If you are a female business owner who spends most of your time working alone in a home office – as I do – you need to have discipline to keep on target with your projects. As women we find it really difficult to ignore the laundry or shopping list or the mess left after the weekend, but to take your business seriously this is something you have to do. I myself have found this difficult but these are some of the tips that help me stay focused:

• Remember that your business brings in money – doing the washing or cleaning doesn’t, so working on your business pays you (unless you can invoice your family for the other household drudgery!) Pay someone else who’s hourly rate is lower than yours to do those chores – it’s money well spent and you can focus that time on your business, and help the economy by employing someone else!
• Keep your surrounding area tidy and organised. I know that if my office or desk is messy I just can’t focus. Make orderly piles or create files to keep individual projects separate. I have coloured ring binders and plastic files for each client and project so that any paperwork is always to hand. I also use google calendar with sub calendars for each client and project so that I can schedule work and then overlay the calendars to see my week’s work in one place. It also syncs to my phone so I always have it with me.
• Only keep in your office what you need or love. Old finished projects and rubbish are a distraction, but having flowers, music and nice surroundings can motivate you.
• Have an ideas folder, both physical and virtual. I rip pages from magazines and dump them in an ideas folder or file ideas in a folder on my laptop for articles that I have read online. Keep a note book or use your phone’s voice recorder when an idea comes into your head – once you have written an idea down you can stop it from distracting you.
• Schedule social media time. I look after the social media for several clients so I schedule in a couple of times a day to catch up, respond and comment – otherwise you know what happens, you start looking at twitter and 2 hours disappear.
• The same with email – I have to admit I still check mine several times a day. But even if you can’t resist reading emails as they come in at least plan to answer them all in one go, it’s much quicker to blitz through them all at once than go backwards and forwards. By the way this works for phone calls too, make them all in one go and you will get through them much quicker.
• Plan outings in one trip – so if you have to go out for appointments especially personal ones like the dentist or hairdresser get them all done in one day. If you have to go into town to the post office build in other errands at the same time rather than going out 2 or 3 times over several days.
• Organise your day to suit your natural energy peaks. If you are a morning person do things that need focus first thing. I do my writing between 7 and 9am after the family has left and the house is quiet, my mind is fresh and then I take a short break for breakfast, when I catch up with the news and reading my RSS feeds.
• If you have a job that needs to get finished and you are procrastinating, set yourself a deadline. Promise it for a day and time – even set a timer, it’s amazing how much having a deadline focuses the mind.

I hope these tips have helped you – if you have any that have really worked for you please leave them in the comments. If you liked this article please share using the buttons below.

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What’s the hardest thing about running a business?

To me it’s not finding the clients, paying the bills, the long hours (yes, you tend to work much longer than you did in a ‘job’ ) that can all be taxing at times, no the hardest part is keeping going. It’s being able to carry on when so called friends tell you that you should really think about getting a proper job, or that big break through client that sounded so keen has stopped returning your calls.

We all have days when we suffer from self-confidence issues, as women we feel uncomfortable blowing our own trumpet. BUT as a business owner that is just what you have to do. You have to believe in yourself and your product or service so that you can tell yourself it’s not because they didn’t like you, they just don’t have the budget at the moment. My grandfather always used to say ‘when one door closes, another one opens’ and it is so often true that when one client stops working with you a great new one comes along.

It’s vital to surround yourself with like minded people – did you know it’s said that we become like the 5 people we spend most time with? So if that ‘toxic friend’ isn’t supporting you it’s time to see less of them! Instead have a group of fellow business owners that you can bounce ideas around with or share experiences. If you need someone to ‘get on your case’ sometimes and steer you back in the right direction, employ a coach or find yourself a mentor. Read about successful business people that you admire – you will be amazed how many of them have had failed businesses or been in the depths of despair just before their break through. Richard Branson is a great example of this!

Finally when times are tough it’s easy to think that lowering your price is the answer. However, if your prices are too low the perception is that your service isn’t that good. Charge what you are worth, keep in your head an hourly rate and set a level that you will never go below. If you don’t value yourself and your services why should anyone else?

Leave a comment and let me know what your biggest challenge is in your business and if you liked this post please share!

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It’s sale time again and a great chance to pick up a bargain. This year more than ever with the awful weather we had pre Christmas retailers are looking to recoup some of their lost revenue with bumper sales. In the past sale rails tended to be full of what no one wanted full price, but last week I managed to pick up a pair of perfect black trousers with 50% off the original price. Here are some top tips for scouting out bargains:

• For future reference get on the mailing list of your favourite stores/brands. They will often send their loyal customers advance warning of the sale and sometimes run preview sessions so you can get in first.
• Go with a list of any key wardrobe items you need or want to replace. When I had my shop we often had winter coats left in the sale, they are a great bargain which can be worn for years as long as they aren’t high fashion. This year the camel coat was everywhere so there is a good chance you will find one somewhere and this item will never date.
• Look for luxury items that are beyond your budget full price – cashmere, designer handbags and shoes. But only buy if you really love it and know you will get cost per wear from it. Yes I saw a half price Mulberry handbag last week but in an acid yellow suede it really wasn’t a sensible buy!
• Have a budget in mind before you shop. It’s so easy to get carried away with all those 50% and even some 75% off tickets tempting you. Scout around before buying to see what interests you, then decide based on your budget which items are real value.
• Enjoy – I’m not really someone who likes the sales, I think all those rails of unwanted items look so sad. I would rather buy one item that I fell in love with at the start of the season and was lucky enough to find in the sales than a whole bag full of rumpled rags. So shop the way you enjoy – why fight through the crowds if you really don’t enjoy this kind of shopping?
• Remember that unless an item is marked as faulty and you are aware of this when you buy it, you still have the right to return it if it is damaged. Some shops may only offer credit notes for returned (non faulty) goods rather than a refund so just check when you buy.

Finally if you can’t face the shops check your favourite online stores, just remember if you have to send the item back it may take longer to get a refund and you may miss out on getting a replacement size if the fit is wrong. Don’t keep something if it isn’t exactly what you want just because it was in the sale.

Happy bargain hunting – let me know what treasures you managed to secure in the comments below.

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It’s human nature to want to be liked, and let’s be honest if people like you they are more likely to cooperate with you. However, worrying about whether a work colleague or business contact likes you can sometimes prevent you from being effective. This may manifest itself in charging less than you really want to, not asking for contract terms to be adjusted to suit you, and one of the most common – being promoted over your co-workers and being unable to manage them.

I once worked with a man who was proud of the fact that not many people who worked with him liked him. As far as he was concerned he was paid to be effective not popular. This is taking it to the other extreme and whilst people did what he ‘demanded’ he didn’t actually have much respect. This is where the balance lies. If people respect you and like you, you are more likely to get what you want. In order to earn respect you need to learn to be firm but fair. If you find it difficult to ask for what you want you need to practice – start by asking for small things and build your confidence.

It is important to balance what you need with the female tendency to serve, it’s all very well if you have bent over backwards to make sure your team like you but if you go home feeling trodden on and depressed what is the point? Better to be firm and fair and when praise is due give it, but equally, if someone needs pulling up explain why and tell them how they can do things differently next time. And then DON’T Apologise – something we tend to do too much of – instead you could soften the blow by smiling and giving positive direction. Humour often plays a welcome part too, far better than bottling things up and blowing your top.

If you have any good tips for overcoming a need to be liked please share them in the comments and tell your friends by clicking the buttons below.

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