When embarking on promoting your business, how much preparation do you do? Do you sit down and plan it all meticulously out or do you throw bits here and there and hope that something works? No one will disagree with you when you say planning is boring…..it so is. Not even tea and cake can make it exciting but it is important and in the long run, will save you a lot of time, promise!
Read MoreWhy do we have so many choices of different meats, vegetarian or vegan options in places to eat? Some are gluten free, dairy free, some are under 500 calories………why? It’s because food is not a ‘one size fits all’ kind of thing. You can’t serve chicken to a vegetarian, you can’t serve ice cream to a vegan and you can’t serve a sandwich to a celiac. If we can understand and embrace that in life, why do we struggle to understand this in our work life too?
Read MoreIt doesn‘t matter what we are buying or selling. Advertising, web design, dog walking, prints…..there will always be someone out there who will do it cheaper than you. Whilst this can be annoying, the first thing to understand is that that is ok. There is always enough business for all of you so get that worry out of your head. Then realise that you will not always be everyone‘s cup of tea, that too is ok.
Read MoreWhen using social media for your business, it can be hard to know how to word your posts. At the end of the day, you want people to see you as competent, professional and gain their respect but also, there is a fine line between that and alienating them. There is nothing worse than reading social media posts where people come across as arrogant, up themselves or too posh for the likes of you. It‘s an instant turn off and sometimes, we don‘t even realise as the ‘postee‘ that it‘s happening!
Read MoreFor most of us who are self employed, sickness means work stops. Without staff you can delegate to, if you don‘t do it, no one else will. This means being sick is a real fear for self employed people because not only does it mean the obvious such as cash flow reducing and letting customers down but what about your business reputation too?
Read MoreHow many of us look at things like planning and blogging and think “I dont have time for that!” How many of us sit at weekly dance lessons/rugby training/swimming lessons/gymnastic sessions waiting for our children for an hour? What do you do at these sessions?
Read MoreMany of us have limited working hours for different reasons. Childcare is often the biggest reason but certainly not the exclusive one. When you‘re juggling running a business with nursery, playgroup and school runs for example, you envy everyone who has 9-5 Monday to Friday to work. Trust me, i‘ve juggled this way for 3 years!
Read MoreWe all use the phrases ‘time goes so quickly’ and ‘time flies when you‘re having fun’ in our every day lives but this relates to our businesses too. Take Facebook for example, remember the day when Facebook didn‘t exist? Now it seems to have taken over our world both personally and for our businesses. There‘s a fine line between it being an advantage to your business and it taking up all of your time and becoming counter productive too.
Read More“Strength in numbers Joanne!” – a phrase I often heard from my Grandmother. Did I ever take her advice? Probably not. As we all do as teenagers, we grow up thinking we already know what we need to know and that asking for help or guidance means we are showing a weaker and vulnerable side. We all want to be seen as strong, independent and knowledgeable so do we ask for help usually when we need it?
Read MoreHave you ever been in the position where someone says “I want to collaborate with you?” You‘re either the type of person who would jump for joy or the type of person who would instantly question why they have asked.
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