Book-Keeping

I'm getting to grips with book keeping - I did used to help out in a small business accounts department so I've picked up a few tips but also plan to attend a book keeping workshop!

I've set up my Book keeping procedure though already.
Daily, I write into a little book the incoming and outgoing for that day and then I can tott it up on a weekly basis and add it to a spreadsheet.

I keep all receipts and I mark them with a receipt number (made up but consecutive) and also right it next to the outgoing in the little note book.
I then file all the receipts in a little file, in month order. I plan to also list all receipts and numbers and put this in month order too, I'll do this weekly too!

A bit over the top perhaps but I figured this way I'll be totally on top of the books and will be able to work out my tax return when it comes to filling it in.
Doing a little bit daily should stop a mad panic at the end of the financial year as well!!

Silver Linings

I made the big leap and I'm now officially self employed! Its very scary and overwhelming as at yet, I've no money coming in and therefore no income.
So at the minute, I'm doing everything I can to get myself out there with promo and of course, I am building up my stock.

Today I felt a drop in energy and motivation, I felt like I had made a big mistake but also feel like I cant go back either so I felt a bit stuck between a rock and a hard place. However, I can only really go onwards and upwards or pack it all in and be miserable! To cheer myself up, and inspire myself, I thought I'd actually think about all the things I've acheived so far.

I gave myself a massive task list of all the things I have to do these next few weeks and I'm pleased to say I have managed to cross more than a couple off the list. I've also completed a couple of projects that were outstanding. 

I'm also proud of myself for learning a new skill today! See,  every cloud does a silver lining if you look hard enough.

photo by flickr user maistora

I've also realised, I need a bit of guidance from professionals and so I have contacted Blue Orchid who help new startup businesses - especially Women in the Manchester and Liverpool areas. They offer workshops in various things like business and book keeping. Check them out if you fancy making the big leap!

the plunge

So I've gone full time on the business as from this week- the business covers a lot of genres from crafts to photography to artwork.
At the minute though I'm not exactly rolling in it - in fact I've earned nothing so far so I've not even registered as self employed yet.
However! it's not all doom and gloom, I'm in the middle of building up my stock and then getting it advertised and I'm looking into funding and business advise.
I will of course blog as soon as I find anything or if something interesting happens!!
Tasks this week:

• Sell my car
• Look into funding
• Create and list stock

oh and as an after thought I'd better tidy the house as well!!

friends of friends

So I've doubled my facebook fans this week...how have I done this??? I asked a friend to suggest the page to their friends!
This is a great idea as the people who like my fanpage might have other friends who like my fanpage and so on and so forth. I plan to ask a couple more friends to do this too.

I'm trying to push the PR at the minute and also did a huge postcard drop in the city centre today.
Fingers crossed it increases sales!

Free Business Course and advice for Women

I was told about this company yesterday and so far have only registered with them, I havent checked out the course yet but the idea is fabulous!

If you're interested in becoming self employed (and are female) check out this site: http://www.train2000.org.uk/

There is an online learning facility for a business course so you can learn in your own time - this is great if you are still working full time while you set up your business.
The course is broken down into different modules: Business Direction, Market Research, Marketing, Financial Planning and Legal Requirements.

There are other courses available too, if you live in liverpool or greater manchester, and business advice should you need it.

check out the site for further info!

Storing my life

My Boyfriend and I have decided to move in together - this is great of course but poses a potential problem. The problem is my art and craft equipment and material take over my living room. I have a rather large living room at the moment and we're moving to a small apartment in the city, this combined with merging his and my furniture together will leave very little room for 'stuff'.

So to help combat this and to be fair, to also help with the actual moving, I have bought some storage boxes. Places like Ikea and Wilkinsons do some great cheap ones but I got some of mine from Dunelm. I chose to get nice co-ordinating ones and stuffed them full of my sewing gear which was prior to this, in plastic bags in one corner of the room.

I already had some storage boxes for my paints - plastic ones as sometimes the lids come off the paints and make a real mess.
Tip: have a sort out of your storage boxes every few months. Throw things away that arent going to be used (or recyle if you can). I found most of my paints had dried up and so I manage to combine 2 boxes to one!

Okay, I've just realised this is actually a really dull blog post lol! But if you want to know more about creating your own co-ordinating storage boxes you can check out craftzine's blog about it which might be more interesting ;)

How-to: Co-ordinating Organisation boxes

Happy New Year

I'd just like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and I shall be back with more useful hints and tips in 2010!