A Weekend to Remember

Friday 26th March

We went to Ferneham Hall in Fareham to see the Home Coming Tour by The Soldiers. The show put on by The Soldiers was great. They are not the most fantastic musical talent going IMHO, however they were fun, lively, their backing group was great and the songs were all well known. The venue was absolutely packed out, most of them silver-tops like ourselves!

But even had I thought they were terrible, it would have been worth going to see Julian Smith, Saxophonist who placed in the Britain’s Got Talent competition. This guy has such ability with his instrument (Sax of course!) that it is absolutely captivating. He is so good, he seems to be able to harmonise with himself! I hope he gets the success he deserves – anyone who becomes that expert in anything has my deepest respect!

Sat 27th March

We were up really early this morning to drive to Winslow, Buckinghamshire because Steve was booked into a fish and shellfish cookery course with Steve Bulmer at Brook Hall.

This was my present to Steve (dh) for his last birthday, and I was a bit worried about whether he would enjoy it. I needn’t have been concerned. Steve B turned out to be an inspired chef and teacher. He kept his class of 10 working and laughing the whole day, and I don’t know about the others, but I know Steve (dh) remembers a huge amount of what he learned that day.

I find cooking very boring. My treat for that day was to wander round Stowe landscape gardens. The guide was fine, the weather was dry and the landscaping was wonderful.

We stayed in Brook hall that evening (a lovely house, beautifully restored) and were provided with a 3 course dinner by Steve B who joined us with his wife. It was a really lovely day and evening and we enjoyed it to the full.

The drive back the next day was very pleasant and we luckily managed to miss a closure on the road we were meant to be travelling on. Sometimes it does you good to get lost.

Start a Small Business Now - Brilliant or Barmy?

Starting a Small Business In a Recession

Is this brilliant or barmy? It totally depends what kind of business you want to start.

The Times Says Brilliant – If You Are Business-Like.

Lauren Tompson in The Times, last Saturday, discussed the fact that many people being laid off in the current recession are using their redundancy money to set up their own small business.  People are finding that it is harder to find a new job at the moment and 'taking the risk' of starting their own small business seems a good way to go.

Pros and Cons

There are many pros and cons to starting your own business

Pros:

• There are opportunities in the market for two basic reasons:  1.  The recession will have weeded out many inefficient businesses, and left a gap in their market and:    2.  Life is changing and opportunities are springing up that just did not exist 10 years ago.
• Banks are beginning to lend money again and interest rates are at a historic low.
• Starting your own small business could give you much more control over your life.
• You may be able to work from home, thereby cutting down on travel and child-care costs.
• You may want to create another income stream, not a whole business.

Cons

• If you do not plan, prepare and produce very efficiently, you are at risk of losing your shirt.
• You do need to produce a good business plan before the bank will even consider you for a loan.
• You may end up working longer hours for less money.
• You may find you hate being an entrepreneur.

7 Things you Must Do for Business Success

• Do your business marketing - make sure people will buy your product – even in a recession.
• Put together a good business plan.
• Make sure you understand all the different ways there are to run a business today.
• Understand what legal structure will suit you best
• Look for loans and grants through local and governmental organisations
• When going to the bank for a loan, don't forget to ask them about the Government's enterprise finance guarantee scheme.
• Take advice from everyone, especially Business link.

Business Link can help you achieve your business start up dreams. Use their online business start up guide along with the many other useful services they provide.

What Business?

The Times' article really focused on off-line businesses. Chris Simpson of Business Link (government funded adviser) said that he "had seen a growth in hair-dressing salons, fitness instructors, reiki practitioners and other well-being businesses."

If you are wondering about the best industry to be in, Check out our analysis on good industries to be in in 2010 to see what the experts said about this.

Online or Offline?

What Chris did not mention is that many small business start-ups can start their business from home and run it online. Why would you want to do that? Well, our website runs through 4 business models we think all of you could handle with not too much trouble. but in summary

• You get access to a huge market
• Your start-up costs are generally much lower.
• You can work from home.
• Small companies can look big online.

Susi Glennan, a work from home, teach at home Mom, tells how running an online business from home has helped her maintain an income while achieving the lifestyle she wanted. "I find time to keep my house somewhat organized (I like that Susi – Ed) and food on the table after a long day of educating my children and running my business."

Rob Marcus of Chat Moderator believes that the online business and the family mix very well after hiring his wife. "I admit that private meetings concerning strategic direction run on a shorter fuse than I'ver experienced in previous organisations, but this could be because of being married or simply being joint owners." Rob says.

So could an online business or money making activity be the answer you have been looking for?   Find out by reading all about it and by sending for our free introductory course to affiliate marketing Then join out 'Society of Small Entrepreneurs or SoME© to learn more about the subject.

Life Plans or Business Plans. Five Ways to Make Sure they Work

Writing Plans Can Be Hazardous to Your Business Online

When writing business plans, or any sort of plans, make sure yours work.

People like me (coaches, advisers and consultants) are always telling people like you (potential and actual e-ntrepreneurs©) to "dream big and set great goals". We are always encouraging you to create a vision of what you want to achieve as a person or in terms of starting your own small business online.

So you do that, then you are surprised and disappointed when things do not turn out just as they were in your vision.

Here are just five reasons why you may be having great difficulty achieving those goals and plans for a small business online.

1. Not your Vision: Your vision was not what you really wanted – you created it to meet the needs of others, not yourself.
2. Your vision was not clear enough. You did not see, hear, feel, taste and smell the reality that would exist when you had achieved your dream.
3. Focussing on the negative. For some reason humans are programmed to focus on negative things. When we are reviewing progress, we notice what has gone wrong, not what has gone right.   This means that people often focus on minor fire-fighting and totally miss the fact that their customers started using their product for something different. Launch the business in the direction you planned, but remember it is your customers that float it – make sure you are not fighting the current they are trying to create.  
4. Fear Factor. It is hard to break out of your comfort zones. Starting a small business online means you are going to have to do things you have never done before. We tend to focus on the fear we feel of doing different things, and ignore the fantastic potential outcomes of taking that action. 
5. Break-Down. Finally and most important of all, I find my friends are good at taking their visions and setting long, medium and short-term goals and action points. What they are not good at is applying their skills to visualising successful outcomes for those mid and short term goals. In other words they do not programme their brains.

Creating a good visualisation of a successful day, programme, plan, project or action can add massively to your success. Professor Richard Wiseman of Hertfordshire University in his book 59 Seconds: Think a little, change a lotadvises exactly that.