According to a recent survey by Vodafone, when it comes to job satisfaction, employees put flexible working far higher than more tangible benefits such as a financial stake in the business, bonus schemes and company pensions.
More than 75 per cent of the employees surveyed say flexible working boosts their job satisfaction and improves work-life balance.
No customers equals no money, which will inevitably mean no business. So, while focusing on the web and all the internet can do to bring in more business, when your business isn’t web based, but a local business, how do you get more paying customers?
The key is to think outside the box – traditional flyers and business cards still work and serve a purpose, but if that’s all you do, don’t be surprised if you feel like your business isn’t going anywhere.
Below are three simple ways to get more clients in order to maximise your business’s potential.
Earning extra money selling your wares on eBay, or craft fairs and car boot sales are great ways to earn some extra income. But what would the taxman say if he knew that you haven’t declared your extra earning?
A lot of mumpreneurs and stay-at-home mums who are making money doing a little bit of this and selling a little bit of that are often shocked on hearing that they need to let the taxman know about their extra income. And this is something that needs to be done within three months of using a regular route to earning extra money – even if it amounts to a very small amount every year.
The fact is, it’s not always about paying tax – you could end up getting some money back on allowable expenses, but you won’t if you’re not declaring the income in the first place! If you know what to do (and you can use accounting software to help if you’re not sure), you won’t be left out of pocket.
Every business mum who is serious about getting good exposure has sent a press release before, or at least has it on a to-do list…if you don’t, you are missing a step or two on your marketing and promotion plan.
If you’re on the receiving end of press releases like we are here at motherswhowork.co.uk, you’ll know what it feels like to open a press release and find that the information is either lacking or all ver the place – or worst still, has nothing to do with mums at all.
Journalists, like many professionals, are busy people who receive hundreds of emails every day. If you want to make your press release stand out and get noticed, you have to think through what you want to say, put it in a format that best gets that message across, and will make the journalist want to find out more about your offering.
Here are some tips to help:
Whether it’s for more flexibility or work-life balance, running your own business can bring a lot of positives into the family home.
But for many mums, when you don’t have a burning idea that you just can’t wait to start your business in, it can feel like you’ll never get that financial freedom you’re looking for.
Here are three basic tips to help you bring out that business you have inside you:
According to a survey of 1,600 women , 45% of women are forced to take badly paid, low-skilled jobs when they return to work after maternity leave because they feel there are no decent part-time jobs in the UK.
The report by think tank Resolution Foundation and Netmums says that British women are paying a high price for motherhood and face “one of the highest part-time penalties in Europe”.
If you feel that this is the reality you are or have been living since having children, the it’s time to take matters into your own hands, either:
1. Start a business where you dictate your earning power – join the Mothers Who Work Club today and learn everything you need to get your online business off the ground.
2. Use our job-hunting tips below to dig out those well-paid part-time jobs that we know really do exist.
With half term just around the corner, many of us are wondering how we can keep e kids entertained while keeping our businesses ticking over.
If you’re a one-woman band, then quite often, when you’re not working, you simply aren’t making money, and that’s just the harsh reality of being a mumpreneur often times.
But there are ways around this – watch this video tutorial on how to be productive, so that come the next school holiday you’ll still be making money!
Are you the face of your business? Do you know wish you could change that and make your brand more focused on your product or services?
Do you have a website that doesn’t really have a brand as such, but has branding that’s just based around the design that by our web designer put together? Do your business cards have a different logo to your other marketing materials…and your website?
Watch this video tutorial to find out how to brand yourself, your products and services and find out why it is important for your customers…
Whether its in your personal life, during school, or at work, there always seems to be one person who is overconfident and takes control (or tries to) in ever situation. They’ll be the one who thinks they know exactly how someone should do every little thing – even when they were not there or have never experienced the situation that person is in.
In the workplace, it’s to be expected that you’ll get some direction from colleagues when you start a new job or project – that person could be your boss, or someone who has a bit more experience than you do.
But there is a line between being coached or mentored and being bossed around. The latter often makes you feel frustrated and resentful…and yet powerless to do or say anything for fear of rocking the boat.
Here are some strategies you can use to manage a bossy colleague at work:
Children do need to be children and enjoy their childhood, but as they grow they also need to learn about money, where it comes from and learn how to function in society, so that when they grow to be adults they live responsibly.
The days of car washing and paper rounds still exist for many, but even these jobs are thin on the ground, with graduates and adults all competing for ways to earn extra money.
By the time they start sixth firm or college, many teenagers would likely be thinking about ways to make money outside of the Bank of Mum and Dad, and will be thinking of a Saturday job at the very least – often in the nearest fast food establishment. But would it be better for them to start their own business instead?
Here are five reasons why a business is better:
Leaving a job is just not an option for most people these days and with the job market not as buoyant as times past, quitting could spell financial doom.
With that in mind, recognising that you hate your job may seem like an unnecessary admission, but if you leave bad feelings to fester, you run the risk of producing poor results and feeling resentment without knowing why. Accepting that you have fallen out of love for your job could open new doors – a new career, a new business or a promotion.
Here are four sure-signs that yu really do hate your job:
London may be the hub of the UK’s economy, but a lot of business takes place outside of the capital. Liverpool and Bristol are hugely important port cities; Leeds and Edinburgh both house financial companies with national profiles; Glasgow and Manchester have large media and cultural sectors while Birmingham and Nottingham are both vital retail centres.
There are occasions when you need to raise the bar a little with important clients and business associates, and local coffee shops (big names or small) just won’t do.
With that in mind, we have picked out five hotels outside London for business use that offer all the facilities you need without breaking the bank.
Office gossip is one of those things that we don’t take too much notice of until the subject of the gossip gets personal.
If you are the subject of backstabbing or unrelenting gossip and feel like you’ve had enough, here are some tips to stop the culprits:
1. Lead by example
If you don’t like being gossiped about, the first step is to not get involved in gossiping about other people. If people try to drag yu into office gossip, just explain that you don’t like to talk about other people when they’re not there.
Twitter is one of our preferred three social networking sites (LinkedIn and Facebook are the other two) that we use to make contact with fellow working mums and mums in business.
Are you using it to engage with your business audience? If not, you are missing out – forget about what you’ve just bought from your favourite shop, or what you’re cooking for dinner…if you’re not tweeting for business from your Twitter account, you aren’t giving your business a fighting chance against your competitors.
Watch this premium video tutorial to find out how to get loads of targeted Twitter followers, and get some tips on what you can do with them once you’ve got them!
It’s a real treat to come across a young mum who has set up their own business to juggle the demands of motherhood and earning and income. Not that they don’t exist, but many young mums tend to fall into the benefit line, or stop working all together and become stereotyped.
In walks Sarah Stubbings, 25, director of Remote Assistant and mum to Hannah 17 months, Bethany 6 months. She tells Motherswhowork.co.uk, how she has established a successful business that operates during evenings, weekends and nap times and has just taken on an employee!
Are you struggling to get a decent meal on the table because you’re tired when you get home from work? Are ready meals ruling your life, your pocket and your waistline?
Do you feel guilty your children don’t know that chips are made from potatoes and don’t come from a paper bag or box?
Do you wish you could get the time to bake like those perfect Steford-style mums at the school gate, who are constantly showing off their perfect cupcakes at every opportunity?
Does your heart race like an adrenaline junkie at the thought of making a Sunday roast for the in-laws, because you can never get it as perfect as how your mother-in-law says she does it?
Don’t feel guilty, do something about it – we tested out some products from Lakeland that will make cooking a doddle (ok, less than the effort you put in now!):
