service to maintain the integrity of their business. This is especially important in the build up to Christmas as mail routes become exceptionally congested with millions of parcels being sent back and forth over the UK.

To help with businesses that regularly use a mail service, here are 3 top tips to help you with parcel delivery:

Prepare the Package Carefully

Perhaps the most crucial consideration for sending a parcel is to make certain the goods inside are packaged correctly. You can never be too careful when it comes to this as inadequately wrapped parcels can leave you liable for any damage incurred during transit.

Firstly, ensure that outer containers are sturdy and can easily hold the weight of the goods inside. There should be no movement inside for the item to move around, especially for delicate items such as glassware or ceramics. Fill out the container with bubble wrap or polystyrene chips to prevent movement. Seal the parcel securely and apply tape across all edges and openings, criss-crossing the whole box if possible.

When you are satisfied the package is safe to send, you also need to be meticulous with the outer labelling. Again, this is your responsibility to get right. Some companies cover their labels with transparent sheets so that wet conditions don’t affect the writing. Write a return address on the parcel also in case anything goes wrong.

Use a Dependable Courier

There are numerous professional courier services available in the UK. They will pick up items from the required address and deliver them to any location all over the world. Of course, sending packages internationally will cost a higher amount and require more preparation on your part.

The larger and heavier your parcel, the more expensive it will be to send. There are limits for sending goods in the UK however; a package cannot weigh more than 30kg and have a length of over 1.5 metres. If you are looking to send items above these measurements, then check if the courier can provide a special service for you.

Courier services are essential for many companies. They will be able to offer you an affordable service, often with same-day delivery if booked early enough. Research and compare all the different couriers online to find the best deal for your business.

Use an Insurance Policy

Courier services will be using their own insurance policy to protect themselves from unexpected circumstances. When you use one of these companies, your goods will usually fall into this policy and be insured up to the value of around £50. However, you must be certain that this is the case by reading the terms and conditions.

For expensive or fragile items, using insurance provides you with a peace of mind when the package is out of your hands. If the value of the goods is above £50 then spending that bit more on insurance guarantees protection against damage or lost items.

Insurance companies will investigate any claims thoroughly and an inadequately wrapped or labelled parcel will often nullify any claim; extra care is needed when preparing your package to make sure this doesn’t happen.

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November 6, 2013January 30, 2014

Ever thought of a new career in finance?

We’ve been feeling the global financial crisis for over five years now and although there are signs of recovery, we’re not likely to be out of the woods for a while yet.

Although it has not affected the United Kingdom as much as other countries in Europe, the global financial crisis is still a problem that concerns many British people. The upsurge in self-employment in the last few years has been caused, partly at least, but the fact people haven’t been able to find jobs. So although I hope that you’re making a personal choice to grow a business around young children, the fact is that some of us don’t have much choice but to be self employed for the time being.

If you’re thinking of retraining, either to run your own business or to start a new career once your children are at school, a finance qualification might be a good idea to consider. Economics, business, administration, management and leading teams are careers that companies need right now, especially since the financial crisis.

There are other good reasons to go into finance, too. Firstly, the United Kingdom’s finance sector is still enormous, despite the financial crisis. So, there are many opportunities and there’s a good chance of finding work if you have the right skills and qualifications. The finance world is very competitive sector too, which means it’s great if you’re looking to grow your experience and level of responsibility.

With higher than average salaries and lots of opportunity for progression, a career in finance could be a a good move.

Nowadays, it is easy to retrain and learn new skills to get into the world of finance, Whether you are student and you are beginning your studies on this field or you are working in another, totally different sector and you just want to make a change, there are a range of financial courses are offered in the market, for example:

ACCA
CIMA
AAT

You can find a list of all the different financial qualifications available and their providers in this document:

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/smallfirms/your_firm_type/financial/pdf/rdr_quals.pdf

November 6, 2013

Ways to enhance your business using social media

Whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, blogs, forums or podcasts, we all will use at least one of these social media to interact and connect with others online. While the social side of us can chat and form friendships with people all over the world using the web, we have closed the gap between continents and countries. This has proved invaluable for businesses worldwide and social media continues to prove itself one of the most useful tools available to reach customers and consumers no matter where they are. The question is, have you taken advantage of this? Consider how social media can help your business get off to the best start or start taking the lead in its field.

Free Advertising

Many users of Social Media will think nothing of creating a page to promote themselves or something of interest to them yet businesses can use a wide array of avenues to Advertise services and attract customers to their company using these services. For instance a Facebook page can be created linking your Business Website to a page where you can select a particular type of audience you desire to. As has already been mentioned, the web offers a worldwide audience so it pays off to use Social Media to attract and target many online.

Inform Your Clients and Customers

Now you can get the message to the right audience you can update them and keep them abreast of any promotion, offer and information that will be of interest to them. Let them know any latest business news or any new products or services that have become available to you. Social Media is the perfect way to do this as it will appear as a general message instead of a spam like email that can seem pushy and somewhat intrusive to potential clients. A good example of a business that has blogged successfully is The Workplace Depot.

Find out What They Want

The difficulty with any consumer service is getting the right kind of feedback. Surveys and Customer feedback forms can be a chore to complete and many consumers are reluctant to fill them in or do so quickly and hence inaccurately. Social Media is the perfect way to allow others the chance to leave their opinions and what matters most to them as a product or service. Sometimes bloggers may provide you with useful tips and pieces of information that can help you improve what you have to offer.

Get to Grips with Social Media!

So as well as using Facebook and Twitter to connect with your family and friends, why not use it to maximise your business. The more people that visit your site, “Like” your pages, blog on your blog or leave a comment on your business forum, the more successful your business will be. Be creative and plan how you will set up your business blog. Plan and target your Social Media well and without a doubt you will be on the road to success.

October 30, 2013October 30, 2013

We started a business with kids: Elise and Gemma of Nurturing Mums

Tell us a little about your business

Nurturing Mums is run by two North London mums – Elise Mendelle and Gemma Frenchman. We run postnatal courses to support new mums in the early days of their new role, to give them a warm, encouraging atmosphere where they can talk about their babies, and to provide them with information from expert guest speakers to alleviate concerns about sleep, feeding and other important issues they are facing as new mums. Practical, sociable support is the name of the game!

What was your job before starting your business? Continue reading “We started a business with kids: Elise and Gemma of Nurturing Mums”

October 17, 2013October 17, 2013

What I learned about business from James Caan

Do you like reading about well-known entrepreneurs? True, they are in a totally different league to most of us little business owners but it’s great to be able to tap into their experience, mindset and way of doing business.

Yesterday I came across an interview with James Caan (ex-Dragon’s Den Dragon) on the Heathrow Express website.

Incidentally, I’ve never actually been on the Heathrow Express – which is a train service that links London’s Paddington Station to Heathrow. But I’m all too familiar with the horrors of the M25 near Heathrow and hauling luggage around London on the Tube. So the Heathrow Express sounds like a great idea to me!

The first piece of good news from James Caan is that you don’t have to be a born entrepreneur to succeed in business. Experts often give the impression that you’ve either got it or you haven’t, so it’s great to read that entrepreneurship is something that can be learned.

James also suggests that taking risks and leading people are key parts of being an entrepreneur. Many women, especially those with children, are very risk averse. And while I’m not suggesting we put our families in financial peril, it would be helpful if we took a look at our attitudes to risk every now and then to see if we are holding ourselves back through habit or fear, rather than because it makes sense to do so.

As for leading people, most Business Plus Baby readers are solo business owners and freelancers, so you may be thinking this isn’t relevant to you. But the longer I’m in this strange world where family and business cross over, the more I realise that being a leader is a state of mind than a job description. As mothers, we’re leaders in our own families – yes, sometimes we may feel like we’re just the cooks and cleaners – but we’re the hub of the family, the one that keeps it all moving. I’d certainly call that leadership.

Being a leader means that your clients will have confidence in you and your abilities, even if you are a one-person business. That leadership mindset also makes you more likely to think bigger and hire people when you might otherwise struggle on doing all the tasks yourself.

Later in the article, James Caan highlights the importance of self-confidence. This is another area where mums struggle – in fact I wrote about my own struggles with self doubt here at BPB just a couple of weeks ago. But James is right, if you don’t believe in yourself then you’ll have a tough job convincing other people to believe in you.

Don’t despair because self-confidence can be learned just like anything else. There are loads of techniques you can use to feel better about yourself, from simply taking enough time to rest and exercise to reflecting on things you’ve done well in the past. Don’t let your self-confidence put the brakes on your business, just working through the activities in a book or online course could make a huge difference.

Finally, James Caan says that the best way to be creative is to put yourself in the right environment and mindset. To make sure you’re in a place where your opinions are valued and trusted, ideally in a group setting. Again, this could be where us solo business owners are missing a trick. You don’t have to be alone if you’re a one-person businesses, there are tons of opportunities to find like-minded business owners online and at local networking groups. So don’t be shy, go out and find the right environment to nurture your creativity!

Which entrepreneurs do you listen to?