# 87 (2013) So You Want To Be Your Own Boss?

It sounds like a cushy option doesn't it? Running your own business. Your own hours and the money's all yours. But wait. There are a few things you should consider before going it alone. Here's the hard sell. Still think you've got what it takes? Then read on and see if you think you could survive your first two years in business.

1. Are you good with money?

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If there is one thing you will learn about going it alone it's that money does not grow on trees. If you can't resist the Topshop sale or a Sunday plurge at Primark or your cupboards are brimming with multipack deals from the supermarket you might want to reconsider your options. What's your food budget? A good way to see if you're buying savvy is check the sell by dates on everything in your cupboards. Now ask yourself how much food you throw away at the end of the week because you've not used it in time?

If your cupboards are full of branded products and unnecessary luxuries you should be taking a hard look at how much you're spending or think about being less of a brand snob. It's money you can ill afford to lose if you want to maximise your profit margin each month. 

Learn to turn down the thermostat on your heating and turn off lights when you leave the room. Better still, get those energy saving bulbs. Yes the light is a bit shit but they do save you money. You can also turn down the stat on your fridge freezer. Oh yes you can.

2. Don't give freebies to friends or relatives

It sounds harsh but being generous to your nearest and dearest at the expense of your income could cost you your business. Charge them like everyone else or they will strip you bare in no time. I had a friend who had a cafe and gave away teas, coffees and cake to her friends whenever they came in. Within 6 months she was bankrupt and lost everything right down to roof over her head and her bank cards. By the time she had finished ruining them financially she and her two kids were sleeping in bed and breakfast waiting for a council house. Let that be a lesson to you.

3. Are you admin savvy?

Are you good with paperwork? Or do you put it aside on the promise of doing it later? Get into the habit of filing EVERYTHING as it comes in. It'll make your job come tax return time far less of a headache. Keep spreadsheets. If you don't know how to use them, learn. They are not difficult. If you are really crap at this sort of thing get an accountant or pay a friend to keep your paperwork up to date. It might cost you a few hundred but it could save you much more in the long term.

4. Streamline before you start

Wherever possible streamline your bills before you start. The less money you are haemorraging each month on non-avoidable payments the better. Pay off credit cards and loans if you can, reduce your outgoings wherever you see a way. I moved into a houseshare to keep my bills down. My biggest expense is my car which I need for business. My household bills come to less than £600 a month and I don't owe anybody anything. It means there are never any surprises around the corner.

5. Can you work from home?

This will save you money on travel, rent and you can claim back a bit of your heating and electricity through your tax return. But be mindful not to get lazy. Set office hours and stick to them.

6. Get some savings behind you

Believe me you will need this. Banks won't lend to you and you'll discover how quickly people disappear when you need a financial helping hand. The rule of thumb used to be always keep the equivilent of three months wages in the bank for emergencies. If you're running your own business this applies doubly. If there are months when you've fallen short in sales - which WILL happen, I guarantee it - having enough there to top up the shortfall so you can keep paying for your essentials is a very good thing. But (and refer back to point 1) don't think of it as an excuse to treat yourself.

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7. Downsize your social life but not at the expense of your business

You might enjoy drinks out with your mates now, or a couple of meals out a week, but believe me this sort of thing kills your profit when you are making your own money. You  think you're skint now at the end of the month waiting for your paycheck? Wait til there is no regular paycheck. You will get lonely, you will wonder why you bothered, and eventually your friends will probably stop talking to you, but you wanted to run your own business right?

HOWEVER, don't miss business type opportunities such as events where you get to flash your business card. It's not an excuse to flash cash of course and don't wine and dine potential business clients out with your own money (you can't claim these on your tax return) but hobnobbing with other business people who may be good for you can only be a step in the right direction.

This is not an exhaustive list. I think there may at least be a part 2 to this blog entry. But these are the main things I think it's good to know about. After that, you start looking at the finer details. But I'll come back to those later. Are you running your own business or freelancing? What are your tips for keeping your head above water? Message me!

# 77 (2013) It's Time To Deal With Our Burgeoning Graduate Population

Could we please all start directing our school leavers to websites like this, rather than websites like this?

Because if there is one thing I'm fairly sure of, it's that getting school leavers onto work schemes that teach them business skills, social skills, work ethics and gives them an income whilst they are still living at home, has to be better than three years in the hermetically sealed environment of the classroom living off what is essentially a Government handout.

Study rooms give a classroom protected view of working environments which offer them little experience of what life is really like and does not shape them ready for the real world. Additionally, it means that those students who are severely academically lacking may never get a job at all, which probably partly explains our huge problem with youth unemployment.

It strikes me that we don't need any more post-graduate students. We need skilled workers not statistic meeting, classroom boffins. Now, this may seem like a hark back to the old days of the 'class system'. And that's because it is. And what is wrong with the class system? Not everyone is an academic. Not everyone is fit for Government office, and not everyone can be a plumber. We have a class system because we are an animal with a pecking order and you cannot change that no matter how many degrees you introduce or how many times you put up the minimum wage.

There are people who are good with their hands and not their minds and they have huge potential in the job market if they are given the right education and the right direction. Putting vocational students into academic classrooms and converting vocational courses in BA's and MA's kills these students potential because it is sterile and nonconstructive to their needs and abilities.

And because it is all about hitting targets it often makes their industry appear pretentious (I use fashion and Graduate Fashion Week as a case in point) and unrealistic.

We killed off the polytechnic years ago. But the apprenticeship is making a comeback. Businesses are already seeing the advantage to taking apprentices under their wing. But we need more. To me it represents possibly the best chance we have of rescuing our floundering employment market and our lack of properly skilled workers.

Vocational skills are learnt on the job and not in the classroom. They help students to decide what they want to do because they get the opportunity to try the job for real. How many students have gone through the university system only to discover they don't like the industry they spent three years training to join? 

That nothing seems to change year on year just surprises me. Everything seem to be about statistics and league tables these days, not about people and aspirations and abilities. And it just doesn't work. 

Vocational skills are learnt on the job, not in the classroom (source)

# 72 (2013) Where Work Ends and Life Begins

Many of us struggle with the work life balance. And there are those of us who struggle with the work - career - home balance.

After a year of running my own business full time I am conceding temporary defeat and looking for more reliable work. But I still have to honour my business committments and I'd hate to sacrifice it all solely for the 9 - 5 which is a mistake I have made in the past and ALWAYS regretted.

But if I'm doing the 9 - 5, where does that leave my business dream? And where does that leave everyone else in my life? How do you get a three-fold balance to work? Can it work? And when do you call it quits and simply be thankful for any paid employment you can get even if you may well end up turning around in 15 years and wondering what the hell you were doing with your life.

I don't have the answer. I'm sure some people do. This will be the second time I have visited this way of working. And the last time my life existed for the 9-5 and the career dream and little else. Now I am a bit older and have other interests to enjoy and people in my life who I don't want to exclude I don't want to be a slave to the grind all day every day.

It's not an easy balance.

# 35 (2013) The Social Media Stalker

We are all aware that social media is a minefield of privacy issues and that to a degree everything is accessible. Or, at least, we should be.

Even when we know we have to 'friend' people on Facebook or we can monitor our followers on Twitter many of us do not check our privacy settings to be sure we're not getting unwanted attention from individuals or companies.

It also pays to be a bit savvy when you're running a business or making certain people or companies the subject of your blog posts or status updates. Because you never know when it might become an issue.

That employers will look for you on social media when you apply for a job is a fact. That your university may well be watching you years after you graduate is a fact. That an ex may be trolling your latest photographs is creepy but also a fact. But let's face it, these are not unexpected scenarios.

All social media platforms are able to give you some protection against unwanted stalkers but it's remarkable how many people do not use these settings to their full capacity. The number of times I have been able to view the Facebook profiles of people I am not friends with, is worrying.

Even Twitter has settings that allow you to get follower requests rather than letting anyone follow you. You can also restrict your Tweets to your approved followers only.

If you're running a blog or Facebook business page things are a little different. I try to keep business and personal profiles separate and I also try to operate a business minded policy when posting anything under my company name no matter how tempting it might be to slate a company who has wronged me or I think needs taking down a peg or two. It can be more difficult to restrict your followers and once it's in the public domain it's hard to retract a comment completely.

I am currently very tempted to write about a certain establishment which grates on me but I am in two minds about how to go about it in a professional way that means I can't be accused of targeting them. I believe that what I have to say has valid points for discussion and I don't want it to come across as a witch hunt.

Research your subject and try to leave your emotions to the side in these instances. Take a step back. An impulsive comment now could cost you dearly later on.

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# 27 (2013) Money Can't Buy You Happiness

I have always said I'd rather be doing a job I hated and earning money than doing no work at all. Spike Milligan said 'Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a more pleasant form of misery'. He was so right.

It's been two months since I did any actual paid work and loath though I am to admit it I feel like a business failure. Of course, I don't have to put myself through it. I would rather be earning money at a regular day job than creating for free. It's a matter of fact that I have to honour the landlord, British Gas, Orange, Anglian Water, Lincoln City Council and Virgin Media first before my personal creativity. Worrying about my business and all the associated domino effects that I get from not earning is killing my creativity and right now sitting in an office doing the 9 - 5 doesn't sound so bad.

So I'm job hunting because I am sick of doing nothing, worrying about the basics and fed up with trying to work out how I'm going to be able to afford to move in April.

I'd rather run my business on a part time basis than give it up completely.

Call it changing the plan for success.

The Gospel according to Richard Branson (source)

# 24 (2013) Financial Forecast

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You know you're getting old when you're worrying about the interest rates on your savings accounts. Every April I re-evaluate and move things around. Because someone has to.

I've worked out that if I can keep my ISA at a 3% rate for the rest of my working life I'll be able to retire at 62 with a marginally comfortable pension using today's prices. Which is kind of sad but clearly a necessity. But with no end to the recession in sight, finding that 3% deal is proving tricky. And that's how I know the recession is a real problem.

I didn't have a pension when I worked full time and money was the least of my worries. I spent my money, and spent and spent. And now I have a lot of catching up to do. Let that be a warning to you.

If I want to retire at around about state pension age I've only got 21 years left to muster up about £220,000 which may just keep me in food and heating if I live into my 80s. And who knows how long I'll live after that if I get that far.

Today, for the first time, a person in their 80s 

has higher living standards than someone 

working in their 20s

It's disconcerting how all through your twenties retirement is a whole other existence away. But then suddenly your thirties arrives and you think uh-huh. Real life. But those vital years do make all the difference.

Of course if you think I'm worrying now you need to read this to understand how catastrophic things could get not only for younger generations but also those approaching retirement now. The pension you might be putting away now, isn't actually there. It's being used to pay for a generation of retirees who are already there. But if fewer people are now putting away for their retirement where are current pensions coming from? The state pension may now in some cases be comparable to an early twenties income but an increasing number of pensionable age workers are now hanging in there and still working because they cannot afford to retire.

Many children are now living at home into their 40s because the costs of moving out are too prohibitive and older mothers who have held off starting a family due to careers and money concerns are being blamed for the steep rises in births in the last decade.

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I posted a link to a savings calculator above so you can find out how much work you've got to do to give yourself that comfortable retirement package you might already be dreaming of.

Of course, you might get lucky and make your millions, but if you don't this could be all you have so it's worth planning ahead to save yourself from years in poverty or an extended working life when you're older.

Sadly it won't be practical for a lot of us but be armed with the information and make informed choices wherever you can. That holiday in the sun might be just what you need right now but one week and it's gone. Put that money away and it could be paying for that retirement cruise instead.

# 19 (2013) Hit Rates

Is it all about the hits or it is the content of your blog that makes it successful?

I finally reached my 6000 hits milestone this last week. I've been running this site for over a year now and I have friends who have been running blogs for far less time and have more hits than me. But is it the hits that count, the content or the quality of the content?

If you're looking for a blog to read do you look at their hit counter first or study the subject matter or do you search by tag words? I tend to struggle with blogs that are poorly spelt so even if the content is interesting I will probably be distracted enough by the way it is written to go elsewhere.

Whilst I am guilty of posting up 'Wooooo look how many hits I've got' style updates, it's more about generating interest in keenly felt subjects or just venting because if I don't I may well explode.  My particular subjects of interest are body image, economy, business and finance and general day to day well being.

Clearly people are reading my blog but I don't worry about how many or who because I know that what I post isn't for everyone but for the people that do read it, it is useful or amuses. Many of my posts are personal to me or local in nature and won't necessarily relate to many of my readers but I do try to touch on subjects that I think will have readership appeal. 

And of course I do check my statistics to see where the trends lie generally or in regards to individual posts. Even so, I have no idea if I have a readership following or if I am randomly collecting readers on a post by post basis. Google tells me I have only three followers but I know more are regularly dropping by.

Some of my fellow bloggers post on subjects that will naturally generate higher hit rates. Fashion, ethical subjects, feminism, naturism and sex are cases in point and I know that if I tag posts that relate to these subjects that the hit rates on these entries will receive more attention. To prove the point I will be tagging the aforementioned words in this one and comparing the results over the next few weeks.

As well as regular readers there are drifters, people who pass through using search words to find individual subjects that interest them. Feminism, sex and business being cases in point.

More than anything, this is where I post what is going on in my life. I know that people have huge concerns about privacy and not letting the world know all about 'you'. I'm not about to post up my address or other intensely personal information but I find this place incredibly useful to me.

I also try to take care that I am not overly posting on subjects that directly link to those around me in real life. Well, not usually anyway. But if something really needs saying, I will say it.

I have many pent up emotions and frustrations and find that they are often best communicated in type face. I never kept a diary, I couldn't see the point in writing only for myself. Once I've written about something I don't necessarily want to be reminded about it. But I love to write. It has always been one of my passions and it's one of the things I have kept up with throughout my life.

Besides which I can reach a lot more people and that can only be a good thing, right?

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# 40 Regression

My mother sent me a food parcel this week. Whilst this is very sweet and exactly what I would expect my mother to do when I mentioned in passing that 'luxury' food such as cereal and fruit had become a valuable commodity, it felt like an epic fail in my book.

Not being able to stand on my own two feet, financially independent and 'holding my own' has long been one of my biggest fears. I haven't been financially dependent on anyone since 1998 when I first left home. And I have existed at both ends of the scale - two holidays abroad every year and not having to worry about anything, to having no electricity for 3 days because there wasn't a spare fiver in the place.

If nothing else it gives you a true sense of morality where money is concerned and this is in itself a valuable lesson. Never squander it, you don't know what's around the corner.

University has been one of the most frugal points of my life. It certainly feels like a regression of sorts and at times it has been incredibly frustrating and even humiliating. Living off a grant of £3,500 a year is not easy, it's little more than Jobseekers Allowance and there are copious additional expenses for course materials that just can't be avoided.

Earning again will be the one good thing about leaving University. I've really enjoyed my time at Lincoln and I'll be very sad to leave such a creatively opulent environment. It's the first time I've been allowed to indulge in what I want to do full time.

And it's been educational in so many ways more than the obvious. Once I leave the University in May, I'm on my own. Setting up a business designing and manufacturing clothing and styling photoshoots. It's an unknown quantity. How well will I do in such economically scarce times? To be honest, it scares the pants off me, but at the same time it's a liberation, because I never thought I would ever reach this goal.

It's the most important thing I have ever done in my entire life.