Join in if you are self-employed and work from home

Purpleroses

woo congrats H! :j

moneymabel

Congratulations Horace! Hope the band meeting went well.

If I wrote a blog about myself people would die of boredom!! Trying to stick to useful info ( a bit like Linda@no9) but am stuck, will come up with something :-)

TCM_3

On a flying visit today ..............
Well done Horace!!! Look forward to hearing all your news!

I am concerned that I have fixed so many horse rugs I may start to grow fur and neigh!

Horace

Hey folks...thanks for your good wishes...the Marketing Assistant post is unpaid but it raises my profile.

The band meeting went well - I shall now meet the rest of the band on 12 November, to see what they think..so far I have impressed the bass player. The band have come to a halt but I can see part of the reason why - they don't charge a fee and thus work for nowt except maybe beer money or petrol money:rolleyes: I am not doing any schmoozing for them now until I meet the others then I can discuss a fee - which may be 15% commission or (even 5% on gigs at first but 15% on record contracts). If Ally is about some advice would be helpful here...(pretty please). Watch this space though as it all looks promising:D

TCM - you may have repaired loads of rugs but you don't look like the back end of a horse just yet:rotfl::eek:

travellady

I'm Working on getting a magazine for honeymoons and overseas weddings to hand out at wedding shows and leave in Bridal stores! I spent hours last night emailing tourism boards for sponcorship as it costs so much to do- thing is if I cant raise the funds then it just wont be happening - next stop the hotelliers- hope I get some replies today!

I have too many ideas and cant focus proper on what to do next!! Does anyone have a magic wand?

Horace - you certainly are one busy bunny!! And off to Florida too?? oh can I come I love Florida wish I was going I can be ur personal driver.

Mabel- have you thought of doing one night at ASDA? I worked there for 6 months working just a Saturday night through the night- good pay and it helped me whilst I was setting up they are always taking on this time of year. x

Horace - I never thought but I used to advertise honeymoons on a website called tying the knot lancashire - they do have a site for the midlands! www.tyingtheknot-midlands.com I don't think they have a wedding planner on their services section- they do send leads through to so you can contact the bride and groom- they only send leads that have requested! may be worth it- it did pay off for me- don't do it anymore though as I have just about to come off MAT leave.

moneymabel

Hi Travellady- good luck with your brochure. Thanks for the Asda idea but I already have a 'proper' job (as well as the business I mean) and if I did any more hours my dog wouldn't speak to me! Already have extra xmas hours :-/

TCM_3

Afternoon everyone - hope all are busy and earning loads of money!

Have had a busy week but an awful one too... on Saturday, a little old lady drove into my car in the car park of the shop (we have a huge car park and I was the only car in it!) and has done a heap of damage. Her husband came down and went nuts at her - i said if they would just make good the damage, I would be happy enough, but now this is Thursday and my car is still smashed and they are not returning my phone calls.

Then yesterday, the OH managed, through behaving like a child in a playground, to offend a good customer who phoned me this morning to tell me that although she thinks alot of me she'll not be back over the door and will make sure that everyone knows what he is like. Of course when i approached the issue with him, it was my fault so i said we'll just close up the place and forget about it. I am not in a position to loose business because of his bad attitude. AGGHHGHHHHHHHHH

Then, if I don't get an appointment to get my hair cut, I really will look like a horse!

jpwhittle

TCM hope your week gets better soon, dont shut up business cos of your husband, i would ban him from the shop instead, if you have a good name all will come good, most people are willing to accept your only human and we all have bad days.

my weeks slow, i hate having next to no money to buy everything i need and am so scared im going to be a laughing stock at my fairs when i have nothing to take. i have to keep telling myself i can afford a small part of the overdraft s hopefully ill be able to repay the overdraft and have extra for my business and christmas at the end of the month. just got such a busy month. we had got all our finances sorted, cut down were we could and really sorted ourselves out for my business to take of then i was in the crash and my bodies shut down, i had 10 prescriptions last month wich was all our extra money gone, have to go to dentist tomorrow through toothache and got told at the most £45 wich i dont have and also just got referred to a private physio as im in so much pain after the accident, all wich im panicking about on top of sons birthday party tomorrow and a christenening next week then starting fairs.
sorry im going on just feeling alittle stressed, does anyone else sometimes wonder what they have done going self employed?

Horace

I am not in Florida yet...stayed in a posh hotel yesterday on room only basis and wished that I had taken some sandwiches to eat in my room rather than eat in their lounge bar..I did make full use of their tea/coffee in the room though:rolleyes: The breakfast meeting today was great fun and I networked with some interesting folks and as I mentioned on FB have offered my services for free for a charity event in aid of Help for Heroes which is due to take place in June next year - its a 5km run (I am not running... see I have stressed the not) but have offered my organisation and blagging skills for free.

Travellady - try contacting Kline Davis - they publish bridal magazines (county wedding magazines, attire briday, gift focus) and I am not saying that they will be interested..but they might, to see if they would be interested in publishing a honeymoon magazine to be handed out at fairs.

TCM - I would ban your OH from the shop permanently as his big gob is going to ruin your business, it only takes one or two people to spread the word about him and you can do without that. Don't shut up shop because of him - it is probably what he wants anyway as he is scared stiff that you may meet someone else and run off with them...which if he keeps behaving the way he does then you might just do that anyway. Did you have the sense to take the registration number of the car that hit you? If so you could contact the DVLA and get the owner details (it costs about £2.50). Said old lady might make a habit of going around bashing into cars which is why she is avoiding you.

JP - re your car accident - if it was caused by a third party you could claim off them for personal injury and all your medical fees would be paid for by their insurance especially if you use a no win no fee personal injury lawyer. Prescriptions are expensive and I know it seems like more expense but it may pay you to buy a pre-payment certificate then you don't have to hand over any money at the pharmacy, you just tick a box on the prescription. Re the fairs..just do the one this year and leave the rest til next year..everyone has days when they wonder what the heck they are doing when they are self employed.

nzmegs

TCM - what did he do? It must have been pretty bad for her to react like that? Maybe she is just a troublemaker - because it does sound like an overreaction to say she is going to tell everyone - it isn't your fault!
JP - you sound like you have about had enough. I wouldn't be worried about the overdraft (so long as it is reasonably cheap or free)as you can just look at it as an investment in your business until you sell your stock. Most businesses run that way - some will have millions of pounds of debt in the bank and millions of pound worth of stock to show for it. this is just like you only on a smaller scale (i hope!). it is fine just let it ride until after the xmas rush.

I have only been full time self employed for a month and I have hdd my wobbles too. I earned £690 in my first month. This month I am aiming for £1000.

I had a good idea today actually. We havea free local magazine which is delivered monthly to all homes in the area. it had local news, views and trades people. it is quite well read. I have thought of offerring to write a monthly article on a local event or highlighting a local business owner who advertises in the magazine. Of course it would be free as it is a non-profit mag but I would only do it if I have the opportunity to put my own blurb about my business at the botttom of each article. free advertising (which normally costs around £60 a month) and good experience too. What do you think?