Businesses can create lots of fear, even if you’re still in the planning stages! Which is why I thought it would be useful to share this infographic from Sage UK:
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.
It’s been a long time coming, but today I’m proud to present…WomanPlusBusiness.com!
So why did I want to start a new blog? Let me tell you…
Here’s a summary of what I say in the video:
I started Business Plus Baby over three years ago now after I realised I didn’t want to leave my baby in a nursery and go back to work full time. I couldn’t find the information I needed online, so I decided to start my own website.
Three years on, many of my readers have school-aged children, have more time and business experience and are ready for more. On the other hand, I have new mum readers too who are short on time, experience (and sleep!) who I don’t want to forget about. I’ve been there, I know what that’s like and three years down the line I have information to pass on that will help you.
So lately I’ve felt like I need to split in two to meet the needs of both groups. Plus, I know there are many women I’m not reaching, either because they don’t have kids at all or because their kids are older. Had I discovered BusinessPlusBaby.com when I was childless and newly self-employed (the first time I went self-employed!) I wouldn’t have given it a second look because of its title. Even though there would have been lots of incredibly useful information there for me.
So…I’ve actually decided to split in two!
I’ll continue to write and speak about growing a business around a young family at Business Plus Baby and I’ll write about mindset and marketing strategies for women at Woman Plus Business.
I’d be delighted to see you over at WomanPlusBusiness.com, please do have a look around and even leave me a comment.
I have a fab new e-book ‘How to sell online: Your essential guide to making more sales and more money‘ over there that I’m sure you’ll want to download, too.
If you are self-employed, the chances are that from time to time you worry about just how you might cope if you were ill and unable to work.
Unlike a conventional employee, you are not going to benefit from your employer paying your salary for a specified period of time.
That’s why, it might be worth finding out a little more about accident and sickness insurance (companies such as Drewberry Accident and Sickness Insurance are specialists in this area).
Sickness and accident cover
This type of cover typically breaks down into two.
Some policies will pay you a regular monthly income in the event you are unable to work due to an accident or sickness. Those payments may continue for a specified period of time of perhaps one or two years. (There are also rare policies that may run for up to 60 months).
It might be typically possible to also include unemployment cover in such a policy, though that would normally only pay out for 12-24 months (depending on the provider) and clearly might not be applicable in situations where you are self-employed.
A form of similar cover is traditionally called income protection insurance, which would continue to pay you a monthly income over an extended period of time perhaps up until your normal retirement date.
In both cases, the amount of monthly income would depend upon the policy you have selected but is normally available up to a maximum specified percentage of your previous income level.
Circumstances covered
A range of illnesses and accidental injury might be covered by these types of policies.
Broadly speaking, they may be claimable against in circumstances where you were able to obtain medical evidence that you were unable to work due to a specified medical condition.
It is worth noting that some insurance providers use the definition of own occupation whereas others might use that of suitable occupation.
This is a very important distinction because a policy written under the auspices of own occupation, might typically pay out in a situation where you were unable to continue with your normal work. By contrast, a policy definition of suitable occupation might mean that the provider would expect you to take alternative occupation, other than that you would normally engage in, if you were physically able to do
As you might anticipate, all policies contain terms, conditions and exclusions. You should read these carefully and seek the advice of an experienced broker, if necessary, to explain them to you.
Typically, this type of cover might exclude circumstances where you were purposefully responsible directly for your inability to continue work. Examples might include things such as elective cosmetic surgery, pregnancy, engaging in criminal activities, the use of so-called recreational drugs or injury in highly dangerous sports etc.
Reassurance
If you are unfortunate enough to be unable to continue to work when you are self-employed, you may find that very quickly your financial situation deteriorates and perhaps even things such as your home are put at risk.
Having some form of on-going monthly income from this type of policy might just enable you to continue a relatively normal life until such time as you recover your health.
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.
Image courtesy of Michal Marcol / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
It can sometimes feel like an uphill struggle to find more clients for your freelance business. But by working away consistently using effective marketing activities, you will get there.
So which activities are particularly effective for a freelancer? Here you go…
1. Referrals are one of the best ways to get new clients. People want freelancers who do great work and are reliable, so they are much more likely to ask around their network for a recommendation than they are to hire a complete stranger. The first step is to do a great job for your existing clients. Then you can either wait for word to spread about you (which can be slow), or you can encourage clients to recommend you. This doesn’t have to be done in a pushy way, it could be as simple as leaving a few business cards with a client just in case she knows someone who needs your services. Or you could give clients a call and ask if they know anyone who might need a graphic designer, virtual assistant or whatever it is that you do.
Try not to appear to be desperate for work (even if you are desperate for work 🙂 ). Not only does that make conversations uncomfortable, it can suggest you’re not that good your job. If you are really short of clients – and it has happened to us all at some time or another – you could just say that “I’ve got some time available in my schedule at the moment which I’d like to fill”. Which is completely true, but doesn’t sound desperate!
Referrals can also come from family, friends or others who are informed about your business. Referrals are sometimes the strongest prospects you will have to work with. Turn those prospects into paying clients!
2. Build a reputation amongst your current clients. Once that reputation is built, it’s important to continue to maintain it by being the best you can be. Give your clients the best possible service. They hired you once – take time to impress them with your skills and knowledge so they will not hesitate to hire you again. Stay in regular contact with them so when they need a service like yours again, you’re the first person they they think of.
Don’t forget to ask current clients for testimonials that you can use to show new prospects just how good you are.
3. Work out your target audience and provide free and useful information to them about your business. You can create newsletters, reports, articles and even videos that will not only provide viewers with useful information, but also help bring visitors to your website in an effort to gain knowledge from an expert (ie you!)
4. Social media networking is another great way to bring some clients your way. Use platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others. There are tons of useful sites that you can tap into and build a reputation amongst a community of people who are interested in what you do and what you have to say.
5. Do you have a blog? If not, then you need to put one together! Blogging is a great way to put your experience out there for others to see. You can also post your blog links on the social networking sites to help lead traffic to your site. This is a great way to bring those prospects to you and will also help build links.
As you can see, there are potential clients just waiting for you to put yourself out there. Once these prospects see your level of expertise, your professionalism and can see for themselves what a great job you have done for others, they will definitely want you to provide services for their business. Some of these new-found clients could become long-term clients who will depend on you to provide services for them on a routine basis.
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.
Image courtesy of Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Last Monday, over 4000 schools in the UK were closed because of safety concerns after a heavy snowfall. That will have been a major headache for working parents across the country.
As work-at-home-mums we’re lucky in that we can work more flexibly than most. But it’s easy for virtually all your work time to be swallowed up by family commitments, and that’s a big is a problem. Here are a few tips from me about surviving those times when family life gets in the way of your business:
Note: No small furry animals were harmed in the making of my hat 🙂
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.
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