June/July Newsletter - Planning For Profit

Most of us are currently tightening our belts and being careful about how and where we spend our money, in the current economic climate. How many of us are as careful about where we spend our time?

Time Management might not seem like a particularly exciting subject but when you think about where you spend your time and what it's actually costing you, it puts the importance of good time habits into perspective ...


Read the rest of the article in this month's free newsletter, just sign up on my website and you'll also receive free tips, advice, information and news on how to improve your time management for your business and personal life.

Starting A Business In Your Spare Time - Working 5 to 9

Amanda Vlahakis from Truly Ace pointed out this useful document from Enterprise Nation in her blog on the Home Worker Parents network.

Starting your own 5 to 9 business is a great way of achieving a level of independence away from a regular, full-time job but there are things to watch.

You need to be pretty motivated and a self-starter to not only have a full-time job but also run your own part-time business.

Here are a few additional tips:

• Chose something you're passionate about but be wary of turning a hobby into a business, it can take some of the enjoyment out of it.

• Be aware of what you're able to achieve in the time available. Have a clear plan of what you want your business to look like and who your clients and customers are. Is this something that fits within the 5 to 9 timeframe?

• List out all the tasks you need to do and allocate them into the available time. Only pick the things that are going to make a real difference to the business.

• While you'll take longer to get where you want to be than if you were working full-time on your business, you can still make great progress if you work steadily and consistently towards your goal. Little and often.

• Get others involved in your business to spread the load. Depending on the nature of your business you might be able to delegate some of the workload so that your 5 to 9 business is still being worked on while you're working on your 9 - 5 job.

• Don't end up burning the candle at both ends - you'll just end up stressed and exhausted. Planning is key.

• Have a good support network around you - family and friends may not always be the most supportive but get them on your side. You don't necessarily need their approval, just their support.

• Network with like-minded people to create your own support network with business knowledge and skills.

Take a look at Mums In Biz and get help slotting a business into the time you have available - particularly for Mums who want to run a business and work round their family.

Start with a simple One Page Plan - email me for a free copy.