Teacup Tuesday... Small Business Admin

Well it's that time of year again, busy season and both HMRC and Companies House deadlines on the horizon!

Yep we have to hand in a balance sheet and P&L accounts to Companies House (via paper as LLPs can't yet do this online). Since we're small we're exempt from the auditors report... but don't forget to declare this on your balance sheet!! We recently had our accounts rejected because I'd included a cover letter to accompany the account sheets (oh and forgot to print my name next to my signature).

HMRC uses the same accounting information but they want it on their own form (why these two institutions can't share the information I don't know!!).

All of these need to be complete before the end of the year, well since we fill in our HMRC return online we have until the end of the year!! So while wrapping up orders to be delivered before Christmas, we're also writing down numbers, doing our sums & posting off our accounts to the powers that be! It truly is a very busy time of the year.

So with this in mind, my thoughts turn to our next big seasonal push... Easter!

 

Teacup Tuesday....networking

As a small business we try very hard to support those that are in the same boat as us; especially if they share our ethos.

Last Friday I had a good networking day; one of our Twitter followers reached out to me and asked if I could help out on her website (she runs a lovely forum / information site that aims to help people moving). So I popped over there and provided some information; which she kindly thanked me for.

I also discovered a Twitter networking event called #ConnectFriday. This event is for ethical, sustainable, and kind to the environment businesses can all 'meet' and find out what each other does. This means that I can meet and network with people who may run small independent yarn businesses that I could buy my cotton or bamboo off for knitting the softies. We could discover a FSC wooden box maker for Anna's memory boxes, perhaps even a new supplier for our gift wrap cotton or ribbons! I grew up in a country where shopping local, recycling & being aware (kind) of the environment was a way of life not an ethos that people could buy into or brand themselves with. We never saw the word 'eco-' until we moved back to the UK.

Anna & I try to adopt this in our business as well as personal lives - we work with people who use natural materials - sustainable natural materials, or who upcycle materials. Not only do we work with these people but we share their business successes, we let other people know about them, we link to their websites from ours, we retweet their Twitter tweets & share their Facebook status updates. We'll put their flyers out with ours and generally use them as our preferred suppliers.

So today's blog is in honour of all those fellow small businesses that do the same for us - in particular David Earp - Shuktara, Marie Travell - Rainbow Cakes, Joanne McGowen - Act One Adventures, and of course Anna - Godalming Independent Market. These four people are consistently there, networking with us.

Thank you guys, you'll be the first 4 businesses I 'shout out' on the Twitter & Facebook #ConnectFriday event I'll be doing.

Teacup Tuesday... making time for friends & family

Most my work is done at night, turning me into a night owl

If you're thinking of starting a small business take heed: your 'you time' will disappear first, and then you'll struggle to make time for friends and family. Making a small business work is hard work, there's no way around avoiding the fact that you need to put in the time and effort to make it a success.

Like other businesses some days we are emailed magical business courses / seminars which seem to sell business success in 30 days by just working 3 days a week!

The adverts usually say something like: 'Build your business in just 30 days, sign up now and receive my free eBook on Making Your Business Work For You' and then in smaller print Just £100 to join'. In really small writing there's mention of a monthly subscription but no mention of cost. If you ignore this email you'll have another one in a few days saying 'Now with out a sign up fee - Join now and save £100' - John from Bishopsford did and he's now running an internationally successful business. Read more about John and his success story by clicking here...'

Pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?

I'm very conscious that the time I spend on u-ni-k is focused and task orientated. I make sure that I maximise the time I have available on doing tasks that need to be done, that will bring the maximum return and that can be completed in the time I have available. Usually there's not enough time available so I sacrifice making that overdue call to an old friend, or jumping in the shower at the end of the day instead of having a long relaxing bath. You make these sacrifices to make things work, so I'm not sure what magic formula the courses and seminars provide.

Perhaps I'm just too cynical. Perhaps, just perhaps I could work less and earn more... if I could only believe that for a price some magic business advice could change my life that much.

Teacup Tuesday... insurance - a bet you wouldn't want to lose!

OK so it seems mundane, and actually the money it costs could be spent on something 'better' like more marketing or a stall at a fantastic craft fayre but really insurance is something you can't do without.

If everything goes swimmingly then yes, it seems unnecessary but if it doesn't all go swimmingly then insurance is the net there to help you. Take Anna's recently uninvited and definitely unwanted visitors... her insurance is going to help her replace the electrical items she lost (not unfortunately the camera memory card). Otherwise she'd be without them for longer than a few weeks :(

The same as a business, should someone decide that your product arrived in poor condition or even worse never turned up then the insurance you paid for when posting it helps you reclaim towards that loss and perhaps even covers making a new product and resending.

But it's not only product or belonging insurance a business needs, no there's liability & other areas that we need to cover ourselves for. In this 'have you had an accident that wasn't your fault' TV advert soaked society, I wouldn't dream of erecting a gazebo or table at an event without the insurance to cover me for any accidents that may happen. A table can be heavy if it gives way... and if it fell on someone's foot and they decided to seek compensation then I'd need my insurance to back me up!

So not mundane or unnecessary at all. When you need it insurance is the safety net that catches you when accidents happen. If you run a small business then it is a necessity.

www.unikgifts.co.uk

Teacup Tuesday... distance working

Anna & I are trying to physically meet up rather than talk on the phone / email / text. Which is turning out to be harder than we imagined! Our children have had different lurgies (and we've tried to not infect each other's families), we've had car availability issues, we've had families / guests / unexpected visitors turn up and scupper our pencilled in plans!

I always try to phone Anna once a week - but usually end up talking to her voicemail. As she has 2 naughties fighting for her time & attention, I don't take it personally if she doesn't call me back!

Likewise (I think) she doesn't take it personally if I don't respond to an email straight away (I have 5 email accounts so it's easy to file something away 'to respond to' and not find it when I have time to respond).

I squirrel away working on new website pages - updating the navigation, wording, prices, etc. Often working late into the night, & when coming out of the background workings of our website I often see 3 or 4 emails from Anna. Although I read them, sometimes I'm so tired I leave the response for the next day (after I've coffee'd & seen to DangerMouse).

So this distance working is hard, it takes patience & understanding from both people. Also the ability to read between the lines - sometimes an email is short & to the point not because the person on the other end is upset but because the dinner is boiling over & the kid is screaming for attention pulling at the leg of the email author.

One day we'll meet up over a coffee (me) / tea (Anna), and perhaps even make time to chat about our gardens / builders / families as well as u-ni-k!

Teacup Tuesday...you need good foundations

Sarah & I both have builders at the moment, a necessity that comes when you buy a bigger house that needs some TLC. The little ones love it, and will pretend to make 'buildermen' a cup of tea every 5minutes! DangerMouse can often be found in the soil / rubble pile covered in Mud saying 'oooh muddy muddy muddy'.

Which is why we've been talking about foundations! Businesses and houses are alike, both need good foundations. When we founded u-ni-k we drew up a business plan, we did our market research, we drafted and redrafted again a partnership agreement and we opened up a business bank account - all before registering ourselves with Companies House.

We did this because you never know what might happen, the partnership agreement includes what happens if one of us is no longer here or alternatively what happens if we want to include another partner! It's several pages long and we both have a signed copy!

So if you're thinking of going into business with someone else, build on good foundations - not only a solid friendship but a decent partnership agreement that you can both sign and have a copy of. One day you may be glad that you did!

Teacup Tuesday...Finding the right fit!

This week Anna & I have been talking about craft fayres. We're proud to be apart of some lovely local fayres here in the Surrey / Hampshire / Berkshire area but we've recently been let down or disappointed by some of the newer fayres we joined. One of which took our booking money for a fayre that never happened, once they had payment they went silent - never to be heard from again!

With the increase of postage prices now in force (Royal Mail is still our preferred mail option), we're really keen to show our lovely gifts in person at craft fayres. So if you can recommend any, please do pop over to our Facebook page and let us know of a craft fayre near you that we can exhibit at!

On a happier note, we've started to build the website into something that has a slicker purchasing process. We're really happy that our new domain hosts provide us with a stable platform with which to do this. So keep your eyes open for more changes... and maybe even a section for Mummy gifts rather than baby & children's gifts. It's all very exciting.

Something nice for Mummies? ooooohh!

Teacup Tuesday... How long exactly is a year?

Quick troops defend the small business from injustice!

Anna and I are fuming, no actually we're livid. We returned our first accounts to Companies House but were fined for being late. Since our accounts cover a period of over 12months we thought we had 21months to enter them, according to Companies House 12months and 2 weeks are not over 12months.

As you can imagine we have looked at our calendar and thought, well blimey.. "who knew? There must be 54 weeks in the year, imagine us not knowing that before... kinda explains our childcare costs"

OR there's some magic calendar out there that the government follows that we as working Mum's are not aware of.

So this week we are SEETHING with anger, all fired up to take on the big boys while quietly paying the fine because we want to stay in business.

Just another way the current Government is trying to stifle business in this struggling economy.

Teacup Tuesday... Stock taking, spreadsheets etc

Well this week we've been thinking about Valentines day and a little further ahead to Easter! I know I know, we've only just celebrated my birthday but these things creep up on us before we know it.

We've done a quick stock check and ordered some pieces for our upcoming craft fairs.

[We're at the Love What We Do event on 8th Feb, so if you're in the area stop by and say hello. We'll have some of our new makers pieces there for you to fall in love with!]

So February is the month of love. With this in mind, Anna's produced these lovely things about what we love:

(you'd guessed bunnies already hadn't you?!)

The other thing we've been chatting about is family, and how it's important. So take sometime out this week to show some love to your family.

Heart rainbow maker

Don't forget Daddy too!

Silver cufflinks for Daddy

www.unikgifts.co.uk 

Wordless Wednesday...

Thank you for supporting u-ni-k gifts

Monday mentor...

Theo Paphitis #SBS website

http://www.theopaphitissbs.com/

Following on from his success both off screen and on screen, Theo Paphitis is supporting small businesses over on Twitter with his Small Business Sunday.

Each Sunday between 5pm & 7.30pm he gives small business users the chance to pitch their business to him for a chance of a retweet and inclusion on his SBS website.

Previous winners of #SBS have reported that endorsement from Theo Paphitis has provided their small business a much appreciated boost. The retweet usually benefits the business more Twitter and Facebook followers - increasing their market presence and resulting in more traffic to their website. This can often result in an increase sales!

#SBS winners also join an exclusive community of former winners who offer rewards, discounts and offers to their fellow small businesses.

If you're a small business owner who wants to enter #SBS, here are the tips the official SBS website provides:

What to do...

• Tweet about your business in 140 characters or less, directed to @TheoPaphitis, adding the hashtag #SBS.
• Tweet on a Sunday between 5.00-7.30 PM.
• Use humour and topicality if it feels natural to you.
• Feel free to add a link or web address in your tweet.
• Having a website increases your chances of being noticed.
• Ensure your profile sells your business and has a link to your website. Include a colourful graphic.
• It helps to know the names behind the business. #SBS is for small businesses. The personal touch is liked.
• Just tweet once in each weekly time slot.
• Look out for the re-tweets.
• If you are not chosen, don't despair and try again!

Boosted by our #WOW win, Anna and I have been entering #SBS believing that we will one day win this coveted accolade.

When times are tough, help each other!

Economic crisis worsens. How are you affected?

When Anna and I started u-ni-k we were hoping to work from home to spend time with our little ones, bring beautiful gifts to fellow Mummies and basically enrich the lives of little people around the world. The news was full of tales of economic recovery and world banking people telling us that the UK was going to be OK. A few rays of financial sunshine were peeking through the recession clouds, a rainbow was formed and the proverbial pot of gold was to be found in the UK.

Now we're heading towards the end of the year and people are looking at how prices have been rising but their pay packets are the same. My rough, one cup of coffee only this morning while looking at the BBC news website, calculations say that it costs a minimum of £50 per week to keep a child. On top of this the Universities Minister David Willetts said on BBC Radio 4 this morning "The country is not as well off as we thought”. Things are looking grey for us all.

What does this mean for us small businesses?

Well for Anna and I it means helping out other small businesses as much as possible. We retweet, follow and support however we can our fellow small businesses. Our business is based upon the small independent makers, so if times are tough for them it's tough for us.

We help our makers by not charging them any listing fees, we link back to their website from ours (OK I am still working on this page in the new look website redesign but it's near the top of my to do list!), we promote them via this blog, our Twitter and Facebook pages, and also send out press releases dedicated to their products. In short we campaign for our makers!

I make sure that our makers are the first to see their products on our website and they have the final say in the images and copy.

In return we hope that our makers list us a supplier on their website, promote us through their marketing and keep the products they make exclusively for us 'exclusive' for at least a year from the date they sign our contract.

Me all dressed up
ready for our Christmas Markets

What next?

Well, u-ni-k are hitting the road. We're taking the stock pieces that we have and we're heading out to a Christmas Market near you (if you live in the Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex areas). We're busy knitting, sewing, and promoting, our own handmade treasures while nudging our suppliers to finish their samples off and send our way so that we can stock them on our stall!

So please mark 12^th and 19^th November 2010 in your diaries to come and support u-ni-k gifts and our makers at the Weybridge Handmade Christmas Market and the Farnham Christmas Fayre.

We'd love to see you there.

PS

If anyone knows of a good Christmas Market looking for a fabulous stall of handmade childrens goods please let me know: sarah @unikgifts.co.uk