Business Plus Baby

Being a business owner can give you a certain level of flexibility that many employees don’t have, offering you the option to set your own hours. Whilst this may suggest that business owners have a better work-life balance, the majority of self-employed men and women often end up working much longer hours. In fact, many business owners regularly work more than fifty hours per week.

This can lead to an unhealthy work-life balance in which most of your time is spent focused on your business rather than enjoying the fruits of your labour. It could cause relationships with family and friends to break down and you may find that your remaining time is spent catching up on life admin rather than enjoying free time.

If you think this situation sounds familiar, it could be time to start making some changes to the way you run your business in order to restore balance. Here are just several ways in which you can make sure that your business isn’t taking over your life.

Stop trying to handle it all alone

Many business owners make the mistake of taking on too many responsibilities. This often results in a ridiculous workload that can end up taking over one’s life. By delegating some of these responsibilities, you could free up time for yourself.

One way to delegate these task is to hire employees. Many business owners start by hiring a personal assistant to take care of most of the admin so that they can focus on the core matters at hand. Hiring full time staff can be expensive and you need to be certain that you have enough hours of work to give them.

Outsourcing is another option which can be cheaper and equally effective. You can outsource pretty much any task – someone online is certain to be willing to do it. Commonly outsourced tasks include goods transport as found at www.jayde.com.au/ and accounting as found at sites like www.ashfield-accountancy.co.uk/. You could also outsource legal advice, cleaning, marketing and recruitment.

Learn to say no

Overworked business owners tend to bring it on themselves by never turning down new business opportunities. Whilst more business means more money, you don’t want to be taking on so much work that you struggle to get it all done each week.

Know your workload limit and be prepared to turn away business if you’ve reached that limit. Of course, certain opportunities may be too good to miss – make sure to always weigh up the pros and cons before agreeing to take on such work.

Keep strict set contact hours

It’s worth also setting contact hours so that you’re not always reachable. This will prevent clients and employees phoning you and emailing you when you’re trying to enjoy your free time.

Set up an out of office reply on your emails to warn people emailing you that you won’t be replying to messages during certain hours. Similarly, leave an answer phone message that tell people when you’re reachable. You can also detail information on these contact hours on your website and social media bio. This will allow you to switch off during designated leisure time so that you’re not constantly having to switch to business mode.  

Invest in a separate work phone

Having one point of contact for business and personal use can make it very hard to separate your business time from your leisure time. Having separate phones – a personal phone and a business phone – can help you to keep both spheres apart. When not at work, you can turn off your business phone and rely on your personal phone. This removes the temptation to catch up on work emails in your free time.

There are business mobile plans that you can look into at sites like www.buymobiles.net. If you have a landline that you currently use for personal and business use, you may also want to set up a separate business landline – this could be a cloud-based number.

Allow yourself holidays

It’s important that you give yourself long breaks from work too. Such breaks can help us to recharge our batteries and gain perspective. During these breaks you shouldn’t attend to any business-related tasks (unless it’s an absolute emergency).

If you need to take a holiday make sure that your business is still able to function in your absence or that you’ve notified your clients well in advance. Hiring an assistant manager to stand in whilst you’re away could be useful, although may not be economical if you’re a smaller business.

Image: Alexandra_Koch

All it takes to make a successful business is one idea that’s both innovative and practical enough. A lot of us might have gotten the innovation part down, but how do we actually get those creative ideas to market? Here, we’re going to look at the help that can ensure your products don’t simply remain as pipe dreams in your mind.

The designs to finalise it

You might have the function, form, and even the basic look of the product in mind, but you’re going to need a much more concrete idea before you look at making it a reality. Finding a prototyping firm can help you create the first few proofs of concept, but getting the idea sketched down can help speed it up all the more. Whether working with a product design firm or looking at things like Lynda CAD tutorials to create those designs yourself, you need it on paper (or on screen) before you bring it to the real world.

The expertise to build it

You have the idea, the design, and the research to back up its viability on the market. However, you might not have the machinery, the means, or the know-how to manufacture it. Finding the right production partners, such as WES hardmetal engineering, can ensure that you don’t need to know how to run a manufacturing line to bring your products to life. If the product is a success, you may eventually want to bring all aspects of production in-house, but for now, don’t be afraid to rely on a little help.

The brand to sell it

All great inventions start off with a simple idea, often an obstacle that needs a new product to overcome it. However, to sell the product, you need a little more. It needs a look and a brand all on its own. If you don’t have the marketing silver tongue necessary to speak directly to your customer base, it may be worth working with firms like Crown product packaging. Making sure that your product stands out on the store shelves or in the ecommerce window is key to selling it.

The market to support it

A successful launch is all about being able to see the market who will support your product, as well as the means by which you can reach it. Networking with groups that can support your product, such as Mothers of Innovation, can be crucial. Having the right groups and individuals signal boosting and bringing attention to your product can help you find the visibility that you need to make it a success.

Finding the right partners in creating, manufacturing, and getting your ideas out there can help you find the structure you need to support your business idea. Not only do these need the right innovative products to make it all worth it, but you need to lay a business plan, figure out the costs, and put the funding together too. Hopefully, the tips above give you some ideas of where to look to start building that plan.

Photo by eric anada from Pexels

If you’re somebody who loves fashion, then you’re not alone. Millions of people have dedicated their lives to achieving sartorial splendor, creating incredible items of clothing that look fab.

However, only a few women turn their passion for all things clothing-related into something that makes money. It can be done, as proven by numerous examples, but it’s tough. Not only do you have to create a functioning business, but also create a brand – something that’s easier said than done.

In this article, we’re going to take a look at how you can practically turn your love of clothing into a viable business.

Treat Your Business Like A Hobby When You Start Up

Starting up can be a lot of fun says https://medium.com/, but it all depends on your approach. In the early days, you’re probably not going to be able to make enough money to give up the day job. Sorry.

That’s why it’s a good idea to treat it as a hobby: something you do for fun to see how people respond. Doing it as a hobby has several important benefits. For starters, it takes the pressure off. Nobody wants to have to work on a business idea with no other source of income not knowing whether it’s going to work or not.

Second, treating it as a hobby helps you to develop your passion for what you, something that will drive you forward and help sustain your effort. When you’re passionate about your products, customers will take note and spread the word. It’s about being authentic, not just trying to grab money.

Use Professional Shoots For Online Photos

The next step if to get the word out about your products. Your best bet is the internet. Starting a website is practically free, and you can post pictures of your clothing (or whatever it is that you sell) online.

Although many companies use real models to showcase their clothing, you don’t have to pay out a fortune. Instead, you can use mannequins, as shown at https://my-mannequins.co.uk/female-3 to achieve the same effect. A mannequin gives you the structure you need to showcase your clothing, allowing you to take better pictures and post them on your site.

Start Writing About What You Love About Fashion

Today’s savvy buyers want to know as much as possible about the clothing companies that they buy from. An exciting story or set of blog articles can be a great way to entice customers and build rapport. It’s likely that your audience has the same interests as you, so reaching out to them through the written word is an excellent idea. The more you can engage with people on a personal level, the more interested they will become in buying your products.

Tell Buyers About Why You’re Different

Given that there are thousands of fashion companies out there, it can be challenging to come up with something original. But the good news is that you don’t have to: all you need to do is communicate what makes you different from 90 percent of the other people in your industry.

Image: nastya_gepp

No matter what type of business you run, there will always be an expense.

Phone bills, utility costs, staff wages, office supply costs… and many many more.

This can be frustrating for a small business owner trying to make a profit, as at times, expenditure can threaten to overshadow any income. This can be alleviated by marketing, of course, as the more people know about the business, the higher the chance of sales. But because of the expensive nature of running a business, the budget for marketing may be little to nil. It’s a dilemma. So, what is a small business owner to do?

For starters, it’s important to make savings across the board, using as many cost-cutting strategies as possible to make room for a marketing budget. Secondly, it’s worth using as many low-budget marketing ideas as possible. For you, these might include the following.

1. Attend networking events. If there are any events happening near you, attend them. These might include trade shows, business workshops, and conferences. There may be a registration fee for some, but considering the number of people attending (and the potential to build your client or customer list), it’s worth paying the price if you can afford it. However, there might also be free events, so do your research and add them to your calendar.
   
2. Carry your brand with you. Have a look at the items at Dynamic Gift and then purchase as much as you can with your brand name. You can then carry your brand with you, through the clothes you wear, and with items such as pens and other stationery that you can hand out to others, or sneakily leave lying around for others to find. There is an expense for some of these items but not a huge one, and some items you need only buy once. This is your way to get your brand out into the world, whether you talk about it to others or not. 
3. List your business for free. You don’t have to pay for the classified ads in newspaper and trade mags because there are places online where you can list your business for nothing. These include Yelp, Google My Business, Angie’s List, and City Search. Check this link for more. 
4. Build your email list. Many businesses implement email marketing campaigns, but there is usually a price to pay when choosing to use an email management service. Not so with Mailchimp, as if you have less than 2,000 subscribers on your contact list, you can use their services for free. Follow the previous link and find out more for yourself. 
5. Implement free marketing tools. You don’t need to pay over the odds on marketing apps and software as many can be downloaded for free. And even those tools that do have a fee attached, there are usually free versions available for you to try before you buy. There are some useful examples on this Infographic, so have a look and use as many as are applicable to your needs. Then consider paying a little more for any that might prove particularly useful to you in the long-term.

Final word

You can easily curb the expense of marketing using our ideas, so no matter how healthy (or unhealthy) your budget is, you can spread the word about your business cheaply. Let us know what you think, and if you have any further low-budget or free marketing ideas, please share them with us.