Be The Business

How often have you phoned a company for assistance and because of the poor response you got from them never used them.

This happened to me a couple of years back. I urgently needed to have a security gate replaced just before Christmas. I phoned the supposed best provider in my area. There response was that the factory had closed and therefore there was no point sending out one of their guys to look at my requirements until after the New Year.

This was most definitely not the answer I wanted to hear. Having just suffered a burglary and having young children in the house with a husband that often works late at night I wanted safety and security and I wanted it now, now in four to six weeks time.

The upshot was that when they phoned me in the New Year to make an appointment they had lost their client as I had gone to another other provider who understood my concerns and was willing to assist me despite it being a week before Christmas.

How many of us have done a similar thing to potential clients and as such lost not only that particular client but also other potential clients due to word of mouth.

Whether you are the owner or an employee the client really should be king. Treating clients badly is never a good idea, even employees need to remember this as without the clients there is no need for them.

What potential client have you helped today?

Backup, backup, backup!

Its a common refrain when there is a problem with a computer or smartphone these days. People are always saying they meant to backup but were busy.

While everyone gets busy if you run your own business then ensuring that you backup regularly is not only a good idea but absolutely essential. You need to be able to access your client files in the event of a computer crash, or even because of Mother Nature, be it storm, flood, fire or anything else.

I regularly back up to the cloud as for me that is the easiest. I have it set to back up automatically. That said if your backup is automatic you do need to check on a regular basis that it is in fact backing up what it is meant to be backing up. This applies not only to the cloud but also if you use conventional media. Computers are like children! You can't just set it and leave it alone to get on with it, you do need to check back regularly to make sure that everything is happening as needed.

It is down to you whether you back up to the cloud, conventional media (an external hard drive, etc), or whether you back up to both. What ever you decide is best for your business then just remember to ensure that they are actually doing what you want them to do and backing up what you want.

My choice was the cloud as I can access my files from my smartphone so even if I am out of the office I am able to help my clients out if they need something urgently. From that point the cloud works great for my business. I will however be investing in an external hard drive this year to have a second back up as you can never be too careful.

So the all important question now is when did you last backup your computer?

Adapted Working Hours

I think a lot of people that consider setting up their own business believe that they can conform to normal business hours where they live. While it is nice in theory I don't think that it really works in practice, especially not for service based industries.

As a working mom with three children I find that my time is often called upon by both family and work commitments at the same time. The advance of being my own boss of course is that I can, within reason, accommodate both the demands of work and family when then clash. I can take time off from work to go and watch my daughters in their school sports day, or help out at school when they need help, but by the same token when I am swamped with work I am able to spend the time I need working.

My regular clients understand that while I hit deadlines on a regular basis every now and then there may be a time when I need to stretch the deadline an hour or so.

On the flip side of that my daughters all understand that I may need to put in some hours when I normally wouldn't. This may mean that I need to work in the afternoon when they are home or on a weekend, although I do try not to. By not working in the afternoon it does mean that my conventional working day is foreshortened. I therefore need to make up those hours and this means either working at night once they are asleep or alternatively getting up early before them.

I am fortunate in that the majority of the work that I do does not require constant communication with my clients so these unusual business hours are not a problem. I do however keep my phone with me at all times so if they do need to contact me urgently then I am available even when out of the house.

I would love to hear how other working business owners deal with their working day?

Additional Services Not Normally Offered

As a Transcriptionist/Virtual Assistant I am kept busy with work that I am comfortable doing. There are of course calls from people that require services that I do offer as well as ones I don't. The question is always how to deal with such instances.

For those services that I don't normally offer, if that is all a client requires, I will pass on the lead to other Virtual Assistants that offer those services. If a client requires services that I do and don't offer then the situation becomes more complicated. For me, and often for the client, the easiest way to handle the situation is for me to take control of all the work and subcontract out the work that I don't do.

The advantage of subcontracting out the work of course is that I can ensure my clients are attended to in the manner that they are used to, with work being completed on time and to a high standard. I can also ensure that the deadlines are adhered to and that the relationship I have with my client is maintained.

The major advantage to the client of course is that they only have one invoice to deal with at the end of the month, as well as having one point of contact for any questions they may have.

I would love to know how others handle the work that is out of their comfort zone.

A Day in the Life of a VA with children

I often hear people say that they want to work from home to spend more time with their children, then when they do they are discouraged as the “extra” time they have at home doesn't always turn into more family time. I know there are quite a few out there that will relate to this.

Before we get into my typical day let me tell you a bit about me first. I am a working VA that started with one part-time client 11 years ago while working a full-time job. I have now been working from my house for the past 9 years full time. I have three darling daughters aged 9, 6 and 2. While the elder two are at school in Grade 3 and 1 respectively, I have the 2-year-old at home with me (I must be nuts).

My general day starts with getting my daughters up and ready for school. During which time if I’m lucky I manage to get that most important first cup of coffee for the day in. After the school run its home and down to work. With the help of Disney Junior and Dora the Explorer I usually manage to get a couple of hours of work done between playtime with my 2-year-old (enforced playtime as deemed appropriate by my daughter if she thinks I'm working too hard). Depending on the day of the week depends on the afternoon school collection routine but its usually fun as school doesn't finish at the same time for my daughters. So I stop work to go fetch my Grade 1, then its home and time for lunch. After lunch its usually time to go and fetch my Grade 3. Then home again, and homework and playtime. This obviously includes reading for both of my school going children so work time in the afternoon is often interrupted unless its urgent. Then its time to get supper ready, which means the help of at least one of my children as my two eldest have cooking classes once a fortnight at school and so are always very keen to help. After supper, its time to sit and relax and watch some TV before the bath and bed routine. Finally when all my girls are asleep, usually by 8, its time for a quick and quiet cup of coffee before tackling any of the work that is outstanding from the day and getting ready for the next day.

There are some days when I try and work out how I have achieved so little on my To Do List but then those are usually the days when school commitments are high.

Deadlines are deadlines and its not the clients problem if you have an issues or problems so if necessary late nights or early mornings can be called for.

For those that think working at home compared to working in an office is a piece of cake I do beg to differ. I find I now work harder and longer by the time I throw the school commitments into the mix. Having said that though I wouldn't change any of it for all the tea in China. I love my work and I love my family.

Business Plans for Smaller Organizations

Being a small business person, whether you are the Biographer or Test pilot, requires you to have more reason to be organized. While a certain amount of spontaneity is valuable and expected of a small business, a fair amount of structure is unavoidable if you will attempt to compete with what the company down the street has to offer. You should therefore really plan the scope of your business and write it down. This not only will give you a concrete idea of what your challenges are, but also what your progress is, what the vision for your business is, and how close you are to achieving them.

 

The first thing is to remember to get all the significant facts down on paper. This gives you a place to anchor your business, and something definite to revise if things need to be changed later on. The initial plan can make sure that you, your hired workers, and your investors are all working toward the goal you want. 

 

The initial step in your business plan is a description of your business. This includes what you do, services that you plan to provide and what any products you plan to produce. In a word, this will verbalize the scope of your small business. While this can be enlarged later, you'll find that this setting down of your limits and terms is incredibly helpful for more development. This is also a good place to include what type of goals you have. While they can be general goals that you want to stick to, you should enlarge on it with some rough financial figures that you are want to achieve.

 

You small business plan next should have to do with the market, both where it stands, your market projections and the way you envision your place in the market. Why is your service necessary and how is your product going to affect the market itself? How are you going to advertise your business and what sort of impact will it have on various different types of consumers? This section essentially �proves� your business has a reason for being and gives evidence for why it should be funded, so take your time and put a good effort into it.

 

Finances are the next part that you tackle. Include license fees, emergency funds, general expenses and anything elseyou can think of  that will require money. Because just about any bankers and investors will want to study your business plan primarily for this section, this is of utmost importance for you to work on. If you need to, look at examples from similar businesses to see what has worked. Put down an accurate view of your current business status, but remember to look to the future.

 

One final thing, consider management. Who is running things, and what are their responsibilities? This is a good way to keep things organized and delineate responsibilities. Like the parts of the plan that I've described above, it can be modified, but the vital thing is to have it there in the first place.

 

Take all the time you need to make sure that your small business plan is top notch, and you will discover that your business will start carving out its place in the market with a great deal more speed.

 

Freedom Day in South Africa

In South Africa today is a very important day in history. 17 years ago today we as South African's united and voted in the first True, Free and Democratic elections. You would think 17 years down the line a lot had changed. Unfortunately this is not the case. In fact if anything things are a little worse.

While the number of people living in poverty and shacks may be slowly decreasing, and that is way to slow, we still have people using drop toilets etc which is a scary and sad fact. What's more concerning is the number of youth that have no idea why we celebrate today and what its significance is. This saddens me as the likes of Tata Nelson Mandela gave up 27 years of his adult life in a struggle for which these youth now take for granted.

WE need to remember the importance of Freedom Day, as well as the majority of our other public holidays that are related to our history.

Nonetheless I hope you all had a very happy Freedom Day if you are in South Africa, and hope you have a good Worker's Day on Monday.