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Read this if you want to succeed as a business mum in 2011…

admin — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 21:30:24 +0000

When in business for yourself it is easy to get so caught up in the little details of business that we forget about the big picture.

Let's face it, it's more exciting to check out the latest new strategy or secret than to move out of your comfort zone and actually grow your business – the scary stuff!

But…

That's NOT going to bring you success in 2011.

Lets be honest, you and I both know that sitting in front of our computers all day…answering emails, checking your stats, browsing the web doing ‘research’, posting on Facebook…and not doing anything to market your business, isn’t work. And it certainly won’t grow your business.

To succeed in 2011, you need to focus on what will grow your business, or another way of putting it is IGNORE everything that won’t. So first up stop reading those emails that tell you they have the next secret to make you money or generate traffic for you. Believe me they don’t…I know I have looked at enough of them.

So if you want to take your business to the next level you need to focus more and more on the few critical tasks that are going to create massive growth in your business.

Ok so how…It comes back to the 80/20 rule.

Focus your energy on the 20% of tasks that will create 80% of the results.

So before we go any further, you need to ask yourself if this is something you REALLY want. Do you want to grow your business – No Excuses…No Ifs or Buts, or are you happy to stay as you are.

Ok, so if you really want it, let’s continue…

For you to create a plan to move forward in your business, you must first look at where you are now and have a CLEAR vision of where you want to be. Without a clear vision of where you want to be and what you want to achieve, it's impossible to make decisions to get you there.

The best way to do this is by answering 4 questions:

1. Create an exciting vision of your future – where you want to be.

2. Clarify where you are now.

3. Determine the ‘Gap’ between where you are now and where you want to be.

4. Create action steps and time frames needed to get you there.

I know this seems kind of scary and you are probably thinking of putting this into the ‘too hard’ basket but don’t! I’ve done that and I can tell you nothing changes, your business doesn’t all of a sudden start making money without you doing anything. It just doesn’t happen like that. So if you don’t make the changes, your business won’t change.

Just remember the first step is always the hardest.

Now it’s time to get your hands dirty! I want you to follow the steps below. Yes, right now.

1. Download the Goal Setting document and print it out – once done come back to this email.

2. Grab a pen

3. Work through the Goal Setting document

4. Once completed take the finished version and put it up on your office wall or anywhere you can see it on a daily basis.

Remember the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and hoping for a different result. So make a decision to make a difference, it could be THE most important thing you do all year.

This does work believe me; I have several years of painful trial and error to prove it. You just need to make a few changes to what you currently do to make it a success.

So, what are you waiting for?

Alison

MumsinBusiness.net

BusinessWomenUnite.net

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I decided to make this the year of “no excuses”, what about you…?

admin — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:41:26 +0000

Well another New Year is upon us and for millions of us this would have brought a few New Year’s Resolutions (some new as well as some we promised to do in previous years and still haven’t). Well I made some (actually I did them back in Dec) as I wanted to make sure that this year was different.

So I decided to make this the year of "no excuses".

I put together an in-depth action plan and challenging targets – It’s exciting but a little scary if I am honest.

As most New Year’s resolutions never get accomplished and when being a work at home business mum it can sometimes be difficult to stay motivated and achieve what you want, I thought it would be good to share our goals with each other. The more accountable you are the more likely you are to achieve.

Here are my goals and I urge you to share yours.

My 2011 Plans

I went into business to help people which now-a-days I seem to be doing less and less of, so this year I am going to be changing this.

New Business Idea – I will be launching a new business idea that’s aimed to help business owners with many of the things they are struggling with in business. It will have a great deal of resources and information plus there will be access to services at a fraction of the cost of anywhere else. The aim is to make life easier for business owners and get the services and resources they need from one place. The site will cater for every type of business, whether local, national, large or small business.

With the launch of my new business idea I will be sharing with you what strategies I use to build my business including some familiar ones, some new ideas, and what is working now for business success. The great thing is you can follow along and copy the strategies.

Working Together – As a community of women I want to find ways that we help each other to market our businesses better and help each other to get more business? I have a couple of ideas but will be asking for your ideas.

I will continue to grow my existing businesses.

I have set a financial goal to reach a certain amount by June 2011 as well – this is a challenging target as I am basically starting from scratch but even if I only get half way there I will be happy.

I have some personal goals as well. This year is a big age year for me (not telling which yet) so I want to lose 8kgs before my birthday at the end of May. I also want to get my personal life back on track.

Let's start this year off right…let us know what your business plans are for 2011, what you want to achieve. Where do you see yourself by 31^st December 2011?

Together we can make 2011 our best year ever!

Alison Basson

Mums in Business

Business Women Unite

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Business Mums – How do I successfully juggle being a Mum and an Entrepreneur?

admin — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:17:33 +0000

As mums we already have a busy life and it is a well known fact that women are great at juggling a hundred and one things at once. But when it comes to taking on a home based small business as well, things get a little more challenging. As business mums already know it can be challenging trying to juggle the children and a business smoothly but it can be done and you don’t need to be ‘superwomen’.

Organisation and a ‘great well oiled plan’ is the key if you wish to create a successful business and lifestyle.

When becoming a business mum it is important to have a balance between your children/family and your small business, otherwise your new business will take over. A business doesn’t grow over night so don’t try and make it – a few extra hours a week will not achieve this.

If you want to create a successful professional wahm business you will need to make some decisions about when you are going to work in your business and who will look after the children at those times. So here are some great tips to help you successfully juggle both:

Have a routine and plan your day. Write down everything you need to do and achieve. Include personal and business goals and then put together a weekly action plan and daily task list. It will make it easier if you can dedicate set days to your business and then you can do all your business tasks on those days.
Separate your work and family time and balance your time. Make a clear distinction between the two. Set time aside for your family and avoid working in family time. Trying to work with children in toe is not a great recipe for success and not very fair on your children.
- Set up an office environment away from the children. – This will help you to focus on work and be professional.
- When making phone calls – children will always interrupt so make your business calls when they are asleep or when someone else can watch them. It is not professional to make calls with noisy children in the background.
- Do the day-to-day running of the business. If you look after your children full time, working when the children are asleep can be a great option.
Have set working days. This will help you to focus on your business with no interruptions from your children. If you need some additional time to concentrate on the business then consider having your children looked after for a period of time each week by a relative or friend, Childcare or Family Day Care or Au Pair or Nanny?
Get help from experts. If you try and do everything yourself, you will pay a high price – your health, family time and an unsuccessful business.

Find experts who offer help for small business; use their knowledge to help you grow your business. Outsource tasks by recruiting a PR person, a bookkeeper, an admin person etc.
Know what you want to achieve from your business. Having definite objectives will help you to work towards your goals. Break them down into smaller goals that you can achieve as you work towards your ultimate goals. It is much better than having everything going round in your head and being unsure whether you are actually achieving anything.

By following these few steps, your home based small businesswill develop the strong foundations it needs to succeed. Remember, building a wahm business takes time, and you must be patient and dedicated to be successful.

A great way to help you successfully juggle being a MUM and an Entrepreneur would be to access our free mums in business resources at www.mumsinbusiness.net where you will discover proven, easy-to-apply strategy that mums just like YOU are using every day to start & grow profitable businesses!

From Alison Basson – Mums in Business, for mums and women who are serious about business

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How do mums in business get organised and focused…

admin — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:06:48 +0000

Getting organised is a tough ask for many people, especially when you are a Mums in Business and have kids in tow! Being focused and organised can be done, and with a business to run, it is absolutely essential.

So, how do we do it?

Physically clean and tidy - First thing is to physically clean and tidy all of your desk and office. Put all of your papers to one side in a big pile and clean your computer, phone and accessories (not forgetting the desk itself). For those who have a computer on the kitchen bench or similar, this might be a great time to re-evaluate making an office space.

Organise your time – Next you need to work out a time schedule for your days and week. This is also commonly called a DMO- Daily Method of Operation. The aim of this exercise is to ensure that you have set aside and blocked out work time. Investing in a daily diary is a great idea. In your dairy

a. Block out time for your essential personal tasks like family time, pick up and drop off of kids, any cooking, bed times etc. Ensure you block out time for you as well.

b. Then, with what you have left over, start choosing blocks of time that you can set aside to work. These may be whole days or part of days depending on your circumstances.

· Make a list all the tasks that you should be doing on a daily and weekly basis.

· Enter what tasks you will complete in each blocks of time. I.e. Answer emails 9am-10am Tues – Thurs, Process orders 3 times a week.

c. Next, after you’ve blocked out your times, put them up where you can see them! Make sure your family can see them as well, and ensure that your work times are ok with everyone and don’t clash.

Focus your mind! – Now it’s time to focus on your mind! Having a positive mind set is crucial to success in business. A great way to clear your mind and to focus is by writing affirmations. An Affirmation consists of the following:

Visualize your goals and dreams, picture yourself actually achieving your goals
Specific details for each of your goals
A step by step plan

Set some goals – Once you’ve defined your affirmations, it’s time to set some goals. It’s a great idea to set some short and long term goals.

Follow the acronym – SMART- Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed
Always make sure your goals are in the present tense and have a timeframe on them
Review your goals every 90 days and amend if necessary

A great way to help you get organised and focused would be to access our free mums in business resources at www.mumsinbusiness.net where you will discover proven, easy-to-apply strategy that mums just like YOU are using every day to start & grow profitable businesses!

From Alison Basson – Mums in Business, for mums and women who are serious about business

More than a mum, I’m a mum in business

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Is your online business actually making any money? – what every mum in business needs to know…

admin — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:22:49 +0000

I come across a lot of mums with businesses and one of the common things I find is that they have little idea about whether their business actually makes any money. I also find they don’t have sufficient cash flow to develop the business.

It comes as a real shock when business mums find out that they have been working for the last year for no money or even worse that the business has been costing them money.

There is no point spending time, money and energy on your business if it doesn’t make you any money.So how can you easily evaluate if your business is making any money if you don’t know a lot about finance.

Well, first let me say why it is so crucial. If you don’t know how you are doing, how can you improve it and how are you going to stay in business? I am going to show you a few basic things you can do to monitor your business and improve its performance:

First the basics – you need to have more money coming into your business than what goes out of your business. I can hear it now – well that’s simple, everybody knows that and yes they probably do but you will be amazed at the amount of people who have no idea how much they spend each month but continue to spend money they don’t have.
Have a working budget that help you to identify number of sales required, expenses, breakeven point and profit or loss.
Complete your accounts on a regular basis so that you can compare them against your budget. This can be a really simple process and you don’t have to purchase expensive software, you can even do it on an excel spreadsheet if you don’t have a lot of activity.

Monitoring them on a regular basis will allow you to identify early on areas of your business that may need to be improved.
- Look at your sales. The figures should be improving – if they are not, ask yourself why. What are your strategies for making sure you achieve your sales budget. How are you going to generate more sales?
- Look at your costs. Are your costs in line with your sales – if you are not getting the sales you need, reduce your costs or increase your sales?
Know how much profit you make on each of your products/services. The aim is to make as much Gross Profit out of each of the products as possible. The higher your gross profit percentage the more money you will make.
Know your business break-even point – this is how many sales you need to cover all your costs. If you cannot cover your costs you are going to lose money and eventually go broke.

Doing these few things could make the difference between making money and losing money.

Here is an example: AXY business makes $2,500 in sales per month and makes a guess that their costs are around $2,000 per month. So they know that they will make $500 per month. However, when they checked their costs they realised they were actually $2,500 per month which meant that they had not actually made any money at all. They had been working for months for nothing.

If they had known these figures before hand, they could have done several things. Reduce their costs and/or increase their sales. As I mentioned earlier if you don’t know how you are doing, how can you improve it and how are you going to stay in business.

A great way to help you get advice on creating a successful business would be to access our free mums in business resources at www.mumsinbusiness.net where you will discover proven, easy-to-apply strategy that mums just like YOU are using every day to start & grow profitable businesses!

From Alison Basson – Mums in Business, for mums and women who are serious about business

More than a mum, I’m a mum in business

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