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Blog posts tagged home business
Secrets of growing your business from the kitchen
August 11, 2010
If you have a home business, how can you run it in an effective way, maximise your results and allow the enterprise to grow? Here are some tips on breaking through the barriers that could be holding your business back.
If you look at your business right now, who is involved in running it? What would happen if you took a day off, wanted a week away or were unexpectedly ill for several weeks? If you want to build a business income that your family can depend on it is important that the business does not just depend on you.
Do you ever feel the pressure of running your business is overwhelming? You can be required to cope with selecting new products or developing new services, pick and packing, promotion, marketing and accounts as well as being your own receptionist and tea lady.
There is a way to both make sure that your business can run without you AND ensure that the money continues to come in whether you are there or not:
Build a team for your business
Look at all the functions in your business. Make a list right now of all the things that you do. You might want to include:
- Website management
- Marketing through social media, blogging, newsletters
- Public relations
- Picking and packing
- Arranging couriers or taking parcels to the post office
- Customer services – answering queries by phone or email
- Bookkeeping and end of year accounts and tax return
When you’ve made your list, put a tick by the things that you like doing and feel that you are good at. Then look at the other areas. Which one would you be really pleased to get off your hands? Who could help you with this? You might need the help of a:
- Bookkeeper
- Accountant
- Lawyer
- Public relations specialist
- Marketer
- Website manager
A virtual assistant can do many things for your business and different assistants have different areas of expertise. Some may be able to create emails and newsletters for you and upload items to your website. Others may offer call handling and be able to answer simple customer queries for you.
Or you might need someone local who can come in on an occasional and part time basis to help with packing and dispatch.
Having got this far, is there a little voice inside your head saying: “But my business can’t afford more help”? If so, push it aside for a moment or two. Think how much more effectively you could work on the tasks that you have a natural talent for if this one task or area of work was taken off your hands. Could you do more work to generate sales that would then pay for the support? Are there tasks that just aren’t getting done that are holding the business back? Getting extra specialist support could help you take the business to a new level.
Think about this over the next few days. Work out how much you would have to increase sales in order to pay for help – and conversely estimate how much sales are being held back because of the things you aren’t able to do or can’t do quickly and efficiently.
Build your network of support for your business and it can really allow your business to take off. Network on and offline and ask for recommendations to help you find your essential support people.
Be clear about the tasks you want to delegate. If you are nervous start by passing on small tasks and build up as your confidence grows. Develop ongoing relationships and set up systems that work and you will get to the stage where your business can succeed even when you aren’t there.
Antonia Chitty of Family Friendly Working
The 10 golden rules of home business
February 10, 2010
1 Base the business on something you enjoy – when your hobby/passion/skill becomes your full-time job, it never really feels like work.
2 Write a plan – prepare a basic business plan to set out your vision, describe your market and explain how you propose to reach out and sell to that market. Include sound financials and review the plan every six months or so.
3 Find dedicated space – create space in your house that is your workspace. When in that space, family and friends should know you’re in business mode, plus, you can walk away at the end of the working day. Invest in a good desk and chair, because you’ll be spending quite a bit of time at and in them.
4 Create a professional front door – when customers come calling, be sure they’re met with a professional welcome. This applies from the way you answer calls, to your website, company stationery and even the places in which you choose to meet clients.
5 Make the most of social media – tools such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have been warmly embraced by the home business community. They are free to use and act as business development channel and a virtual water cooler for the moments when you miss the banter of an out-of-home office.
6 Become an expert – set yourself up as an expert in your field by blogging/tweeting about the subject, writing a report, publishing a book or hosting an event. Being an expert gives credibility and with that, comes customers.
7 Never stop learning – part of becoming an expert is continually picking up intelligence from those around you. Keep an eye on what others in your industry are doing, read about successful entrepreneurs and tune in to trendspotters so you can prepare for new market opportunities.
8 Get out of the house – attend networking events, work from the local café, sign up to a personal development course. It’s good to get out of the home office, but be sure you can still be contacted and respond via your mobile/laptop/webmail, etc. This is your “road warrior kit”.
9 Do what you do best and outsource the rest – to grow the business, focus on the core product of the company and subcontract non-core tasks (eg admin, accounting, PR, fulfilment, etc) to others.
10 Follow the golden triangle – to keep the business in balance, spend roughly a third of your time on each of three key things: customer care, business development and admin. That way, you’ll have a smooth-running business with happy customers and new income streams on the way.
Emma Jones is Founder of Enterprise Nation the home business website and author of ‘Spare Room Start Up – how to start a business from home’. Emma’s next book – ‘Working 5 to 9 – how to start a business in your spare time’ – will be published in May 2010.
1,233 miles, 18 home businesses and five clear trends
October 02, 2009
Enterprise Nation, the home business website, has been on a roadtrip. Starting in Scotland, the touring team travelled south to meet and film home-based businesses in what will become a mini documentary charting the rise of this modern way of working. While out and about, a few trends became apparent.
Now is a great time to start
The mood throughout the week was incredibly upbeat. One moment that will stick in my mind is when Patrick Elliott, CEO of Business Link in London, opened an event with one key question to the audience: ‘Do you think this is a good time to start a business?’ A ripple from the 200 people gathered quickly turned into a resounding ‘Yes’.
Throughout the week, we met people who are starting up while holding down a day job, as well as others who have come out of redundancy to realise their business ambitions. We met a wide cross-section of businesses and there was nothing but positive chat from them all.
Technology means trade
All of the businesses we filmed are making the most of technology, whether it be Stuart Mills, who is applying the web to the pub world, or Malcolm Gallagher, who is communicating his business message through online videos, produced cost-effectively from a home studio.
Many of the craft businesses are using sites such as Etsy.com to sell their products to a national – and international – audience. Technology is clearly broadening the trade and partnering horizons of many a small business.
Freedom and control are key motivators
We stopped counting the number of times these words were used in interviews. Having started up, home-based business owners are finding greater freedom and flexibility in their working lives and they are relishing being in control of their creativity, working environment and earnings.
The importance of being ethical
Every business owner we interviewed is doing something ‘good’ by being in business, whether it be: Clare Nicolson, who believes in giving work to the people in her neighbourhood; Emma Henderson, who sources fair trade fabrics from India; or Emma Warren, who offers time and business experience to a charity. They would not refer to themselves as ‘ethical entrepreneurs’ as such, but these business owners are having a positive impact in many a varied way.
Growth through outsourcing
The old adage – ‘Do what you do best and outsource the rest’ – is being taken seriously by the home businesses we met. Companies are partnering up and work is being outsourced to professionals. In the case of BodieandFou, Karine Kong outsourced the design and build of her website to an expert she has yet to meet. Technology tools such as Skype, email and project-management software means there’s no need to be in the same place, but for others, physical networks are important places to meet business partners – as well as just to have a social chat.
It was a crammed and fascinating week that showed just how bright and vibrant the start up sector is. The documentary will be aired for the first time on Home Enterprise Day – Friday 20th November – when home business owners will be travelling to us.
- Emma Jones is Founder of Enterprise Nation and author of ‘Spare Room Start Up – how to start a business from home’
- The home business roadtrip took place in the week commencing 14th September and was sponsored by Orange.
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