by Angela Taffs | Aug 26, 2022 | Starting a Business
Would you like to make money from home? Whether as a full-time career or just to earn a little extra cash, who wouldn’t like to make more money and have some extra cash in their back pocket?
The level of desire will depend on your individual circumstances. If you are in a decent job and leading a comfortable lifestyle, you may want to make some extra cash on odd occasions by selling excess items from around the home.
However, if you find your household income suddenly reduced, as I did a few years ago, the matter becomes more pressing and quick, simple ideas need to be actioned quickly. And with soaring fuel and energy bills at the moment, many of us are looking for ways to increase our income to help with the strain on the household budget.
The best way I have found to make money is to find something you enjoy doing and turn that hobby into something profitable (selling on eBay was not something I enjoyed at all!!!!!).
These days, working from home seems to be what increasing numbers of people are talking about. Working from home seems like a great situation. The problem is trying to find ways to earn money that you enjoy doing and is sustainable for the long term.
Ideas how to make money from home
Sell your skills
Everyone has a skill that someone else either can’t do or doesn’t have the time for. It’s time to start thinking of these skills as a viable way to make money from home. Advertise your skills in your neighbourhood. Maybe you could do the ironing, dog walking, gardening or babysitting.
Create an online course
What do you know that others would love to learn? Create an online course and sell. This can be done in a variety of ways.
- Video yourself teaching your expert subject
- Create a written course or ebook
- Record a PowerPoint presentation with a voice over
Online courses can be a great way of making money from home as once you have your course created, it can be sold repeatedly and with no limit on how many you sell. Also, there will be minimal additional costs once you have the initial set-up done and dusted.
Turn your hobby into a business
What do you love doing in your spare time? What do you never get tired of doing? There are so many hobbies and yours will be personal to you but here are a few ideas:
- Love baking – sell cakes
- Writing – offer blog writing services
- Playing music – teach others online or in person
- Gardening – offer gardening services in your local area
- Photography – offer photography services and sell images to stock photo companies
- Crafting – sell at craft fairs or online on handmade sites such as Etsy and Not on The High Street
Become a freelancer
Freelancers tend to work with business clients rather than the general public. In the same way as thinking what hobbies you love doing above, what aspects of your job, current or previous, did you enjoy the most and/or were best at?
This could be things such as:
- Graphic design
- Writing
- Organising events
- Bookkeeping
- Web design
- Social media
- and the list goes on …..
Think about services you could offer to businesses on a freelance basis. And if you have a wide variety of skills consider becoming a Virtual Assistant.
Sell on eBay
Who doesn’t have a treadmill or box of clothes sitting somewhere collecting dust? Gather up all of the things that you don’t need anymore and sell them on eBay. Some people find that they really enjoy doing this and continue after they’ve cleaned their own house by purchasing things cheaply at garage sales and then reselling them on eBay. You can also buy things at wholesale prices that you can then turn around and sell for a higher cost.
Affiliate marketing
You can make money from home by recommending products. Affiliate marketing pays you a commission every time a person buys a product that you recommend. It’s usually done online so best if you have a website of your own that generates a decent level of traffic. The great thing about affiliate marketing is that once you’ve set up the process, you can keep earning money residually.
Multi-level marketing
Direct sales or multi-level marketing is another popular method to make money or start a home-based business. You will get a commission on products that you sell through direct sales. You can also choose a multi-level marketing (MLM) system which pays commissions through several levels of sales reps. Whichever method of sales you prefer, there are hundreds of products you can choose to sell. You can sell anything from books to vitamins to skin care.
If you decide to go down this route, do your due diligence. There are too many companies that will lure you in with the promise of high levels of income that are highly likely never to materialise.
By now you should have some idea of what you want to do. Don’t forget there will be rules and regulations you will need to follow when starting a home based business that you will need to abide by.
And remember you should always try to have fun when you work from home. It will keep you motivated to keep earning. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.
*Do you need a little help to get your idea off the ground? Become a member of The Small Business Kit today.
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by Angela Taffs | Aug 10, 2022 | Business Success, Running a Business
Could your business survive a recession?
Are you concerned if your small business can survive a recession? With recent economic forecasts, it’s something more and more and more of us are thinking about.
According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), 57% of people in the UK were spending less on non-essentials due to the increase in the cost of living. This could have a significant impact on your business if you sell non-essential items.
With the further rise in energy costs looming ahead along with predictions we are heading into a recession, we will see even more cutbacks from our customers. So what can we do to prepare?
How to help your small business survive a recession
Prepare now
Don’t wait for a recession to happen. Plan and get prepared now. The businesses that do some forward planning will be the ones best placed to survive. Start building up cash reserves now and cutting down on unnecessary costs (see tips below).
Review your financial situation
Now is the time to redo your sales and cash flow forecasts. This can help you analyse if you are likely to hit any crisis months where you are going to be low on funds and prepare what to do about it.
Reduce your energy costs
With soaring energy costs, you are unlikely to be able to reduce costs but do everything you can to keep any rise in costs to a minimum.
- Turn off all electrical equipment at the end of the day such as computers and printers. It may only contribute to a minimal degree but every little helps.
- How many lights do you have on? Do you really need them all? Get one efficient desk lamp and use that if possible.
- Turn down the heating and put on another layer of clothes.
- When the weather is super-hot, rather than set up an air conditioning unit or turn on a fan, adjust your working hours to when your workspace is cooler if your business allows.
- Cut back on the tea and coffee or fill up a flask to reduce the number of times you use the kettle.
Re-negotiate with or switch suppliers
When was the last time you reviewed prices with your suppliers? Check what you are paying and have a discussion as to whether they are able to give you a better deal. Has a new supplier come into the market with more competitive pricing? Go do your research and see if there is a better option out there for you. It’s highly unlikely to get any sort of deal at the moment but it’s worth keeping an eye out just in case.
Cancel unused subscriptions
How many subscriptions have you signed up for over the years that you no longer use? Or how many could you downgrade as you are not using all the services within your package? Go through them all now and you may be surprised how many you are signed up for that you no longer need. Get them cancelled now or stop any auto renewals.
Create additional revenue streams
- Consider affiliate marketing or putting Google ads on your website.
- Sell your photographs to stock photography websites.
- Write an eBook or create an online course.
Offer lower-cost options to your customers
If you run a face-to-face business such as a masseur or lifestyle coach and your usual sessions run for an hour, offer a shorter session at a lower cost. This may keep your service affordable for some customers who are having to cut back. Consider a 20 or 30-minute ‘maintenance’ service.
Go mobile
With 42% of the population cutting back on non-essential travel according to the same report by the ONS, customers may stop travelling to your business if you are not immediately local to them. Whilst it may seem to be counterproductive to increase your own travel costs, consider travelling to your customers if your business can provide a mobile service.
The last thing you want to be doing is travelling from one place to another and back again all day. This is not time efficient or fuel efficient. Check if you have customers who live in the same area. Contact them to see if they would be interested in a mobile service on a certain day of the week. This way, if you get enough people, you can bulk book customers in the same area on the same day.
Move your business online
You may well have done this already during the Covid 19 lockdown and if you have stopped doing it, now may be the time to resurrect online services which may be more cost-effective for your customers. If you want your business to survive a recession and if you haven’t already looked at an online service, get creative and consider if any part of your business could take advantage of working online.
Start to offer one-to-one training or group tutorials. Record training videos or create a full course for customers to purchase.
Yoga and fitness classes saw a huge increase in online activity when they moved classes online during the Covid 19 lockdown. Here are a few ideas for other businesses:
- Masseur – online tutorials on how to do self-massage
- Hairdresser – online tutorials on how to style hair
- Property Stager – diagnostic for styling improvements via photographs
- Gardener – advice and landscaping design via photographs
- Photographer – offer online photography courses and camera training
Rent out equipment/space
If people start cutting down on paying someone to do something for them, but the jobs still need doing, consider if you have any equipment you could rent out. Do make sure all items are fit for purpose and you have adequate insurance.
A gardener could rent out a lawnmower, hedge trimmer etc
If you have office space, rent out part of it or create a shared office. (I did this myself a couple of years ago. Where there was a decent size office, I shared it with another business owner. We both had our own space for our own desk, filing cabinet etc. This way we could share the rent and keep our costs down). If you currently rent your office space do check your rental agreement.
Focus on marketing
The fight for a share of the market when customers are decreasing is going to be more competitive than ever. Up your marketing activity. Look at how you can stand out from the competition and take your share of the market. Look at ways to attract as many new customers as you can.
Review your marketing channels
Whilst focusing on your marketing activities, make sure your marketing channels are up to date and as effective as they can be. Get a website review and make any necessary changes. It’s no use driving traffic to your website if your speed is too slow or your site is full of broken links. Use a reputable company such as Seahorse Creative which use a human being to review your site rather than a company that simply runs an online report via a site-checker site.
Ensure your social media channels have the correct information displayed and are consistent with your branding.
Give exceptional customer service
By giving exceptional customer service you increase your chances of retaining existing customers and also increase the chance of them referring you to someone else. This helps retain as much income as you can and increase your income with new customers.
To find out ways to review and improve the customer service you provide to make you stand out from your competitors, hop over to The Small Business Kit and watch the Customer Experience module. It’s just £29 to join. You get immediate access to this module and all the others and can cancel at any time.
Give your business the best chance to survive a recession
It will depend upon your individual business as to how many of these ideas you may be able to implement, but whatever you do, do something! If you want your small business to survive a recession the worst thing you can do is bury your head in the sand and hope it will go away.
by Angela Taffs | Jun 29, 2022 | Uncategorized
Do you want to get more sales? Are you making it convenient for shoppers to buy from you? I was interviewed for an article in The Guardian recently about payment methods. The article has now been released which you can read here. It’s well worth a quick read and taking the time to look at your own payment options. Are you offering a quick and easy way for your customers to pay? As the article says:
There is a huge 69% abandonment rate for online shopping carts is partly blamed on complex checkout and clunky payment processes that confuse customers. Once those customers are gone from that site, the danger is, they may never return.
How many customers may you be losing because you have a clunky system or make the payment process drawn out and convoluted? One pet hate of mine is when I want to buy something or book an appointment but to do so I must email the business first. Why?? Why not have an online payment or online booking system where I can make the transaction instantly? I don’t want to have to wait for the business to email me back and then go back and forth to book or pay. By this time, I may well have had buyer remorse or bought from somewhere else where I could buy more easily. Yes, there may be certain circumstances where this needs to be done and I am a total hypocrite here as I don’t allow immediate booking for one of my ongoing coaching services! But now I’m sitting here thinking about it I could streamline the process somewhat – guess what’s on my to-do list today? If you’re unsure how your customers want to pay, go ask them. Run a survey and find out what they want. Also, if you have an online store look at your statistics to see what your abandonment rate is. If it’s high, you know you have an issue somewhere.
Top tips for making payments easier
Online sales
- Make sure your website is optimized for speed, so it loads quickly
- Make sure your website is responsive to mobile devices
- Add call-to-action buttons making it clear how to pay
- Set up a one-click payment process
- Provide a FAQ page to address common issues
- Have a live chat facility for any pressing questions
- Have clear delivery and returns policies
Offline sales
- Carry a secure mobile payment option – many customers no longer carry cash
- If you only accept cash (aarghhh!!!) ensure you keep enough change with you
- For cash only carry a receipt book – some customers may need one
I’d love to hear your thoughts and how your customers prefer to pay. Leave a comment below.
by Angela Taffs | Jun 22, 2022 | Sales and Marketing
Are you confused with a blog vs newsletter? Are you unsure which is best for your small business? Then read on and find out the answers
What is the difference between a newsletter and a blog?
Newsletters for business
A newsletter is sent to a specified group of people that have subscribed to your mailing list. This group can also be segmented down according to their interests, location or any other criteria you set. This allows you to target specific people with tailored messages.
Newsletters can contain a range of content on different topics. A newsletter can be as short or as long as you want.
Once a newsletter is sent, the reader will not be able to see it again after they have opened it unless they save the original email.
Blogs for business
A blog is available for anyone in the world to read who visits your website. It helps position you as an expert in your field and if written in line with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) best practices can help drive traffic to your website.
A blog usually focuses on one specific topic. A blog should contain at least 300 words but 1000 is recommended.
Blogs can be updated as and when you need to as they stay live on your website until you remove them.
When should I use a newsletter?
You should use a newsletter to keep in contact with your subscribers, provide valuable and relevant information and promote your products and services. This helps create a relationship with your subscribers and to keep you top of mind for when they are ready to buy.
Newsletters should be sent on a regular and consistent basis so your subscribers don’t forget who you are. This should be a minimum of once every quarter.
When should I use a blog?
A blog helps position you as the industry expert in your field. Regular blog writing can help drive valuable traffic to your website and if you add an opt-in can help gain new subscribers to your newsletter for tailored marketing.
Blogs should be written on a regular and consistent basis at least once per month.
What should I put in a newsletter?
Newsletters can include:
- Latest industry or company news
- Top tips
- Updates on new products and services
- Special offers and discounts
- Case studies
- Product reviews
- Link/s to blog posts
- Behind-the-scenes content
- Request for feedback/survey
- Recommendations on anything from useful resources to books, software etc
- Seasonal greetings
What should I put in a blog?
A blog should be written about a specific topic related to your business. It’s useful to listen to what your target audience is talking about and what questions they are asking and use this as your topic.
It should include:
I would suggest these three additional items at the end of each post.
- A call to action telling people what to do next.
- A comments box to encourage people to interact
- Social sharing buttons to help people share your content with others.
Blogs should be written in line with SEO best practices to help them be found by the search engines.
Which is better – a newsletter or a blog?
Both newsletters and blogs are a valuable part of any marketing campaign, and they should be used in conjunction with each other.
Your blog will help attract visitors to your website where they will see what you do and be directed to get in touch, buy or make a booking. It will also direct people to your newsletter for targeted marketing.
Your newsletter will build relationships where you can promote your offerings and direct people to your site to find out more about you and see what else you have on offer.
Now you know the difference between a blog vs a newsletter but are you still unsure how to proceed? If so, take a look at the resources below. Learn all about blogging for business with a step-by-step course or get your content written for you via The Small Business Kit hands-on services.
Valuable resources:
Blogging for Business Course
Access the Blogging for Business course with workbook and planner for just £27. It includes everything you need including how to come up with ideas on what to write, how to create an attention-grabbing headline, how to build your audience and how to write for the search engines (Top SEO tips)
ACCESS NOW
Copywriting service
Get your blog written for you with The Small Business Kit’s hands-on service.
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by Angela Taffs | Jun 16, 2022 | Business Success, Mindset and motivation, Running a Business
Yesterday I felt completely snowed under with work. This is how my day started off.
- Logged into my laptop to find 58 new emails and 22 tasks flagged up by my CRM to be completed.
- My brain went into overdrive! Stress levels started to rise. Brain fog descended with so much to do.
- Looked at emails. Looked at CRM tasks. Glanced at my notepad at a new idea. Started on new idea. Aimed to just map out a few basic points to come back to.
- Got completely sidetracked! Suddenly realised I had missed a client call!!!!!! How did I miss it? When I checked my phone reminder was on silent.
- Stress levels rose dramatically.
- Called the client and apologised profusely. Looked to rebook asap and my diary was chaotic. It didn’t look like I had time to breathe let alone book another appointment.
- Spent an hour moving things around in my diary.
- Started working through emails. Each email seemed to lead to another half dozen things to do. Three new requests for one-to-one coaching. Two enquiries about The Small Business Kit.
- Head now in a complete spin. I felt completely and utterly snowed under and simply didn’t know how I was going to fit everything in.
And then I stopped. And I thought about what I would advise my one-to-one clients. And I started to put it all into practice myself.
What to do when you’re snowed under with work
Declutter
Just look around you. Do you have a clean, welcoming, organised workspace? Or are you surrounded by half-drunk mugs of coffee, half a dozen notepads, sticky notes and scraps of paper, a scattering of business cards and various pens? Clear your workspace and clear your mind. Honestly, it works. Having only what you need in front of you helps you to retain focus and work in a more organised manner.
Create a to-do list
The next thing is to write down absolutely everything on your to-do list. Yes, everything. List down all those things swirling around in your frazzled brain, scribbled down on notepads, post-it notes and emails. Get everything out of your head and onto paper.
Prioritise
Now you have your to-do list you need to sort it out in order of priority. I use an online spreadsheet called Airtable. I list everything in there and then give each item a ranking as follows:
- Needs doing as a priority
- Needs doing this week
- Needs doing this month
- Would like to do it asap
- Would like to do it if I ever get the time
You may find you have more than one to-do list. If you do, it can help to put everything into one list. You can add a column to state what the item relates to if you have more than one business or business sector. When you are going through your list delete anything that has been on there for what seems like years and realistically is never going to get done. Also, delete anything that now doesn’t seem like such a good idea or is outdated. I had quite a few of those! Now simply sort them in priority order.
Plan your diary
Open your diary or online calendar and block out times for 5-star priority items. Set 90-minute blocks of time. This time allows you to get laser focused to get stuck into the task without distractions. It’s long enough to get good quality work done but not too long that your brain starts to get frazzled. After each 90-minute block, set yourself 10 mins to check any incoming emails. Send a holding response if necessary so as not to let them take you off track unless urgent and they cannot wait. Then go stretch your legs and get some fresh air for 20 minutes. I promise you the change of scenery and fresh air will allow you to be far more productive than sitting at your desk for hours at a time. This way you will get 3x 90 minutes of focused work done each day on your priority tasks. If you complete all your priority tasks, move on to your 4-star ones. Below is a very simplistic example of what your diary could look like. This will of course depend upon your business. Your 5-star priority may be a client meeting which may take longer than 90 minutes so adapt accordingly. 
Set up your workspace for the next day
At the end of each day, plan for the next. Re-prioritise your list moving 4-star items to 5-star if all the 5-star have been completed. Set out your workspace with just the items you need to complete your work for the next day, so you are all set and ready to go when you come back in the morning. It’s very therapeutic coming to a clean, tidy desk with everything set up rather than having to search through the clutter for what you need first thing.
Shut off
Now you have set yourself up for the next day’s work, knowing exactly what you are going to be working on and with everything ready to go, switch off. Yes, easier said than done I know but it’s so important to shut off from work to give your brain a break. It’s the same as if you are training for something such as running a marathon. If you push your body by running long distances every single day, eventually your muscles will give up, and you will become injured and won’t be able to run at all. Your muscles need a break to recover. Your brain is the same. Do whatever you enjoy to relax. Now, if you have a young, demanding family this may be a difficult thing to do. But take at least 30 minutes each day just for you. If you love reading, go to bed half an hour earlier and read. It’s important to have time for yourself so you don’t start to resent work and life in general.
Are you still snowed under with work?
But hey. What if the above is not enough? What if you never manage to clear your 5-star priority items and more work is coming in? What if you really can’t keep your head above water?
Review your prices
Firstly, look at your pricing. If you have more clients than you can handle, put your prices up! This way you can work smarter, not harder. You will be able to earn the same, if not more, money for the same number of hours. Now when I speak to my own clients about this, they tend to hate putting prices up. They don’t want to hack off existing clients. But business is all about supply and demand. And if you continue to run at a hundred miles an hour every day and continue to be snowed under one of two things will happen:
- You will start to make mistakes (like me!) And I can promise you if you continue to make mistakes that will certainly hack off your clients and you will lose business.
- You will get so stressed you become ill and won’t be able to work which will be a huge detriment to both you and your clients.
Write to your clients and explain that subject to a business review the decision has been made to increase prices. Don’t be afraid of losing a few. As mentioned, if you get your pricing structure correct, you will be able to make the same amount of money with fewer clients.
Let go of ‘less than perfect’ clients
This could be the perfect opportunity to go through your client list and let go of any who are no longer ideal for you. How about that over-demanding client who no matter what you do, is never good enough. How about the one who wants you at their beck and call 24/7 and has no respect for your private life. Which ones make your heart sink when you see their number pop up on your phone or their email arrive in your inbox? Go through your list and select any that aren’t right for your business anymore and write that email or letter to cancel your contract. Make it polite and professional but let them know after a review of your business, you do not have the capacity to work with them anymore. If possible, recommend someone else for them to work with.
Review your workload
What jobs are you simply not getting done or which do you hate doing and take up far too much of your time and contribute the most to your feeling snowed under? Make a list of them. Once you have the list, you can determine if there are ways of streamlining them. If there are jobs you really do hate and take up too much time, consider outsourcing to someone who could complete the work in a fraction of the time and possibly better than you. This could apply to your bookkeeping, marketing or blog writing. Now, look at the time you spend with prospects and clients.
- If you get a lot of phone calls or email enquiries when people visit your website, set up an enquiry form to collect as much information as possible before you need to speak to them. This can save a huge amount of time.
- How do you book appointments? Do you go back and forth via email? Set up an online booking system that does everything for you including taking any payments required.
- Do you spend a lot of time answering the same questions? Set up a FAQ page on your website and direct people to that.
Download my Client Touchpoint checklist to help you get thinking about how you deal with clients and the time it takes. The Client Touchpoint checklist helps you identify the touchpoints you have with prospects and clients and think about ways to simplify and streamline the process of how you deal with them. The first sheet just gives a few examples. The second sheet is for you to print and complete. 
By following the steps above you should feel more in control and able to take an objective view of how your business is running and what you need to do to stop feeling snowed under with work. If you’d like a chat to review your business and identify areas for improvement, take a look at my one-to-one services or get in touch if you have any questions.
