Business Plus Baby

Working from home has many perks. You don’t have to travel far to get to work, you can work around other commitments, and you don’t even have to get dressed if you don’t want to. However, when you’re running a business from home you can run into many dilemmas. Not having a professional address can have a massive impact on your business, meaning that you might be missing out on potential clients that could bring in a lot of profits. Moving an office can be stressful, and can also have an impact on your business too because of time missed while you’re moving. If you’re thinking of moving from a home office to a professional one, take a look at these tips on how you can make the whole process a breeze.

Photo by Nastuh Abootalebi on Unsplash

Size up properties

The first thing that you will need to do is find offices for sale that would be ideal for what you need it for. Remember to think about any expansion plans that you’ve got, and also whether you’re going to need a team to work for you. Try and get yourself a new work premises that’s in an ideal location so that potential clients and customers can easily find you, and so that deliveries of stock can easily get to you. This will make your life much easier in the long run and help the chances of success with your business. Don’t forget to measure your current furniture and equipment alongside anything else you’ll be adding so that you’re able to find a premises that’s the perfect fit.

Speak to your bank

An expansion in business is never going to come cheap, and if you don’t currently have the funds to put into your business, you might feel like you’re stuck in a hole. Arrange a meeting with your bank so that you can talk about your plans with your business, and see if they are able to provide any financial help so that you can get your plans underway. Remember that your bank is unlikely to lend to you if you’ve got a bad credit score, so keep an eye on it using Clear Score, a completely free to use service that can really help you improve your credit rating. It tells you what you’re doing wrong and how you can improve it, and also gives you a range of offers like credit cards that can help you rebuild your trust rating with lenders.

Hire a member of staff

It’s likely that you’ve thought about growing your business since you’re no longer going to be running it from home, and now is a better time than ever to hire a member of staff to begin your expansion. Not only that, having someone to continue the daily tasks while the move is happening will help prevent your business from falling behind too far. Put out job adverts so that you’re able to begin the interviewing process. Remember to look up the rules and regulations of hiring staff so that you can avoid doing anything wrong.

Announce your move

One thing that will help make your office move more successful is by announcing it to your current clients or customers. This will give them a chance to prepare for the move, especially if it involves them having to travel further to get to you. Announcing it on social media will also generate a buzz and get people interested in using you once you’ve reopened. Create competitions and giveaways so that people are sharing your news and you gain more exposure.

Create an event for your grand opening

If you run the kind of business that deals with their customers face to face, then it’s a good idea to create an event for your grand opening. Perhaps you’ve got a store now rather than selling your goods from home? Plan a fun day for people to attend that will bring them into your store to check out what you’re all about. Chances are, if they like what they see they will be back with their friends and family too. Kids face painting and other fun activities are great for attracting people in, and don’t forget to have a few deals on products that people won’t be able to resist!

Have an out-of-state conference that your business requires you to attend? Or perhaps there’s a business opportunity on the other side of the country that you can’t afford to pass up?

Having a family and traveling for business can be one of the most difficult things for working parents to manage. The good news? There are strategies that can help keep business travel from hurting your health and family while you are away.

Read on for some tips to implement the next time your business calls for you to hit the road.

Don’t drive distracted or stressed.

According to West Coast Trial Lawyers, “When a truck hits a car, the occupants of the car are often killed or suffer very serious injuries, such as brain and spinal cord injuries, while the truck driver walks away from the accident unharmed.”(For more info, see https://westcoasttriallawyers.com/practices/truck-accidents/.)

These types of accidents on the road happen more often than we think. And if you are driving in an unfamiliar area, the chances increase even further.

Make it a firm rule to not drive if you are feeling stressed or distracted. This might mean opting for a plane ticket instead of the car if youknow you won’t be able to give the traffic your full attention.

The time spent on the plane can be used to dive deep into prep for your business meeting. In fact, many people appreciate being fully free from social media distractions during the flight. Consider that time up in the air as prime focus hours and embrace it gratefully!

On the home front, stick to routines

If your business trip means you will be away from your kids for a day or two, make sure everyone sticks to routines. Following routines as much as possible can help your children feel secure.

Leading up to the day you leave, make sure that you do everything as you would usually. And that your partner or babysitter knows what to do to keep the children on a regular schedule.

Don’t play up the separation.

Yes, you will miss your kids. What parent wouldn’t? But avoid putting your emotional distress onto your children.

This means avoiding questions like, “Will you miss me?” or “How will you manage without me?” Instead, when you do talk about your trip, keep it to the practical details of who will take over your duties while you are gone.

If you see your child needs extra assurance, tell them exactly when you will call to check in. But avoid a long and protracted goodbye. The longer you make it, the harder it will be for them to get up and over it.

Rest assured, most children’s tears are dried and gone as soon as their parent is no longer in sight. Dry your tears, too. Say “I love you and will miss you, but I know you’re going to have fun.” And then go. The sooner you go, the sooner you can get home.

Feel good by fueling up.

Travel of any kind can often throw a wrench into our fitness and diet routine. The health routine that we work so hard to maintain at home flies out the window in the face of long travel hours and exhaustion. We want quick energy, so we reach for a candy bar. We feel stressed out, so we reach for a bag of potato chips. Sound familiar?

But these food choices will only have you feeling worse, not better. After the initial sugar rush, you will crash hard. Not only could it hinder your energy levels on your trip, preventing you from operating at your peak when you really need to be on your A game. But also, when you return home, you will have food bloat along with travel weariness to combat.

Have a food plan and stick to it. Bring some healthy snacks in your bag to tide you over between meals. Nuts, dried fruit, veggie sticks. Peanut butter in a little container with a pack of whole wheat crackers. You’ll be saving money and snacking healthy.

As for meals while you are traveling, research healthy dining options in your travel destination. Go so far as to pick out the meal you will eat so that you don’t have to make those types of choices once you hit the ground. The more decisions you take care of in advance, the easier it will be for you to eat healthy on your trip.

Image: Free Photos

In a CNN money report, money was quoted as a greater stress inducer than politics for millennials. The reasons for stressing about money included worrying about not having an investment plan to how to fund one’s retirement.

For small business owners in particular, stress sources range from juggling one’s work and one’s personal life to low-income months and cash-flow difficulties.

But stressing about money can lead to financial troubles on a different scale. For instance, many studies have focused on the connection between driver stress and accidents on the road.

According to West Coast Trial Lawyers, an accident attorney in Los Angeles, “Millions of Americans are injured every year in motor vehicle accidents. […] The cost of medical care associated with treating car accident injuries can be extreme, and in many situations the injured individual may not be able to return to work for a long period of time, if ever.”

So money worries can cause stress. And stress can cause accidents and harm one’s health. Which results in steep medical bills, which further creates more money worries. In short, stress can kickstart a bad money cycle with repercussions that widen as the stress and bills accumulate.

How can a small business owner keep stress from doing a double whammy to your health and your money?

Here are the strategies you can put into place to zap stress before it comes knocking.

Look at staying healthy as part of your business

You can’t run a business efficiently on 4 hours of sleep. Nor can you be an effective entrepreneur from a hospital bed. Maintaining your health is an essential aspect of you being able to run your business. You come first. Without you, there would be no business.

Taking care of yourself should always be at the top of your daily to-do list. This means that whatever you need to do to stay healthy should be done first and foremost.

Get enough sleep. Don’t pull all-nighters. Figure out an exercise plan that works for you. Strategize on how you will eat nutritious meals daily. The healthier you are the more you will be able to work.

Have a support system

It’s likely that running a business is not the only hat you wear. You might be a parent, raising a couple of kids. Or a daughter, caring for elderly parents. Or perhaps you have more than one business that you are running.

No one is going to give you medals for attempting to do it all on your own. Get help as soon as possible. Create a support system that you can lean on when needed.

Your support system can pick up the slack for you. For instance, with children, work out an arrangement with your close friends or family for babysitting duties. And be sure to return the favor when they need help.

Or in the case of running a couple of businesses, train someone to take care of the duties that you won’t be able to get to on certain days.

Get comfortable with saying no

Establish clear boundaries and practice the art of saying no, kindly but firmly. Small business owners are often faced with many demands on their time. And without clear boundaries, they can get roped into agreeing to something that they do not have the resources to carry out.

Know your limits. Pushing past your limits might be advisable in certain cases when you deem the payoff worth it. But only when it’s you deciding to push your own limits. Not when others make that decision for you.

Worried that you could be losing clients and alienating people you need on your side? There is an art to saying no. A flat out “no” with zero explanation will do more damage than good.

One easy way to do this is to explain your boundaries as rules that you have put in place for your business. For example, “I have a rule about not working after 5PM.” Or “I have a policy about accepting X type of work.”

The bottom line to cut stress from your life? There are strategies you can enact that will make your life as a small business owner a lot easier. It only takes small daily steps to keep stress in check. But the payoff will be worth it. Not only will you be safeguarding your finances, but you will be able to enjoy both your life and your work once again!

Image: energepic

When your maternity leave is drawing to a close, it’s natural to consider whether you really want to return to the same job you’ve been doing for years.

Having a baby might make you reassess your career and decide that doing something completely different would make you happier and your relationships more harmonious.

But picking a new path can be a bit of a brain-teaser — so here are three child-friendly home careers for mums.

1 . Virtual PA

If you’re a natural organiser with good communication skills, becoming a virtual PA like Anna Burton could allow you to earn a decent living offering your polished services to stressed-out corporate high-fliers.

For those who have already worked as an executive assistant, working remotely lets you pick hours that fit around family commitments — while ensuring your hard-earned experience doesn’t go to waste.

But PA newbies can take an online diploma to get a solid foundation in touch typing, shorthand, bookkeeping and the most common office software applications.

Once you build up a loyal clientele, you might eventually need to hire your own assistants to share the workload.

2 . Digital marketing

Digital marketing is a broad field that covers everything from web development to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), web analytics, social media and account management.

But most roles are suited to home work — and if you’re a mum working for a digital agency like Attercopia, you’ll thrive in a flexible, family-friendly culture where remote teams are tightly-knit.

If you’re new to the sector, you can possibly adapt existing skills in writing or project management — but studying for an online digital marketing qualification can provide you with the basic knowledge needed to get started.

If you don’t feel ready to work exclusively for an agency or brand, cut your teeth as a freelancer who helps SMEs establish their digital presence or provide basic training at government-funded workshops — there are several possible income streams to tap into.

3 . Immigration consultancy

With Britain withdrawing from the EU, immigration rules that are already tough to get your head around are set to become increasingly complex for people from Europe and beyond who still want to come to the UK to join family, work and study.

So if you’ve already got Home Office visa decision-making experience, starting an immigration service like de Prey Consulting lets you work from home and apply your insider knowledge to help applicants successfully navigate the system.

You’ll need to sit your OISC level 1, 2 or 3 exams, depending on the immigration rules categories you want to specialise in — but once you’re qualified, it’s simple to communicate with clients worldwide via phone or video link.

Choose one of these three child-friendly home jobs for mums and take remote control of your new career.

Are you a mum who works from home? Share your story in the comments section.

Image: Pixabay

Wage theft is a serious crime. In effect it’s no different from any other form of theft or robbery, minus the violence that sometimes comes with these crimes. In fact, because wage theft is heard of so little in comparison to other crimes, it’s believed to be becoming an epidemic within the United States.

How Big a Problem are Lost Wages?

The Economic Policy Institute estimates that stolen wages are costing our national workforce up to $50 billion a year! This is significantly more than the $14 billion lost to traditional types of robberies and thefts combined. Let that sink in for a moment – combining all robberies, thefts, auto thefts and burglaries gives a figure which is less than 1/3^rd of what lost wages cost the population! Is it any surprise this being called an epidemic?

How Does Wage Theft Happen?

There are many ways wage theft can occur. The number one tactic used in employer theft of wages is to get you doing unpaid work. So many workers don’t even realise how much cash this costs them!

For example, the law requires you to have a break after a certain amount of hours, depending on which state you’re in. Often times this will be an unpaid break, as you are supposed to be on break from working during it. However, to get your workload completed and keep the employer happy, you might end up working through this break. That could be a half hour of unpaid work each day.

Perhaps to keep on top of your workload this still isn’t enough. Maybe you need to stay behind or start a little early each day, adding another half hour total on top of your day. This is now an hour per day of extra, unpaid work! Add to this any special requests for help from your employer, and you could end up doing an entire day of extra work each week, without any pay for it! Not to mention how many employers expect you to clock in and get ready for the day before your shift starts, or to clean up only AFTER your shift has finished.

Would you be okay with somebody stealing a days wages from you if it was taken as a cash amount after you’d earned it? Of course not! As the United Steel Workers have already said – this magnitude of crime deserves jail time!

What Can You do About it?

The simple answer is to find a good, experienced lawyer in this field. There are many specialists out there who know what approach to use to get the best results in your industry, or even with your specific employer.

In an age where many employers opt to simply change their business name/location or other details to avoid payment, an experienced lawyer is key. These people know how to best enforce a claim and make sure that you get paid. Using inexperienced lawyers has seen many people win cases yet still fail to claim any actual compensation or payment from their employer because of tricks like leaving the city.

Don’t risk this happening to you, go for a reputable attorney from the start and you can rest easy knowing you will receive what you’re owed.

Image: Artem Bali