Is Cottage Industry Dead?

Posted by Melinda on August 24, 2009 · Leave a Comment

graveyard Is Cottage Industry dead?

Well, it’s not dead at the moment, in fact, in this current economic climate it’s flourishing. There’s a huge move towards home based businesses at the moment, with more and more people choosing to either set up a business on the side or full-time.

“Cottage Industry” is defined as – An industry where the creation of products and services is home-based, rather than factory-based. That pretty much defines every work at home mum that I know.

Please note that in the following when I say ‘cottage industry’ I’m referring specifically to the manufacturing side, not service businesses. Those will be a topic for another day!

If you’re a cottage industry and you’re manufacturing a product, you may do well to look at the evolution of cottage industry manufacturing and how it tends to evolve into large-scale manufacture.

Since the Industrial Revolution, there have always been cottage industries. Historically it was the women working at home in their spare time to earn ‘pin money’ (see – the first work at home moms!) and over time that developed into full businesses located in the home.

I can see a trend that has happened in the past, and looks to continue in the future in regard to the manufacturing aspect of cottage industry. And that trend concerns me.

Cottage industry tends to be started by people who see a need for a product that they can’t buy commercially – for example modern cloth nappies/diapers. Apologies to all the nappy/diaper-makers who read this – I’m just using you as an example however I can see this happening in most of the cottage industry manufacturing ventures.

Case in point: In the past, cloth nappies were only available as the old-fashioned terry squares and roughly 97% of the population used disposables. The only people who still used cloth were those who were either too poor to afford disposables or the environmentalists living on the fringe. However in the last ten years, there’s been a huge move back towards more convenient, more environmental, easier to use, great looking cloth diapers.

Originally, these were made 100% by a few mums working at home in a cottage industry setup at home. Cloth nappies were unusual. People needed to be educated in their use, their care and their benefits. Over the years the demand for cloth nappies has increased to the point there are now hundreds of WAHMs making and selling them, all over the world. Supply has caught up with, if not exceeding, demand.

Nowadays, I know of at least three brands in Australia that are now being mass-manufactured overseas. And I can practically guarantee that if it’s happening here in Australia then it’s happening in the US and other countries.

Please note that this is not necessarily a bad thing. Mass-producing something that benefits people is good, however if you’re a work at home mum and this happens in your industry, you need to be aware of it and plan for it.

Historically, cottage industry begins a trend in a new product and builds it up until it is commonly accepted by the population at large, at which point it is picked up by commercial manufacturers.

What does this mean for work at home moms who are manufacturing items for sale?

I believe there will always be a market for one of a kind, unique, handmade articles, no matter how much the article is also made commercially. For example, I can buy a bar of commercial chemical-laden soap at the supermarket. Or I can buy cold-process, natural, REAL soap made by a work at home mum.

There are a couple of things you can do here, if you’re a work at home mom in manufacturing:

- Be an early adopter and be one of those who outsource and begin commercial production of the product. (please, do us all a favour and choose somewhere that follows fair-trade practices in their manufacturing and the way they treat their workers)

- Ensure your product is unique in some way. If you produce an item that is unique and individual then there will probably continue to be a market for it.

- Diversify your business. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, or all your faith in one product or product line. Look at expanding into new areas.

- Plan your exit strategy before you need it.

Whatever you do, don’t pretend it can’t happen in your industry.

Filed under General, Planning · Tagged with business plan, cottage industry, Marketing, WAHM, Work At Home Mom, Work At Home Mum

Building a House Without a Plan

Posted by Melinda on August 21, 2009 · 1 Comment

plan-goals Let’s pretend. You’re going to build a house. A big house. Your dream house. What’s the first thing you do? Start digging the foundations? Order the bricks? Paint the walls? No, the first thing you do is work out exactly what it’s going to look like when it’s finished and you write (or draw) the plans for how to achieve that. Can you imagine what your house would look like if you simply started building without knowing exactly what you wanted it to be like when it was finished? If you dug the footings and poured the foundation slab without mapping out the layout first?

It amazes me the number of people who run their business without clear-cut, written down goals. They generally start with a vague notion of what it is they want to do – the dream house – but they never plan the specifics. Setting goals for your business is one the most important things you can ever do in order to succeed.

Goals and visions are about what you want to BE, DO and HAVE. It’s who you are, what you do, and what you have – both tangible and intangible.

“If you don’t know where you want to go, any road will get you there”

Plan to spend at least an hour, or more, on setting your goals. Take yourself away somewhere where you’ll be undisturbed and when you’re not trying to look after kids or be distracted by something else that’s going on around you.

Take a largish sheet of paper and do a huge brain dump. Write down everything you want to achieve in your life, both business-wise and personal. You should have around 50+ things written down before you stop. EVERYTHING you ever wanted to be, do or have.

Take another sheet of paper and divide it into four columns. Write the headings up the top: Either 6 month, 1 year, 3 year and Longer, or alternatively 1 year, 3 year, 8-10 year and Longer.

Now take every item you wrote on the first piece of paper and transfer it to the second under one of your headings. Every item should be classified under one of the time frames you’ve listed.

When you’ve finished that, choose the most important 3-5 items from each list. They’ll be the things that leap out at you, that you feel you MUST achieve.

Put your sheet of paper aside for a few days. Look at it occasionally and consider if those things you’re chosen are truly the most important for you. Think about why they’re important, and what they will do for you when you achieve them.

After you’ve considered your goals for a few days and are certain that the one’s you’ve chose are the most important for you, we need to write them in a way that is meaningful and motivational.

Take the paper with your final goals written on it, and a new sheet of paper. We’re going to write out a paragraph for each time frame.

Remember the previous post where we talked about the SMARTIE format? Just to remind you, SMARTIE stands for:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Timed

Inspirational

Emotional

So if I were writing out three goals for the next year, (they’re not my real goals by the way) I could write:

“It’s December 2010 and I’m earning $80,000 a year from my business. I’m loving helping work at home mums grow their business and it’s fantastic to see how happy my clients are when they see their great results. I have well over 2,000 subscribers on my email list and they buy from me regularly. We’re flying out in January for a month’s holiday in Fiji to relax and have fun as a family. I feel happy and fulfilled, knowing that as well as the business I’m strengthening my own family’s unity.”

There are the three goals in there, the earnings, the subscribers and the family holiday. I’ve included all the components of the SMARTIE goals, the paragraph tells me how I feel, what the benefits of these goals are. Family is VERY important to me, so the last sentence is a huge emotional motivator for me.

Your goals and how you write them will be different. You may have read that paragraph and said “So what?” That’s fine. Write your own goals out so they motivate and encourage you. Note that the holiday is still in the future, after the date at the beginning, however it has it’s own time on it.

Write a paragraph for all three time periods, the 1 yr, 3yr and 10yr goals (or 6 month, 1 yr and 3 yr). Rewrite them until they motivate you and make you want to have it RIGHT NOW (you can plant a tree later to replace all the paper you’re using). You should be smiling and feel great when you read them. If you’re not, then add in more emotion and more inspiration. It’s all about ‘why’ you want this goal, what it’s going to do for you.

These goals should be incorporated into your Business Plan. They provide the basis for what action you take in the future – “Will doing xyz help me reach my goal or not?” If not, don’t do it. Ensure your actions support your goals.

Next week we’re going to be looking at how to keep these goals in the front of your mind and how to use your subconscious to work on autopilot to achieve them.

A New Appointment

I’m very pleased to announce that I’ve just been appointed President-Elect for the Canberra Chapter of the International Coach Federation (ICF). I’ve been a member of the ICF for about five years and have been on the Leadership Team for the Canberra Chapter as Events Leader and Membership Leader for the past year.

This appointment was a huge surprise to me, and is a real honour. I’ve got a fantastic group of people in the Leadership Team to work with, and a great President to understudy and learn from.

My learning curve at present is pretty much vertical, which is exciting, challenging and a little scary all at the same time. Good fun!

Filed under Planning, Useful Tools · Tagged with business plan, goals, Productivity, Work At Home Mom

Hitting the Wall

Posted by Melinda on August 17, 2009 · 1 Comment

wall I hit a wall last week. Figuratively speaking that is, not an actual wall. You may have noticed there was only one post last week? That wall was one that I’d been warned about, that I’d been told to look for around the six month mark of having the site going and blogging constantly.

I thought I’d missed it. Yay me! After all, I’d been running a coaching business, complete with website, for over four years, why would ‘this’ six month mark be different? And besides, it’s been eight months. I must have missed it, right?

Man, I didn’t even see it coming. That wall just up and hit me right between the eyes last week. Totally unexpected, and frustratingly solid.

It’s the wall of “this is damned hard work” and “I’ve written more in the last eight months for this site than I did in the entire four years of the other website” and the “I’m so sick of sitting down to write/market/tweak/network”. And since it was a busy week in other ways, that wall felt even heavier than it should have.

It’s not that I’ve run out of topics, goodness knows I’ve got topics listed for the next two months and I’m adding to them faster than I’m writing posts. It’s not that I’m not getting results from the website, I’ve got a higher readership than I expected. I’ve got coaching clients contacting. I’ve had people contact me for Joint Ventures, guest posts, links etc. Business is good.

It’s simply the fact of the day to day ‘stuff’ of writing a blog. The glow of initial excitement has faded and gone, it’s no longer a novelty to have a business blog, it’s become the ordinary way to do business. The joy of writing a new post every day or two has disappeared, to be replaced by the mundane-ness of business as usual.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, it happens to every business owner, and apparently it’s usually around the six month mark. I guess I’m lucky that I made it to eight months before hitting the wall. That was probably simply the fact that I had so much going on in my personal life around then – my husband came home from a six month deployment in the Middle East – that I was able to keep going for a bit longer.

It’s not a bad thing, this wall, in fact it’s a good thing, it’s a significant milestone. This wall is a barrier that filters out the serious business people from the wanna-be’s. If you’re not serious about your business, if you’re not prepared to keep on going long-term, if you were expecting it to be easy, then this wall will stop you.

However if you knew from the start that it was going to be hard work, if you planned your business growth over a long period of time, then like me, you’ll get through this. Or you’ll get over it, under it, around it, whatever it takes. That wall won’t stop you more than momentarily. Or, as in my case, for a week.

I spent that week, apart from writing the one post, looking at what I’m doing and going over my business plan. Was this really what I wanted to keep on doing? Was I doing it the best way, or could I make it easier for myself? It was a real wake-up call, this feeling of hitting a wall, to make me look closely at what I’m doing and what I plan to do.

WAHM Biz Builder has evolved constantly over the last eight months, and it’s still changing. We’ve gone from launching in mid January, a major site redesign in April, another site change in July. I can track the changes and development in my writing from my first post to now. (And I’m so thankful it’s developed, because that first post is really badly written! Ugh!) I’ve run a survey of my readers, who basically said keep going in the same direction, that what I was writing about was what they were interested in reading. I’ve trialled Value Based Coaching. It’s been a great eight months.

I’ve been told there’s another wall that hits around the 12 month mark, and then again at 3 years. This time I’ll be ready for them, and not so surprised when they hit. Apparently this happens to every business, from the A-Listers at the top downwards. They’ve all gone through this and come out the other side stronger and more secure.

Last week is over, the wall is behind me now (thank heavens!) and so it’s on with business as usual. And thanks to last week and taking the time to look at what I’m doing, I now have an even clearer vision for the next year.

Filed under General · Tagged with blockage, blogging, business plan, wall

New Month = New Goals

Posted by Melinda on August 3, 2009 · 6 Comments

smartie_goals It’s August. New month = new goals. As business owners we all have ‘business goals’ but how many of you have those goals written in an emotionally compelling way, and how often do you revisit them and think about those goals? If you’re like the majority of business owners, then the answer is ‘not much’.

A lot of the time, the reason we don’t revisit goals or think about them is because they’re too far off, too big and scary or too vague. We want to earn $150K, however we know that that is still a year or two away, and so our focus is distracted by the gap between then and now.

Tei over at Men With Pens wrote a post recently about setting stupid-small goals on the way to achieving the scarily huge stuff. Like getting just one more subscriber on your list, or being hired by just one person. That’s how far you may need to break down the big goals – not so scary you can’t do them, but not comfortable either.

The other thing about goals is that often they’re written down (you DO write your goals down, don’t you???) as a simple short statement. Now tell me, what’s compelling and interesting about a simple short statement? That short simple statement may well be a real goal, however if there’s no emotional involvement in it then you’re not going to achieve it.

We’ve all been given some great talents to help us achieve our goals. One of the best tools, that we all have and we all use to some degree or another, is our subconscious. (here’s where I go all Life Coach-ey on you, stay with me, it totally relates to your business) Within coaching circles the subconscious is mentioned a LOT within the context of Life Coaching, however it’s curiously absent in the business field. And that’s crazy, because it’s so important.

Most people have heard about SMART goals, which is an acronym for:

Specific
Measureable
Attainable
Realistic
Timed

I personally prefer a slightly more in-depth version, called SMARTIE goals, where the last two letters stand for Inspirational and Emotional. The more inspiration and emotion behind your goal, the stronger the drive will be for your subconscious to work towards achieving that goal.

Inspirational – In life we do things for one of three reasons; to avoid pain, to gain pleasure or because we are inspired and motivated. To be inspired is to be living your dreams, to be aligned with our own inner values and loves. You will be motivated towards that goal. Ask yourself “How attractive is that goal to me?” Your answer should be “very” and you should also be able to explain what it is about it that you find so attractive and inspirational.

Emotional – Emotion creates motion and action. Consider how your goal will make you feel, and write that down into your goal. Imagine feeling that you’ve achieved your goal, feel the sense of achievement, the pride in having done it, as well as how you will feel when you’ve got that goal.

It’s the beginning of August. What goals are you going to set, both bit and stupid-small, to achieve by the end of this month?

For me, I’m looking at taking on 2-3 new clients, writing out a current marketing plan, write and run a workshop here in Canberra (may not be run until Sep), and pre-launch an info product that I’ve been working on (want to get it at a discount? Sign up for our VIP list to be notified when it’s released).

All these goals tie into my bigger business goals, they’re all written in my diary with a short paragraph for each goal. Each one have been checked against the SMARTIE requirements. Each goal is looked at every workday morning to keep it fresh and motivated in my mind.

What are your goals for this month? Leave a comment and share your August goals with us!

Filed under General, Planning · Tagged with business goals, business plan, Marketing, Useful Tools, WAHM, Work At Home Mom, Work At Home Mum

Time Can't Be Managed

Posted by Melinda on July 29, 2009 · 1 Comment

using_time Following on from Friday’s post on dealing with overwhelm, today we’re going to look at how you use your time. You see, Time cannot be managed, it can only be used.

Time is not alive, it does not act or react, feel emotions or breathe. Time simply is. It continues at the same rate for every person in the world, day after day. Although it can feel as though it does, time never speeds up or slows down. Time cannot be managed, it can only be used.

When we make the best use of our time, that’s when we say we are managing time well; however, the truth is that we’re actually managing ourselves.

So, you’re a mum. A wife. A business owner. You serve on committees, go to night school, worship at church, take time with friends, have hobbies and passions to follow, kids to look after, a house to keep presentable, friends and family to keep up with. How do you do everything and still run a business?

Remember the four D’s from last week? Do, Delay, Delegate or Drop? Before you can get to the 4D’s you need to take a good hard look at how much time you have.

I recently answered a question on a forum, where Christie, from Childhood 101, asked “I am just wondering how much time other blogging Mums put into managing their own blogs, reading and commenting on other blogs and social networking each day? I struggle to get maybe an hour during rest time and everything else is at night, so then poor DH misses out on us time and I have less time to read, knit, etc.”

Paraphrased, this was my answer:

“You need to look at how much time you have available and plan around that. All those activities I mentioned that I do {Facebook, Twitter, Forums, Blog commenting} are marketing or marketing related. You don’t have to do them all the time. While blogging is marketing, it’s generally not what gets you clients – believe it or not.

You’ll need to be very organised, and know exactly what you need to do. When your time is limited then business planning becomes even more important. Don’t waste any time on “Gee, I have 15 minutes, what should I do?” because you’ll do what’s fun and not what’s important.”

The first thing you need to look at is how much time you have available. Christie says she has around an hour during rest time. That’s only about five to seven hours a week, plus what she can find when her baby is in bed of an evening. My daughter is in school, so I have a lot more time available during the day, however because I’m at school two evenings a week I don’t get a lot of night time work done. Realistically, how much time do you have available on a regular basis?

Filling that time. When you’re starting out, a good rule of thumb, no matter how much time you have available, is to spend 80% of your time Marketing and 20% of your time on other work. Marketing is more important than blogging, than tweaking your website (unless that is the marketing), than anything else. Marketing will get you sales.

Plan your work so you’re working on the most important tasks first. I like to list my tasks under three headings;

i) Essential – these are the things that directly make me money. Marketing and product development mainly.

ii) Very Useful – tasks such as blogging. The things that help spread the word about your business, indirectly related to sales, readers and subscribers.

iii) Nice to Have – If I get time I’ll do with these tasks. Facebook comes under here (for me, because I don’t really use FB as a marketing tool right now). Checking the website for spelling errors. Looking for new forums to post on.

All your tasks should be planned out, so you know exactly what you need to be doing when. As I said to Christie on the forum, don’t waste your time wondering what to do. You should know what’s next. What is important today. What do I need to be working on now.

The other point I want to make here is tied in with prioritising and dropping tasks. Christie mentioned that she likes to read and knit in the evenings. The time is likely to come, as she transitions into becoming a work at home mom, that she’ll need to drop these. Her business will need to be a higher priority temporarily. There are always going to be times where your business requires every bit of time you can find and almost everything else has to take a backseat.

There’s nothing wrong with this on a temporary basis. (If it continues permanently then you need to look at what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. Contact me, I can help you!) However many business owners, particularly work at home moms, are unprepared for their business to take over their lives like this. It’s actually a fairly normal part of business, particularly in the early stages. The majority of work at home moms go through this. It can last for a week, or a month or two.

Be organised. Plan well in the beginning and you will get through it. Know what you need to do, know what your highest priority is. Use your time well.

Filed under Planning, Productivity, Useful Tools · Tagged with business plan, Marketing, organization, Productivity, time management, WAHM, Work At Home Mom, Work At Home Mum

Getting Out from Overwhelm

Posted by Melinda on July 27, 2009 · 3 Comments

The hardest part of dealing with overwhelm is realising we’re in it and being able to get out before everything collapses into total disaster around us. Often we know we’re feeling overwhelmed – and for most of us it’s something small that is the final straw – however we’re also overwhelmed with trying to work out how to get out of it. Which adds to the overwhelmed feeling, makes us feel worse, makes it harder to try and work out how to get out of it… and we can all see the downward spiral from there.

There’s two issues involved here. Either you have way too much to do, or you don’t have enough time. Normally it’s a mixture of both. You need to work out how much time you have available, and what needs doing the most in that time frame. Then you have to decide what is to be done, delayed, delegated or dropped. The four D’s.

Here’s what you need to do the next time you feel that familiar feeling creeping up:

(don’t skip any of these steps, even if you think they’re unimportant. They’re not. Every step here has been tried and tested and this is what the majority of people have found works best)

Stop what you’re doing, close your eyes and take a couple of deep breaths.

Go for a short walk, just five to ten minutes, to get a mental break and a little physical distance. Try to make it a brisk walk and get your blood moving and your heart beating a bit faster. (Truly, try it.)

Have a drink of water and then grab a pen and paper.

Write down everything you need to do. Forget about any order or logic, just get everything out of your head and onto paper. Name it and Tame it. Writing things down captures them and frees up space in your mind that can be used to work out how to do it all.

Is it a huge list of things that need to be done? Don’t panic. Take a few more deep breaths and go for another walk if you need to. It’s only a five to ten minute walk. Relax, if you’re still feeling overwhelmed then it’s likely you wouldn’t be using this time anyway. Take the time to calm yourself and get organised and you can use your time better.

Have a look at the list and work out what needs to be done first. “Everything” I hear you cry. Well, I have bad news for you. ‘Everything’ can’t be done at once. Not possible. Have another look. What needs to be done the most? What will have the biggest effect? What affects most people?

Take another four sheets of paper and title them respectively Do, Delay, Delegate, Drop. Then go through your list and put each item on your list on one of the sheets of paper. Resist the temptation to put everything on the Do and Delay lists. SOME THINGS ARE GOING TO HAVE TO BE DELEGATED OR DROPPED! You only have 24 hours in one day, something has to give and it’s better to be a few tasks rather than your sanity or your family.

With the delay list, put a rough time of when you expect to get to that task. And no, they can’t all be labelled ‘Tomorrow’. Be realistic. If you only have six working hours in a day then you can’t fill them with ten hours of work.

The second to last step is to begin working on your most important task on your Do list, and keep going until you have everything done. Hand over everything on your delegate list. Tear up and throw away your Drop list – you don’t need it because those tasks aren’t going to be done.

The very last step, once you’ve recovered sufficiently to have some form of balance back in your workload, is to look at WHY you became so overwhelmed. Are you taking on too much? Are you trying to do everything yourself? Is your middle name Superwoman? Was it a one-off because of outside influences? Is your business growing to the point you need to hire staff? Are your processes working or do they need to be looked at and changed? Do you need to automate some processes for your business?

Whatever the reason is, you need to work out how to prevent it happening again. Living permanently in a state of overwhelm and stress is not healthy for you, your business or your family.

Filed under General, Productivity, personal development · Tagged with business plan, organization, overwhelm, Productivity, Useful Tools, Work At Home Mom, Work At Home Mum

Defining Your Target Market

Posted by Melinda on July 6, 2009 · 4 Comments

Answer the following three questions for me:

1. Who specifically are you selling to?

2. How well do you know them?

3. What problem are you solving for your clients?

Were you able to answer these questions immediately? If not, then keep reading. Knowing your target market – your customers and clients – is essential to the long term success and profitability of any business.

You can’t market to someone if you don’t know precisely what they need. You can’t sell to someone if they don’t need or want your product. Your advertising won’t reach your customers if you don’t know what they read and watch, or where they hang out online and off.

Your marketing can be like throwing mud at a wall – you throw a heap in the general direction and hope some of it sticks. Or you can know exactly where you’re aiming and direct your efforts there with laser like efficiency. I know which one I prefer.

So what do I mean by define your Target Market?

I’d like you to describe for me your ideal client, in as much detail as possible. Who buys your products?

Are they male or female? Teenagers, Adults, older people, singles, married, parents or grandparents?

Are they in one geographical location such as a particular city, anywhere in your country or worldwide?

What do they do? Are they in a particular career field, or related fields? Starting out in their career? Studying to further or change their careers? Retired? Entrepreneurs? Stay at home mums?

What is it about them that makes them Your Ideal Client? Are they in a particular sporting group, have a particular interest in common? At a particular stage of their life?

What problem do they have that your service or product solves? I know I’ve said this in other posts, but it bear repeating again. Your products or services must solve a particular problem for your clients. If you’re not solving a problem that they have, then they don’t need you.

You can solve more than one problem for your clients, as long as the problems are related. For example, my ideal clients have one or more of the following problems:

- They don’t have a business plan and know they need one. The information available out there is confusing and contradictory so they come to me for clarity and direction.

- They want to move their hobby into being a business and need help with the goal-setting, strategising and steps involved.

- Their business is taking over their house and life and they need to bring some organisation and order back before the kids forget who they are.

- They’re too caught up in the day to day running of their business and can’t work out what’s next, what will help them break out of the that and then grow their business.

These issues are all related, they’re all about working at home, however I doubt I would have one client who had all these problems – or at least not all at the same time!

Once you are able to describe your ideal client and their problem/s, you need to look at where they are. Where and how can you reach them? Do they read a particular type of magazine? Inhabit a group of online forums? Read blogs? Industry magazines? Shop in certain locations or shops? Are they predominantly online or offline?

The narrower you can focus your niche – the problems that you solve for your clients – and the more detailed you can describe your ideal client, the better you can serve them.

The better you can direct your publicity and advertising to those who need your products and services, the better your conversion rates.

The better your conversion rates – the higher your profits and the better your bottom line looks.

Filed under Marketing, Planning · Tagged with business plan, Marketing, target market, WAHM, Work At Home Mom

How Big Do You Want To Be?

Posted by Melinda on July 2, 2009 · 3 Comments

how-big How big do you want your business to grow? This is a really important question that most work at home moms never ask themselves. It’s usually one of the first questions I ask new clients as it affects all our discussions from there on.

Recently I was working with a client and she was stuck on one particular issue that was integral to running the business. No matter what we discussed, there wasn’t a solution that worked for her, until finally I asked “Is this problem worth giving up the business for and running it as a hobby?” and she instantly said “Yes”. She didn’t want a business and the associated stresses – she wanted a hobby that she could keep small, easily manageable and be able to pick up and put down as she chose.

However when she had first thought up the idea she had automatically defaulted to thinking of it as a business idea and working towards that. As soon as she realised that she really only wanted it as a hobby, and that having it as a hobby was ok, I could hear the burden being lifted. The relief was evident in her voice and manner immediately.

Having a hobby-business is fine. There is nothing wrong with having a hobby which pays for itself. If that’s what you truly want and intend. You don’t have to have a ‘real’ business, you don’t need to make huge profits. If you want a business that brings in only enough for your family to have a weeks holiday every year that’s great. If you want a business that can support your whole family in luxury, that’s great too. You’re the owner, the choice is yours.

Many work at home mum businesses begin as a hobby and progress to being a business. If that’s you, then at some point you need to stop and look at what you’re doing and decide if this is what you truly want. Do you want this growth? Do you want the stresses – and joys – associated with running your own business? If you do, then go for it! If not, you need to look at how to turn it around and stay small, or look at other options such as selling it as a business, or licensing.

How big you plan to grow your hobby or business is something that needs to be considered very early on. It’s all too easy to be caught up in the whirlwind of day to day activities and never think about whether this is what you intended in the first place. One of the major sources of stress in a home business is the feeling that it’s out of control and taking over your life, and that you have no choice but to continue to try and cope with it as best you can. I know, I’ve been there and it’s sure not fun. But! You do have the choice, you just have to consciously think about what you want and intend first.

Think about it. Is your business the way you intended? Is it what you want? How big do you really want your business go grow? (Hint – the very first answer that comes to mind is usually the correct one!)

Note: check your countries tax laws with regard to the difference between a hobby and a business: In Australia (paraphrased by me and very simplified), if you intend to make a profit then you are considered a business whether you make a profit or not. If you sell items at cost in order to simply buy more materials then it can be considered a hobby – however you still have to keep the paperwork to prove that you’re not making a profit. Don’t be caught on the wrong side of the tax laws through ignorance.

How big do you want your business to grow? This is a really important question that most work at home moms never ask themselves. It’s usually one of the first questions I ask new clients as it affects all our discussions from there on.

Recently I was working with a client and she seemed stuck on one particular issue that was integral to running a business. No matter what we discussed, there wasn’t a solution that worked for her, until finally I asked “Is this problem worth giving up the business for and running it as a hobby?” and she instantly said “Yes”. She didn’t want a business and the associated stresses – she wanted a hobby that she could keep small, easily manageable and be able to pick up and put down as she chose.

Filed under Planning · Tagged with business plan, organization, Useful Tools, WAHM, Work At Home Mom

Routines – Not as Scary as You Think

Posted by Melinda on June 5, 2009 · 3 Comments

plan Routines are not straitjackets. Strangely enough, contrary to popular opinion, routines actually free you up to be more creative and productive.

Think of a messy house, where everything is just laying around, the floor is covered in toys and books, the washing up hasn’t been done for a week, clothes haven’t been washed, the vacuum is buried in a cupboard somewhere. How easy would it be to live in that house and do good work?

Now think of an ordered house, where everything has its place and everything – or at least most things – are in their place. It’s tidy, calm and relaxed. Which one of these two would enable you to be most creative?

Now I know for most work at home moms (WAHM) a tidy ordered house is a distant memory. It’s something we had before kids. It’s something we don’t expect to see again until they leave home. That’s not what I’m getting at. The point I’m making actually has nothing to do with cleaning a house, it has to do with an organised mindset and know what needs to be done and being able to do it.

If you have a routine, or system, or process, for your business tasks it makes them so much easier to do. If you know that when you’ve dropped the kids off at day care you have two hours to work on your business and you know exactly what needs to be done, then you can use your time effectively.

However, if you know you have the same two hours, but your inbox is crammed full, your in-tray is overflowing, you have four to-do lists blu-tacked to the wall and a list a mile long in your head still – how do you use your time best?

Routines.

Know what you have to do and when. Start with a list of the minimum you need to do to keep your business running. Not growing, not marketing, just running.

Receive orders. Package and ship orders. Send invoices. Pay suppliers and employees. Answer emails. Bookkeeping. Order stock. Whatever it takes to keep your business ticking over, write it down on your list. Work out when each of these needs to be done and how long it will take. Block this time off in your calendar.

Once you know what absolutely has to be done to keep going you can add in the tasks that grow your business. Marketing. Tweaking the website. New retailers and wholesalers. Developing new products. Writing blog posts and articles. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Squidoo etc.

Look at each of these tasks and work out how often and what you are going to do. Write them down in a daily, weekly and monthly list. Block the time out on your calendar. (yes, I’m a big believer in calendars – especially electronic ones with reminders). Put the lists where you can see them clearly every day.

You now have two lists – the basic essentials and the growth tasks. When you sit down to your business you need to work on the basics first. Then you work on the growth tasks. These lists are your routines. They guide you in keeping your business running and growing. They make best use of your available time. Just like the clean and tidy house, these routines enable you to relax and do your best work. To be creative and efficient.

Go write your lists. Get your house in order, metaphorically speaking. Know what you need to do and how much time you have to do it in. Then do it.

Filed under General, Useful Tools · Tagged with business plan, Useful Tools, WAHM, Work At Home Mom, Work At Home Mum

Monthly Book Giveaway – Win in Business by Peter Irvine

Posted by Melinda on February 28, 2009 · 7 Comments

During the first week of each month we’re giving away a business book to a reader of this blog. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post. At the end of the week I’ll draw a name from the comments (or my daughter will!) and the lucky winner will be announced here. I’ll post the book anywhere in the world, so the giveaway is open to everyone!

Win in Business by Peter Irvine

This month’s we’re giving away a personally signed copy of “Win in Business” by Peter Irvine. Peter has over 30 years experience in advertising and marketing, including several years as Managing Director of DDB Needham, the second largest advertising agency in Sydney. He and his business partner established Gloria Jean’s coffee in Australia, and now own the international Master Franchise brand and supply and roasting rights for all countries.

In this book, the man who helped guide the phenomenal success of Gloria Jean’s Coffees in Australia unearths 20 priceless keys to catapult you towards your vision. Peter Irvine reveals behind-the-counter stories about the amazing success of this award-winning coffee franchise… as well as other brands, like McDonald’s, which he helped to build through his advertising career in Australia.

If you would like to create a remarkable, stand-out business, then WIN in BUSINESS provides the essential framework to thrust you to the front of the line. This book provides comprehensive, step-by-step guides to activate your vision, help you overcome the challenges along your journey, and squeeze the most out of your vast potential.

I was at a Business Seminar with Peter last week and have already finished reading my copy of the book (don’t worry, the copy I’m giving away is brand new!). It’s a great book, I’ve taken a lot of new information and new ways to do things I’m already doing from it. Peter’s ‘voice’ is very easy to read and he presents his information in a way that is very easy to understand and apply.

So leave a comment and at the end of the week we’ll find out who the lucky winner is!