In Business & Blogging

Making Business Easier

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on

making business easier, business

I’ve been running my own business for years now (over twelve). Over that time I’ve learnt a lot about making doing business easier. What people don’t tell you when you start up is that you need to know a lot more than just your particular skill. For example, I am a freelance copywriter. I also need to know about websites, logos and images, accounts, admin, legal matters and so much more. It can be a minefield. 

If you want to make running a business easier, consider these tips.

Systemise to Make Business Easier

It is important to systemise your efforts on a daily basis. Having systems in place, from dealing with emails, with admin, bookkeeping, customer care and more will streamline your processes, enhance customer experience, save time and generally make life easy. A great business is a well-oiled machine, and deserves to be treated as such. Consider using resources such as Templafy, as these options help you end the document anarchy you’re facing and get to real work, not just paperwork. Asana for Gmail is another tool I wouldn’t be without. 

What systems you’ll use will depend entirely on your individual business.

“Passion Fuels The Fire”

Passion fuels the fire. This means that hiring people who share your same vision and interest will help you spend much less time trying to motivate the troops. Higher levels of interest in your effort will bring out better results, and this can begin a positive feedback loops that gives you the chance to continue from success to success, and build your brand on the back of a quality reputation. Basically, you need people to be on board, to be invested and to be motivated. If you can crack that nut, you will make runny your business simpler for you and more profitable.

Outsource Where You Can

I outsource my bookkeeping and accountancy because I am rubbish at it and I hate it. I have a graphic designer for all my design needs because I haven’t the time or the talent to do design work. I have a trusted web developer to do all of the web develop-y stuff. By outsourcing I am able to concentrate on the core of my business, on the tasks only I can do. Having people to call on for such things definitely makes doing business easier.

Learn!

Yes, learn. The more you work on your self-development, the more you know about yourself and your sector, your niche, the more you may expand and the more successful you will be. Above increased profits though, you are going to become more confident and confidence in business not only makes doing business easier, it makes doing business more profitable and often, more fun!

What tips and tricks do you employ in order to streamline your business processes, to save time and ultimately to make your enjoyment of running that business a priority?

In Interior Design

Cheap Kitchens VS Affordable Kitchens

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on

kitchen, cheap kitchens

I’ve written a lot about interiors recently as we are making changes to our home. Here’s a question for you, “can you get away with installing cheap kitchens in your home without having to pay through the nose down the road”? Yes, you can! When I say cheap kitchens I mean high-quality kitchens that comes with all the fixtures and fittings and yet are affordable. These are the type of kitchens you might find at Kitchen Warehouse.

When Cheap Kitchens Go Bad

The type of cheap kitchen that you won’t find at a reputable kitchen store is the type of kitchen that Roy and I had in our first home. It was a rental that we took on quickly as the house we were moving into fell through and we were packed up and ready to go. We should have been tipped off by the fact that the wallpaper border in the living room was sellotaped on, or the fact that there was no heating or gas installed, but hey, we were young, in love and absolutely blinkered. The kitchen though, that was something else.

When I refer to this kind of cheap kitchen I mean poorly fitted doors, very shallow cupboards, one door hung upside down, cheap hinges and a poor arrangement which meant the kitchen offered no decent storage and workspace was limited. On the upside, it was laid out in such a way that you could wash your hands in the sink and warm your bottom by the grill at the same time…..

Curiously I’ve seen this property recently (on Rightmove) and it has been completely renovated. No sellotape on the walls, radiators have been installed and there is a decent kitchen. Even from the pictures, you can tell the difference. The quality, the layout, the practical aspects. I was quite put out at first. I know that the person who owns it now wouldn’t have paid a fortune on the new kitchen which just goes to show the difference between cheap kitchens and cheap kitchen that are of a high quality.

Affordable Kitchens and What They Offer

There are certain things that I require from a new kitchen:

  • It won’t break my budget
  • I have choices so that I may customise the layout of my kitchen how I want it to be
  • The kitchen comes from a reputable company
  • There is scope for some design elements (kitchens don’t need to be ugly and boring)
  • Plenty of storage (clever storage is always a pro-point)
  • Enough worktop space

What about you? What are your kitchen must-haves? Clearly these days you don’t need to throw ridiculous amounts of money at a new kitchen in order to receive something that works for you, your lifestyle, your space and your family, so even with a budget in mind, what would you like to see in your kitchen?

Written in collaboration with Kitchen Warehouse

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