Category: Blog

There are many reasons for starting a business, for example to make a profit from a much loved hobby. Or perhaps you’re a tradesperson gone self-employed.

I come across the latter frequently in my role as a business coach. Often, tradespeople find themselves doing ‘foreigners’ in addition to their job. In some cases, the number of these jobs increases to the point that a business is created. However when starting a business, there are a few key tasks to complete to give it the best chance of success:

1. A business plan

In my previous post, (Starting a business from a hobby) I share the elements needed to create a simple business plan. Covering everything from goal setting to pricing, this is a great place to start and will ensure you have the key components in your business plan. Read it here.

2. Decide on a business structure

When starting a business, you’ll need to decide on its structure, either as a sole-trader or as a limited company. There are pros and cons for each and I’d advise getting expert advice from an accountant to decide what’s right for you. If setting up as a sole-trader, you’ll need to register for self-assessment with HMRC. To become a limited company, you’ll need to register with Companies House, find more information here.

3. Set up a bank account

As a sole-trader, a business account isn’t essential, however I’d recommend having a separate account to easily keep a track of income and expenses for the business. While you’re at it, decide upon a process for recording what you spend and what you earn. A simple spreadsheet can do the trick.

If you’re a limited company, you’ll absolutely need a business bank account and it’s worth shopping around for the best new deals. Moneysupermarket offer a good comparison for startup banking.

4. Get insured

Investigate what insurance you’ll need to protect yourself and your customers. As standard, you’ll need public liability and professional indemnity, but also consider whether you need to insure any tools or machinery. Again, shop around for a deal that suits your circumstances.

5. Qualifications

When starting a business of your own, you’ll naturally come up against competition and many consumers will likely obtain a few quotes. Is your training up to date? Be sure not to lose out due to out of date qualifications.

6. Equipment

Similarly, if you were previously employed your tools may not be your own. While you may need to invest in your own, getting the right tools for the job will also help in winning work and doing a good job. Get this sorted as soon as you can.

7. Winning work

With a business plan, marketing strategy and structure all in place you’re now ready to start winning work. Many new business owners aren’t natural salespeople and while it takes time to hone this skill, there are some simple guidelines that will help when quoting for work:
– don’t be late, sounds obvious but first impressions count
– be well presented; work clothes are fine but take care not to leave dirty footprints on the carpet. Use common sense
– send a written quote, to show you’ve considered the job thoroughly
– ask for the work! Simply follow up with a phone call to see if they’d like to go ahead, if you don’t you could miss out

As ever, if you need any help going through these processes, why not contact me for a free new business review? I’ll spend two hours with you giving you professional coaching on starting a business. I’ll leave you with actions for immediate implementation.

Doug D’Aubrey.

Starting a business from a hobby is a dream for many. Done well, it can turn passion into profit.

Over the years I’ve worked with lots of businesses that have been borne from a hobby. A common example of this is a photographer. With digital cameras making photography more accessible, (and any other hobby turning into a business) thoughts turn towards whether a career can be made. While this is absolutely possible in many cases, there are some golden rules to follow:

1. Set goals

Firstly, what do you want to achieve from starting a business? Is it extra income to pay for family extras like holidays or a new car? Perhaps it’s a retirement plan? Or maybe you want to replace your full time job with the hobby business. Whatever it is, spend time thinking about your goals. Once you know what they are, you can plan to achieve them.

2. Business strategy

OK, how will you ensure your business reaches your goals? One of the early things to decide is how to make money from the skills you’ve learned. The obvious choice is to start selling your services or products, whether that’s photography, cakes, or other crafts/professions. I would urge you to research the market, is there room for another one of you?

If there is already a huge choice of other businesses doing what you do, don’t worry! As with any successful business, you’ll need to define your USP (unique selling point). Be sure to communicate it in order to stand out from the competition.

Alternatively, you could consider teaching others your skill! Once again, research will help establish the viability of this as a business strategy.

3. Pricing

I can’t stress enough how important pricing is as part of your business plan. The tendency with hobby businesses, is for products and services to undersold. Why? When starting a business from a hobby, the business owner doesn’t always value themselves and their skills highly enough. Or, while still holding a ‘day job’, income isn’t the driver and prices are cheap.

Again, when setting your price, research is vital. What are your competitors charging? How successful do they appear to be? Where do you fit with your offering? Be careful to set your price at what you are worth! Once you’ve made your first sale, your confidence will build.

4. Marketing strategy

The final piece of the puzzle is to plan how you’ll get your products and services in front of your audience.

Firstly, work out who your audience is. Are you selling to businesses or consumers? Are they predominantly male or female? Are they affluent or hard up? How old are they? What are their likes and dislikes? Answering these questions will help build a profile of your typical client and with that, you can decide where and how to advertise.

For example, a photographers typical client may be young, engaged women. A great way to get get in front of potential customers would be to attend wedding fairs. Another is to create alliances with other wedding professionals. By doing so, you can recommend one another. Networking is a great way to do this.

Think about where your clients spend time or what publications they may read. Knowing this will direct where to exhibit or advertise.

5. The business plan

Now you’re well on your way. With these four steps in place, you have a simple business plan and can move your hobby business into a viable business.

Read onto my next blog: Starting a business checklist, for advice on the remaining must-do tasks to get your business set up and registered correctly.

As ever, if you need any help going through these processes, why not contact me for a free new business review? I’ll spend two hours with you giving you professional coaching on starting a business. I’ll leave you with actions for immediate implementation.

When growing a successful business, there will be times when you’ll need to take on additional help.

Employing vs subcontracting

If you’re unsure whether permanent employment is the best route for your small business, read my previous blog: Business advice: employment vs subcontracting.

If your business review is complete and the decision made that permanent employment is the most cost-efficient option for your business, what’s next?

Employing the right person

Recruitment agencies can be a lifeline for busy business owners. They can’t do all the work though, you’ll need to follow these five steps to ensure they’re employing the right person for you.

Step 1: develop your organisational structure

Having an organisational structure or chart not only visually maps the employees in the business, it also helps to identify the roles of those staff. With this in place, it’s much easier to spot gaps or shortages and will help direct your decision on creating new positions.

Step 2: understanding duties and responsibilities

Having completed your org structure, you’ll hopefully avoid the temptation to simply employ an assistant. Think about which tasks you need to be completed by the new member of staff and detail them all individually.

Step 3: establish a person specification

What type of person will be able to fulfil the tasks identified in step 2? Think about and decide on what skills you’re asking for, do they need certain experience or qualifications? What about personality? For more advice on this, my blog ‘Why recruiting the right personality mix is crucial in business‘ will help.

Step 4: creating the job description

Now, you are ready to create your job description. This should comprise the following information:
– Header: job title, remuneration, reporting line, hours and place of work
– Summary of job: from your roles and responsibilities, summarise here the main objective and key tasks involved with the position
– Duties and responsibilities: detail the list you’ve made, ideally in order of their importance
– Person spec: again you can add your pre-made list here, priority order is best

Step 5: the job advert

Job done? Not quite! The final piece of the puzzle is the job advert. A great ad will comprise the following components:
– Title: include the job title together with one or two elements of the post that will make it attractive to applicants
– Company info: who will the successful applicant work for? Great things to include here are how long you’ve been in business, examples of clients you work with, how happy your staff are etc.
– Position info: as well as the key objectives of the role, enhance the post’s charm with information on things such as pay, benefits and opportunities for development
– Application process: give applicants an idea on how long the recruitment process will take and what the steps are

Whether you’re using an agency or undertaking the recruitment yourself, you’re now ready to post your job. With all your groundwork done, you’re in the best place for employing the right person! Do ensure you take professional HR advice to help you through this process, and once on board, look after your staff to ensure their productivity!

If you need help managing workload or deciding whether to employ or subcontract, contact me for a Free Business Review. This is a genuinely free 2 hour session whereby I’ll come in and spend two hours giving you business advice for immediate implementation. Click here to arrange yours now.

When growing a successful business, the subject of taking on extra help is common. There are some rules of thumb to decide which is the right method.

Subcontracting in the early stages of growth

When a business starts to grow, there’s often a period whereby there’s too much work for the existing staff to handle. The amount or instability of this work may mean that permanently employing a new team member just isn’t viable. In this instance, subcontracting is the way to go.

Freelancers

If service delivery is where you need help, a freelancer can mop up your overspill work. For example, design agencies often use freelancers to cover when there is a sudden increase in workload or for holiday cover.

Subcontracting an activity

If it’s admin that’s causing your headaches, then subcontracting an activity could give you the space you need. Bookkeepers and call answering services are great examples of subcontracted business support. How many of us procrastinate on our bookkeeping because it’s less important than delivering our service?

Spot the signs when subcontracting has outgrown you

Of course, while subcontracting is a great quick fix, it can also be expensive. There will be a point at which the cost to your business is more than the equivalent daily rate to employ someone.

There are other issues to be careful of too. Regular subcontracting of the same person can be seen as an employee in disguise. If you find your business in this position, you will need to seek advice from an HR expert to ensure you act within employment law.

Using a variety of people isn’t necessarily the answer either, they will take more time getting to know your business and processes and you won’t build up in-house skills.

Finally, you may find your existing employees become disgruntled at being paid less than subcontractors.

Employment, where’s the tipping point?

So, when is it time to employ? You’ll know this through regular monitoring of your subcontractor usage. Evaluate your spend versus the cost to employ and understand where the tipping point is. A client of mine recently calculated that by employing someone, they could be making 50% extra profit per job because of the reduction in hourly rate.

Making employment work

There are plenty of horror stories about employing staff and I’ve lost count of the number of people that say it should be avoided! However, this is a complete myth. As long as the correct process is followed and employees are looked after, you’ll be inside the law, have a productive workforce and profitable business.

When you’re ready to employ, get expert advice from an HR consultant who will help you through this process.

If you need help managing workload or deciding whether to employ or subcontract, contact me for a Free Business Review. This is a genuinely free 2 hour session whereby I’ll come in and spend two hours giving you business advice for immediate implementation. Click here to arrange yours now.

In my previous blog, I talked about network marketing and how the power is in the network of people around you. However you don’t need to be in a network marketing business to apply the principles. I’m talking here about strategic alliances, a model similar to affiliate marketing.

What is affiliate marketing?

In effect, affiliate marketing is an arrangement whereby external companies or individuals (affiliates) promote your products and services to their clients. Usually, this would be in exchange for a commission. However with a strategic alliance, commission isn’t necessary.

Who should I choose to create strategic alliances with?

Rather than a typical affiliate model, a savvy alternative is to create strategic alliances. To do this, the first step is to brainstorm other companies that have a similar client base to you. I don’t mean competitors, but companies whose products or services perhaps complement your own.

Let’s look at an example: a high end tailor will likely have a similar customer profile to a expensive car retailer. Similarly, a builder and a plumber will have very similar client bases, as could a wedding photographer and a florist.

Having very different products but similar clients could make these businesses perfect strategic partners. Networking groups such as BNI, Sterling and BoB operate in much the same way, encouraging you to work closely with other companies to help each other create new contacts and clients.

How does it work?

Very simply, you promote each others’ products and services to your own respective clients, creating warm leads. The more people you can get in your network, the more relationships can be made. For a small business, and if done well, this is a great alternative to a sales team. Some network groups would refer to this a power team.

With these tips you can create your own power team. 5 or 6 key people working together will create a regular flow of business between one another. In addition, recommending trusted suppliers to your own clients will add more value to the service already provided and raise your credibility. Win, win!

As ever, if you’d like help to implement any of my advice, why not contact me to arrange a Free Business Review? This is a genuinely free 2 hour session whereby I’ll come into the business and spend two hours giving you advice to make positive changes. Click here to arrange yours now.

I’ve had many requests recently to talk about Network Marketing; in this month’s blog I’m sharing 4 tips to grow your team and increase income.

What is Network Marketing?

Network marketing definition: Direct selling method in which independent agents serve as distributors of goods and services, and are encouraged to build and manage their own sales team by recruiting and training other independent agents.

The primary function of network marketing

A common mistake of network marketing agents (such as Forever Living agents or Utility Warehouse distributors) is to focus on sales of the product or service. In fact, the primary focus (in order to maximise income potential) should be to create your own network of salespeople. These ‘downliners’ are members recruited by you who will go on to generate income for you.

Motivating your downline

It’s not over once you’ve started to create your network, or downline. Having put the team together, they must be motivated to sell. Remember, their productivity has a direct relationship with your earning. Here are some tips to create a motivated salesforce:

1. Set goals

Goal setting with your members is two-fold. Sharing your own goals is a great motivator, you’ll be surprised how much buy in you’ll get from your team when they know what they’re working towards.

Don’t limit this to your goals though, establish with each individual why they’ve joined the team and what they want to get out of it. With that in mind, you can help them work towards their own goals and if they experience any downturn in activity, use their goals as a reminder.

2. Monthly meetings

Set up a regular monthly meeting, maybe in the pub! This frequent get-together will keep up momentum and gives the opportunity for you to be supportive, and for the team to support each other. Share best practice, give updates on performance against goals or targets and recognise successes. Why not try initiating team games or challenges with a prize for the winner? Prizes such as an afternoon tea for two or a deal on a night/weekend away can be inexpensive, but have a high perceived value to the recipient.

3. Whatsapp

A Whatsapp group is valuable way to keep in touch with one-another outside of the meetings. You most likely have these groups already in your personal life and they work just as well in your business. Post regularly into the group and encourage your downliners to post too. This will create an atmosphere of productivity and accelerate relationship building.

4. Develop key members

Keeping in regular contact with your team has the added benefit of spotting those individuals that have the capability to create their own team. Supporting and mentoring these key players to build their own downline will further enhance your network. Encourage them to use your techniques to repeat the process, creating an ongoing cycle.

Remember though, that everyone has their own style. Get to know people to ensure your support is tailored appropriately. You’ll then become someone they feel they can turn to. With a motivated, supported team, growing your network will be that much easier.

As ever, if you’d like help to implement any of my advice, why not contact me to arrange a Free Business Review? This is a genuinely free 2 hour session whereby I’ll come into the business and spend two hours giving you advice to make positive changes. Click here to arrange yours now.

Managing your cash flow will help keep your business afloat and even become more profitable. But how do you do it effectively?

In my previous post, I explained how focusing on cash flow rather than profit is more important in a small business. Essentially, a P&L won’t tell you what’s in the bank, and if you don’t have money in the bank, you can’t operate. Here are 8 ways to keep cash your cash flowing:

1. Establish payment terms and stick to them

Being clear on your payment terms at the outset will aid cash collection. Not doing so makes it very difficult to determine when a payment is overdue, and to subsequently chase it. My blog on crafting great clients has more tips on this.

When payment terms are defined, don’t be afraid to chase payment. It’s your money after all! For your slower clients, why not send a reminder when the due date is approaching to increase the likelihood of on time payment.

2. Do your invoices

Sounds obvious doesn’t it! However for micro businesses with few employees, the main focus is on getting the job done; invoicing is often at the bottom of the priority list. While it’s great to be busy, remember cash is king and if invoices aren’t done, you will run out.

It goes without saying that the sooner you get invoices in, the sooner they’re likely to be paid. Not only that, invoicing in a timely fashion is good customer service and helps your clients manage their cash flow too.

3. Retainers

For frequent repeat clients, you can save time and improve cash flow management by offering a retainer. In doing so, invoices can be automated and payments received up front. Talk to your accountant about the best software solution for this.

Your client will benefit too, their expenditure will be clear and your service to them guaranteed.

4. Faster payment incentives

Where retainers aren’t viable, you could offer a discounted rate for invoices paid within a certain timeframe. This will act as a great incentive to your client and improve your cash flow.

5. Spend wisely

As mentioned in my last post, when you monitor cash flow you’ll see exactly where your money is being spent. Use this information to evaluate what you’re buying, is everything necessary and are you getting the value you expect from services? My blog on cost cutting has more on this.

6. Stock control

If your business uses materials or requires you to keep products in stock, review how much you hold. Excess stock will tie up your cash so ensure you don’t have more than you need.

7. Improved credit terms

When you take on a new supplier, negotiate on payables. Some businesses will agree to 60 or even 90 days!

8. Cash reserves

With all these points in play, my last tip should be easier to achieve and that is, to create a cash reserve. Every business has quiet times but effective cash flow management and a cash reserve will help manoeuvre these.

As ever, if you’d like help to implement any of my advice, why not contact me to arrange a Free Business Review? This is a genuinely free 2 hour session whereby I’ll come into the business and spend two hours giving you advice to make positive changes. Click here to arrange yours now.

Without cash, wages won’t get paid, suppliers won’t supply and your business won’t run. For a small business, cash is king.

Managing cash flow

On a day to day basis, small businesses should be managed according to cash flow and not the P&L. I’ve been into so many businesses that are profitable on paper, but have no money in the bank and are therefore struggling to operate.

Using a cash flow statement will tell you exactly where you’re spending your money, unlike a P&L. If you increase customer credit for example, this affects cash flow, but wouldn’t show up on a P&L. Likewise, buying equipment will  impact short term cash flow (as shown on the statement) but may not affect overall profitably on the P&L.

Creating cash

Another benefit of using cash as the business driver is that you can use the knowledge to create even more! Understanding where you’re spending can help you cut costs. Likewise understanding where your money is generated can help you increase activity in that area to make more sales. Again, looking at the P&L won’t highlight these opportunities.

Take a look at my recent post on cost cutting here, and also profitable marketing, here for more advice on this.

Bookkeeping software

So the benefit of concentrating on cash flow is clear, but how? Simple bookkeeping software like Quickbooks or Xero allows you to track money in and out, as well as providing cash flow reporting. You can even link them to your bank accounts to make life easier.

Your accountant will be able to advise you on a good solution for your business and likely show you how to use it to your advantage.

Read on to my next blog to discover more effective ways to manage your cash flow.

If you’d like help to implement any of my advice, why not contact me to arrange a Free Business Review? This is a genuinely free 2 hour session whereby I’ll come into the business and spend two hours giving you advice to make positive changes. Click here to arrange yours now.

As a business to business (B2B) company, a marketing calendar is essential for the effective delivery of your marketing strategy.

What is a B2B marketing calendar?

In my previous post, I explained that a marketing calendar is way of organising your marketing activity throughout the year. It doesn’t need to be fancy, an excel spreadsheet is perfect and allows you to update as you go.

In this blog, I focus on things to consider when planning your B2B marketing calendar. If however you’re a B2C business, you can skip to my previous post here, written specifically for you.

Industry peaks and troughs

In your business you’ll be familiar with your own natural peaks and troughs so take these into account when planning your marketing activity for the year, remember you’ll need to have tactics in place to combat the troughs well in advance, so when you get there your order book won’t be empty.
Industry events

Don’t forget to include any events or trade shows you take part in within the calendar, ensure you have your actions prepped so you’re ready in time and avoid the last minute rush.

The B2B buyer

When thinking about how far in advance to complete marketing actions for a particular event or season, remember that a B2B buyer is more cautious and takes longer to make a decision than a B2C buyer. In addition, there may be internal hoops to get through before approval is given to buy your goods or services. So ensure campaigns kick off early enough.

Repeat purchases

Although a B2B business may take a while to make a decision, once they’ve made a purchase with you they are more likely to use you again. Retention campaigns throughout the year will be vital, after all it’s easier to keep an existing customer than find a new one.

Other resources

For more advice on marketing activities and how to beat the troughs, see my posts linked below.

Profitable marketing
Diversification: 3 ideas to increase sales

But whatever your business, the old adage is true. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

If you’d like help to implement any of my advice, why not contact me to arrange a Free Business Review? This is a genuinely free 2 hour session whereby I’ll come into the business and spend two hours giving you advice to make positive changes. Click here to arrange yours now.

Have a great month!

Yes, is the answer! Whether you trade as business to consumer (B2C) or business to business (B2B), you absolutely need a marketing calendar.

What is a marketing calendar?

A marketing calendar is way of organising your marketing activity throughout the year. It doesn’t need to be fancy, an excel spreadsheet is perfect, allowing you to update as you go.

In this blog, I focus on the B2C marketing calendar. If however you’re a B2B, you can skip to my second post here, written specifically for you.

How far ahead should my marketing activity commence?

In B2C businesses, having a calendar is particularly relevant to enable you to plan campaigns around seasonal events such as Easter, summer and Christmas. A retailer will know when they need to be marketing for any given event. Wholesalers will be marketing even earlier to serve those retailers.

As a rule of thumb,your activity needs to commence 3-4 months ahead of when you want the business. Retailers will start their Christmas campaigns in September to catch the early birds, with wholesalers marketing their goods in the Spring. For Easter, those eggs will be in the shops right after Christmas!

Don’t forget the troughs

Not only will your calendar ensure you make the most of your peaks, it will also highlight times of inactivity. Fill those times too! My previous blog about diversification has some great ideas on increasing sales in your slower times.

One of my clients is an English language centre, typically their quieter months are December to February. To combat this they promote a winter buy one get one free offer at the end of the summer. Kicking off this campaign early ensures they don’t arrive in winter with no bookings.

In practice

So it’s clear that for marketing to be effective, activities should be planned in advance. Using the spreadsheet, detail individual tasks within your campaign, when they are to be completed and by who. By planning your marketing activity in this way, you’ll be able to plan your resources so that everything happens when it should. It may take some time to compile, but it will keep you on track when it matters.

The old adage of failing to plan means you plan to fail is never more relevant than here.

If you’d like help to implement any of my advice, why not contact me to arrange a Free Business Review? This is a genuinely free 2 hour session whereby I’ll come into the business and spend two hours giving you advice to make positive changes. Click here to arrange yours now.

Have a great month!