I feel trapped and have very few options

ampersand

op - you are spending more time and effort being needy in your posting here than DOING something, anything.

You negatively dissect the suggestions and observations made.
I am left with a picture of someone whose mindset needs a 180 degree shift. [fisch touches on this]

So - major debt, dodgy ankle, bad back, mental health problems, stress, 5 years of daily consumption of meds and supplements[not wise], anxiety, repeat benefit appeal failures, traffic problems, childcare problems, no friends, no family, can't afford more hypnotherapy,ditto kinesiology, hating Uni[but a 1st class Degree...], can crochet[me, too].

Stop this barrier parade, for your own sake, if no-one else's.
Check out CAP in my signature - https://capuk.org/our-impact

There's a way in AND a way out for you, Angel Pie78, but sitting waiting for magic wand responses on mse isn't it, which you fully know. Anything you actively DO, may lead to better.

I wish you and your children well.

ampersand

AngelPie78 wrote: »

hehe just answered! Trying to keep up with all the posts!

###
..........when you could be doing something constructive, hmm?

AngelPie78

stoozie1 wrote: »

I've only read the thread up to where you said you were also avtrained nursery nurse.

One possibility of a side hustle, on the nights where you dont have the children could you advertise yourself on childcare.co.uk as a night nanny? Or evening babysitter but that would be less lucrative.

Take your laptop and bash away at the html while the baby sleeps?

Great idea! Will look into that - thanks ☺️ x

AngelPie78

ampersand wrote: »

###
..........when you could be doing something constructive, hmm?

Yep cos my laptop charger is broken and I haven't received the one I ordered so I currently have no laptop and can't do any work. Currently on my phone.

Also, I'm taking a few days holiday anyway to spend with my kids so not working. I've felt crappy today and my depression is pretty bad. Hence why I came on here and tried to get some help.

AngelPie78

ampersand wrote: »

op - you are spending more time and effort being needy in your posting here than DOING something, anything.

You negatively dissect the suggestions and observations made.
I am left with a picture of someone whose mindset needs a 180 degree shift. [fisch touches on this]

So - major debt, dodgy ankle, bad back, mental health problems, stress, 5 years of daily consumption of meds and supplements[not wise], anxiety, repeat benefit appeal failures, traffic problems, childcare problems, no friends, no family, can't afford more hypnotherapy,ditto kinesiology, hating Uni[but a 1st class Degree...], can crochet[me, too].

Stop this barrier parade, for your own sake, if no-one else's. My gut feeling is that
Check out CAP in my signature - https://capuk.org/our-impact

There's a way in AND a way out for you, Angel Pie78, but sitting waiting for magic wand responses on mse isn't it.

I wish you and your children well.

Ok great so I have flipped my attitude 180 - what is your practical suggestion to help me get some more money (other than going to charity - which I will look into, thanks)??

This is why I HATE this forum?! Every time I come and here and ask for help, I get completely shat on.

No-one has given me anything I've not though of or tried apart from ONE suggestion to do evening babysitting which I will look into.

I'm NOT being needy or defeatist. I came on here as a LAST resort to ask if anyone had any ideas that I hadn't had which might help me out.

I think making fun of someone's situation and mental health is really not nice and certainly not helpful when they have clearly stated that they want help.

Ps there is just one CAP jobclub in my area but I've emailed her so thanks for that.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

AngelPie78 wrote: »

Decent networks and meetings can cost anything from £20+ and they are where I get most of my clients from. I spend about £100 a month on networking clubs and events. My subscriptions, internet, mobile phone and software purchases are about £200 per month, which includes my server costs, email etc. I also share some of my projects with a business partner, so she will get the remaining £100 from this month's payments. I also have to allow for buying coffees etc for clients, petrol and parking when meeting clients face-to-face. This is not something I actively do but I have to allow for clients wanting to meet in person or potential clients.

People think that a remote-based business is FREE to run - it isn't. Yes, there are significantly less overheads than having to have specialist equipment or an office, but there are always costs to any business.

I don't have to pay to build my own websites, do all my own social media and admin work, do skill swaps when I can so save on money and take the hourly work hit instead, I meet people local to me where it's free parking but many people like to meet in the centre so I have to travel and park there. I also do Zoom/Skype calls where I can to save costs but it's not always something I have control of.

Nobody is saying it's free; but you have to factor all these things into your costing. The basic subscriptions and networking are £300 a month; it shouldn't take long to cover that if you have a few clients. But if an individual client wants to meet somewhere where it's going to cost you £50 to travel in, park and buy them coffee then that has to be covered in what you charge them - these are costs that will increase as you get more more work; not stable overheads. As I say, if you are not making a profit from the business at all, then clearly your pricing isn't right. I see you say above it will increase soon; I can only recommend that you increase it immediately. You are paying out more money than you are taking in, and at the moment it sounds like the more clients you get, the worse that will get, not better.

WibblyGirly

Have you looked at sites like people per hour to get more jobs? My partner is self employed and gets a lot of his work from there.
His running costs are also very low (just electric at the moment) as he bought his programmes while at uni so doesn't subscribe to them. Are there any temp jobs you could do in your area just to give you a cash boost? I personally would be looking for 3/4 full days work for the days you don't have the kids, aren't any supermarkets hiring? Min wage for 3 days is at least a guaranteed income.

AngelPie78

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

Nobody is saying it's free; but you have to factor all these things into your costing. The basic subscriptions and networking are £300 a month; it shouldn't take long to cover that if you have a few clients. But if an individual client wants to meet somewhere where it's going to cost you £50 to travel in, park and buy them coffee then that has to be covered in what you charge them - these are costs that will increase as you get more more work; not stable overheads. As I say, if you are not making a profit from the business at all, then clearly your pricing isn't right. I see you say above it will increase soon; I can only recommend that you increase it immediately. You are paying out more money than you are taking in, and at the moment it sounds like the more clients you get, the worse that will get, not better.

Yep the business should be making £50 an hour but there is no way I could charge that with my current network. We are putting together a new marketing and business strategy with our business coach which is being implemented mid-September. We are currently just tying up the last few projects at the old prices so we can start afresh. I am actually on holiday and so is my business partner so we are just toddling along at the moment,

Prices will be going up an extra third and our whole process etc will be changing so that we can actually start making money. I acknowledge that pricing has been an issue but there is a HUGE amount of competition in this industry and businesses undercut each other all the time. I've made some whopping mistakes with my pricing this year but I've never run a business before so I'm trying my best.

Hopefully we'll be making a healthy profit by Christmas! Thanks for your help and advice though.

Sorry the £50 was for all the clients etc over the month not just one client! I'd never do that lol.

Yep so I need the business to make £500 minimum every month JUST to break even and I need around £600 extra per month for myself. There are two of us - so that's four full websites every month. Never gonna happen only eight months into the business. My industry is a slow burner - it takes weeks to build a relationship and get a sell. I have 10+ people in my pipeline at all times and am constantly at networking events etc...hence the prices going up and a massive revamp of everything we offer

heartbreak_star

Sadly, we're not psychic so we have no idea about what you have and haven't thought of...and that your charger is broken.

Can you copywrite?

HBS x

heartbreak_star

Oh PeoplePerHour is a good call! I got some stuff from them a while back!

HBS x