Phoenix Trading - Hints and Tips

tru

Tiggypig wrote: »

Have asked for an information pack but have realised there may be implications as I'm due to go bankrupt on 9th March. Does this affect my becoming self-employed?

You can't be a director or have anything to do with formation of a company BUT you can be a sole trader.

I don't know how long the bankruptcy process takes (not long I think, going by posts on the BR board) but I'd wait til it's all done before starting out, just to keep things simple.

SEE HERE (scroll down to 7h)

skeeter_2

Rosemary_Jane wrote: »

"It's a good job really I suppose after spending 45 quid on it"

Now, now; you didn't spend £45 on it! You spent £20 on it - great value. You also spent £25 on your annual registration fee. Now you need to get sponsoring, sponsor 2 people in the next year and you won't have to pay it on the first anniversary of joining. How good is that?

Rosemary

Have you sponsored anyone yet Rosemary? I am working on it!

Rosemary_Jane

Hi Skeeter,

Yes, I sponsored a friend in early January, but I don't really count that because she sponsored herself, really. She's doing really well, too; but unfortunately lives a long way away, so we're supporting each other by phone at the moment. It has really helped, because my family is more dismissive of Phoenix than is comfortable.

I had one lead from the Freepost door drops that I did, but he decided against joining, so am still working on building a team.

I am going on a couple of "getting to ET training"s in the next month or so, and really hope this will help. I do recommend going to any team meetings that you can, it really helps. The upline ET I am working with says the hardest team members to recruit are the first and the fifth!

Keep going and it will happen. I find selling is much harder, but have just fostered a profoundly disabled child, so time is more pressing than it was, and my focus is wobbling.

I love this thread, really helps me.
Do people like the new downloadable advertising templates? I think they're great.

skeeter_2

Hi Rosemary,

Yes I know what you mean with reference to family being dismissive of the Phoenix business! Although once I am a successful ET earning a nice bonus every month I think they will start to recognise that I am not actually wasting my time.

Yes I will also be going to a 'get to ET' meeting, since I think that those who attend these meetings are generally more successful than those who do not.

Just had a look at the advertising templates, and they were well worth the wait!

I have been asking almost everyone if they 'know anyone' who may be interested in joining Phoenix, and I have a couple of potential Trader's so hopefully I will soon sponsor someone.

Rosemary_Jane

Hello, Ladybird,

How detailed are your records?

I have been keeping a note of how much each customer has spent but not exactly what they bought and which cards etc. How detailed do I need to be? When it comes time to do the tax return do I just need to say I made £x in sales and bought £y of stock/sales aids etc?

You need to keep reasonably detailed records for the taxman. If your turnover is less than £15,000, you do a shortened form tax return, which is, as you say, all your income from Phoenix, minus the outgoings, equals your profit.

But you have to have the records to prove your statement.

You need to keep a (legible) copy of one of the three part receipts for those sales. If you go to an event, I would be inclined to make a note of the amount you take as a float, and then just subtract that from your takings and write out a chit with your takings, date, event and so on. You need to print out and keep your bonus notification. I also keep on receipt marked "Misc Sales for March 09", and write on there the odd little sales to neighbours etc. I also fill in on the bottom how many cards I've taken that month for personal use. I charge myself the wholesale price.

All your outgoings you need an invoice for; such as the post office receipt for the postage you've paid, the delivery notices from Phoenix, receipts to Tesco's for the laminator, write a slip if you don't get given one for the table at fetes, etc. I also have a notebook for mileage, noting down the reason for the journey; and each month, I record the mileage I've done at 40p per mile.

You basically need a piece of paper to prove all the money in and out of your business, and I have a double cash book which I fill in the totals for each transaction. Each receipt/invoice is numbered in the corner, and each line of the cash book has that number pointing to the recepit/invoice. While my business is small, I keep the bits of paper and fill in the book at the end of every month. When it gets bigger, I'll change to weekly. It is much quicker to do it while you remember, rather than in a huge panic, doing a year's worth at the tax return deadline.

Have you notified the self-employment peeps of the start of your business? And you also need to apply for a small earnings exemption to save paying NI, unless it's a good idea to pay the stamp because you're not getting the credits another way (home income protection, employed stamp etc).

HTH Rosemary

Lalaladybird

Thanks for your reply Rosemary.

I love the cards and I really love the idea of working from home, for myself, but I am not being very successful in making sales. None of my friends will host a party - one laughed and said she likes the cards but that it sounded like a boring sort of party. I sent out 20 catalogues to friends and family and have only had 3 of them buy from me. Even my mum asked what I'm supposed to do when everyone has bought once....she doesn't think people will be repeat customers, just thinks it has novelty value so people might try it once.

I'd be so interested to hear how much people on here are making and what sort of things they are doing to make sales and how long they have been doing it. Just for reassurance that it can be done.

working1

Hi all,

just thought I'd reassure those newbies on here that there is a viable long-term business available to you both in terms of retailing and sponsoring, though it takes time and consistency.

I've been a PT for 4 years and started off just selling to friends and family but saw the opportunities and have been building on it ever since at my own pace.

I have a 7 year old and a 4 month old and I find the more I do, the more I get out of it though it often takes time to see the results of my actions. I now sell on average £800 - £1200 pe month at retail prices (£3,000 - £4,000 in Oct & Nov) and I have an ET income of around £2,500 per year from my team too.

It's not a get rich quick scheme by any means but if you tell everyone you know that you want to build a business and they always get the new brochures/supplements from YOU, they do start to take you more seriously and the opportunities increase.

My top tips for new starters are:

Invest in brochures and give them out like sweets (with samples if you can). Always have some in your car and aim to get rid of 2 per day from your handbag!

Make it easy for people to buy from you: have a basket in the car, always include an order form, your contact details and a freepost card in the brochure.

Keep going to toddler groups/small groups even if you only make £20 in sales, these are a valuable source of new customers and potential sponsors. Don't just view the value in these venues as what you take on the day, it's much more than that as they will order from your brochure/book a party/watch what you do and may join in 6 months or a year... the incremental revenue potential from these venues is worthwhile. I visit once per term, but twice in Oct and Nov/Dec if I can (that's 5 times a year).

Make use of your upline ET, they want you to succeed, whatever that means for you.

GO TO TRADER MEETINGS... you'll pick up so much it's mad not to make the effort to sort out child care for the day twice a year (Jan and July)

Keep it simple: decide what you want to achieve with Phoenix and plough as much time and commitment as you can but focus on the core activities: getting the product in front of as many people as possible be it through the samples, brochures, baskets in offices, coffee & cards events etc.

HTH!

skeeter_2

Lalaladybird wrote: »

Thanks for your reply Rosemary.

I love the cards and I really love the idea of working from home, for myself, but I am not being very successful in making sales. None of my friends will host a party - one laughed and said she likes the cards but that it sounded like a boring sort of party. I sent out 20 catalogues to friends and family and have only had 3 of them buy from me. Even my mum asked what I'm supposed to do when everyone has bought once....she doesn't think people will be repeat customers, just thinks it has novelty value so people might try it once.

I'd be so interested to hear how much people on here are making and what sort of things they are doing to make sales and how long they have been doing it. Just for reassurance that it can be done.

Hi Lalaladybird,

I joined Phoenix in July 2008, and I found it very challenging at first. The cards do sell themselves, although first I had to get the brochure in front of potential clients, which I found difficult since I do not have any friends or family who live locally.

To start with I introduced myself to all my neighbours and gave them a brochure (at the time I had only lived here for a couple of months), which generated one order and the client has come to me with repeat business since.

I then did a brochure drop at 100 houses, which generated four orders and one client so far has given me repeat business.

In September I started attending toddler groups, where I sell from stock. Sometimes I do very well and at times I have done very badly e.g. no sales. However, I ask everyone who has a look at the products, if they would like me to put them on my mailing list. This way I can keep them up to date with new products, which encourages repeat business. Toddler groups are also a great recruitment opportunity.

I also did a couple of school Christmas Fair's, again building up the mailing list. In fact at one Fair a lady not only took away a brochure and placed an order afterwards, it also materialised that she runs a toddler group which I will soon be attending. I also built up a good rapport with the PTA, in fact the Chair of the PTA took a brochure to work and one of her colleagues gave me an order.

I also approached a local Day Hospice, where I offered them 30% of the profits (equivalent to 10% of sales but 30% of profits sounds more powerful!). They were delighted at this prospect so I attended with my stock, where the staff, volunteers and patients were able to purchase items. The staff who were not present at that time placed some rather large orders from the brochure. It materialised that they previously had a Phoenix Trader visit them, yet had lost contact with her. So they were confident in placing large orders since they have had previous dealings with Phoenix, so for the first time, living in area where there are a lot of Phoenix Trader's actually worked in my favour.

I popped into the Hospice last week, and one of the nurse's was saying that her daughter is raising money for a trip with the Girl Guides, so I told her that if she wishes to host 'coffee and cards' that she can earn 30% of the profits towards her daughter's trip. So I have now successfully booked my first coffee morning!

I put together some A5 flyers some time ago, offering 'coffee and cards' which I have included with every brochure and placed in every bag where a sale is made. As you can see it has taken me this long to gain my first booking, and this was only as a result of being in the right place at the right time!

I personally am not too keen on toddler groups, although this is where most of my business is generated from so I must stick with it. However, I would like to get to a stage where most of my business comes from 'coffee and cards' mornings, so this is what I am working towards. I am also working towards building a team.

I hope things improve soon for you Lalaladybird.

Lalaladybird

Thank you so much working1 and skeeter for your replies, very helpful :T

I called a few toddler groups and have a booking at one on Friday to take along my cards so fingers crossed. I currently have about 25 brochures in people's houses in the neighbourhood so I'll collect those tomorrow.

sunshine_girl_2

Lalaladybird wrote: »

Thank you so much working1 and skeeter for your replies, very helpful :T

I called a few toddler groups and have a booking at one on Friday to take along my cards so fingers crossed. I currently have about 25 brochures in people's houses in the neighbourhood so I'll collect those tomorrow.

Good to hear you sounding a bit more positive lalaladybird! It can be quite hard going at times but then you get a few orders and get some nice comments about the cards and it all goes good again. I've been doing some brochure drops as I now live on a fairly large estate of new houses and whilst it hasnt gone as well as I'd hoped, only two orders out of about 30, I'm trying to stay positive. If I hadnt of bothered with the brochure drop I wouldnt have got those two orders and one seemed interested in a coffee and cards fundraiser so hopefully it will lead to some more business. There's lots more houses to try so will keep going with this. Did a couple of toddler groups last week and although I didnt sell much, met two people who have been looking for a Phoenix trader in their area and were really pleased to have found me! Also gave out some brochures so hoping to see some orders coming my way as a result. I find this thread really supportive - don't seem to get much support from my upline - so thank you to everyone who continues to post.