Secret 2: It’s not just you

This is the second in a series, 5 Secrets of Growing your Business from the Kitchen Table, from our Mumpreneur guru, Antonia Chitty.

My second secret of growing your home business is all about making sure you run your business in an effective way, maximise your results and allow the enterprise to grow.

If you look at your business right now, who is involved in running it? What would happen if you took a day off, wanted a week away or were unexpectedly ill for several weeks? If you want to build a business income that your family can depend on it is important that the business does not just depend on you.

Do you ever feel the pressure of running your business is overwhelming? You can be required to cope with selecting new products or developing new services, pick and packing, promotion, marketing and accounts as well as being your own receptionist and tea lady.

Secret two is a way to both make sure that your business can run without you AND ensure that the money continues to come in whether you are there or not.

Secret two: build a team for your business

Look at all the functions in your business: make a list right now of all the things that you do. You might want to include:

• Website management

• Marketing through social media, blogging, newsletters etc

• Public relations

• Picking and packing

• Arranging couriers or taking parcels to the post office

• Customer services – answering queries by phone or email

• Bookkeeping and end of year accounts and tax return

When you’ve made your list, put a tick by the things that you like doing and feel that you are good at. Then look at the other areas. What one would you be really pleased to get off your hands? Who could help you with this? You might need the help of a:

• Bookkeeper

• Accountant

• Lawyer

• Public relations specialist

• Marketer

• Website manager

A virtual assistant can do many things for your business, and different assistants have different areas of expertise. Some may be able to create emails and newsletters for you and upload things to your website. Others may offer call handling and be able to answer simple customer queries for you.

Or you might need someone local who can come in on an occasional and part time basis to help with packing and dispatch.

Having got this far, is there a little voice inside your head saying. “But my business can’t afford more help”? If so, push it aside for a moment or two. Think how much more effectively you could work on the tasks that you have a natural talent for if this one task or area of work was taken off your hands. Could you do more work to generate sales that would then pay for the support? Or are there tasks that just aren’t getting done that are holding the business back? Getting extra specialist support could help you take the business to a new level.

Think about this over the next few days. Work out how much you would have to increase sales in order to pay for help – and conversely estimate how much sales are being held back because of the things you aren’t able to do, or can’t do quickly and efficiently.

Build your network of support people for your business and it can really allow your business to take off. Develop ongoing relationships and set up systems that work and you will get to the stage where your business can succeed even when you aren’t there.

 

Search for a Job

Any Job Type Employed Jobs Franchise Opportunities Other Self-employed Party Plan Any Job Sectors Art and Crafts Cards and Gifts Childcare Children's Parties Children's fashion Coaching Skills Communication Classes for Children Dance Classes for Children Drama Classes for Children Educational Fashion Fitness Food and Drink Health and Beauty Homewares Jewellery Kitchen Products Language Classes for Children Magazines and Websites Marketing and PR Mind, Body and Spirit Mother and Baby Products Music and Dance Classes for Children Music Classes for Children Mystery Shopping / Focus Groups New Age Products Personal Introductions Pets Photography Physical Education for Children Sales Sales/Customer Services Swimming Classes for Children Toys Tutoring Children Voluntary Work Any Employment Type Self Employed Permanent Employment Temporary Employment Freelance Contract Jobs from Any Date Jobs in the Last Week Jobs in the Last Month Working Anytime During School Hours Evenings Only Weekends Only Set My Own Hours Part-time Set Hours Full-time Set Hours Work from Anywhere Home Based Office Based Shop or Factory Based Combination Any Location Aberdeenshire Anglesey/Sir Fon Angus/Forfarshire Antrim Argyllshire Armagh Ayrshire Banffshire Bedfordshire Berkshire Berwickshire Brecknockshire/Sir Frycheiniog Bristol Buckinghamshire Buteshire Caernarfonshire/Sir Gaernarfon Caithness Cambridgeshire Cardiff Cardiganshire/Ceredigion Carlow Carmarthenshire/Sir Gaerfyrddin Cavan Cheshire Clackmannanshire Clare Cork Cornwall County Down Cromartyshire Cumberland Darlington Denbighshire/Sir Ddinbych Derbyshire Devon Donegal Dorset Dublin Dumfriesshire Dunbartonshire/Dumbartonshire Durham East Anglia East Lothian/Haddingtonshire Edinburgh Essex Fermagh Fife Flintshire/Sir Fflint Galway Glamorgan/Morgannwg Glasgow Gloucestershire Greater London Greater Manchester Hampshire Herefordshire Hertfordshire Huntingdonshire Inverness-shire Kent Kerry Kildare Kilkenny Kincardineshire Kinross-shire Kirkcudbrightshire Lanarkshire Lancashire Laois Leicestershire Leitrim Limerick Lincolnshire London East London North London South London West Londonderry Longford Lothians Louth Mayo Meath Merioneth/Meirionnydd Merseyside Middlesex Monaghan Monmouthshire/Sir Fynwy Montgomeryshire/Sir Drefaldwyn Morayshire Nairnshire Norfolk North Wales Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire Offaly Orkney Oxfordshire Peeblesshire Pembrokeshire/Sir Benfro Perthshire Powys Radnorshire/Sir Faesyfed Renfrewshire Roscommon Ross-shire Roxburghshire Rutland Selkirkshire Shetland Shropshire Sligo Somerset South Wales Staffordshire Stirlingshire Suffolk Surrey Sussex Sutherland Tipperary Tyrone UK Wide Warwickshire Waterford West Lothian/Linlithgowshire West Midlands Westmeath Westmorland Wexford Wicklow Wigtownshire Wiltshire Worcestershire Wrexham Yorkshire

Keyword

Help   Clear

Search