Archive for Outsourcing
Friday Five - business tasks for kids
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My kids have done a lot of jobs for me over the years, from stock take to packing goodie bags to mail outs to shredding. They are currently 6 and 8.
This week, I’ll share some strategies I use to get the job done and done right.
- Clear goal - be clear about the outcome you want. Do you want x bags packed with certain items? Do you want all the paper in a box shredded. Be clear to the kids what your expected outcome is.
- Break it into smaller tasks - depending on the age of your kids, you may want to break the job up. For example, when packing goodie bags, you may want to give one child the task of sorting out the DL size flyers, another the task of putting them in the bag, rather than giving them the whole task.
- Reward - have a reward for the children on completion of the job. Let them know before the job starts what the reward will be. Whatever it is, make sure it fits the job and your childs age.
- Make it fun - depending on the job, you can turn it in to a game, or put music on in the background, or make it a race. Whatever you do, make sure the job is done right. If you know that a bit of competition can help get the job done, then use it for your advantage, however if you know it is a distraction or will mean the job won’t be done properly, then you may want to choose something else to make the job fun.
- No pressure - give children the choice whether they want to do the job or not. Children can get bored and want to stop in the middle of a task, or not want to start at all. Give them the choice. This is where having a clear goal and reward can help.
Children, especially small children, love doing whatever Mum is doing. If you have tasks that need to get done for your business and the kids are wanting to help, then let them. The five points above help when my kids want to help me, I hope they will give you some ideas to get your children involved and helping you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailySimplify your business with Strategic Alliances
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Doing too much? Simplify with Strategic Alliances
Do you ever find that you are offering too much in your business? Especially if you keep adding on more services in response to your customers needs, or want to keep adding them. As a business mum, this can be an easy trap to fall in to.
One way you can still offer extra services to your customers without creating more work for yourself is to team up with some strategic alliance partners who offer the services your customers are looking for.
This can work in a number of different ways:
- Affiliate Program - if someone is offering an awesome product or service you want to recommend to your customers, see if they have an affiliate program. This is essentially a program where you get a commission on all sales, usually through a unique link added to your website.
- Reciprocal Agreement - if you have a product or service that your alliance partner can use, and they have one that you can use, then have a reciprocal agreement. This doesn’t have to be a formal agreement unless you want to set one up. It can be the sort of thing where, for example, you provide workshops and your alliance partner provides products.
- Reselling - if someone has a product you would like to recommend to your customers that would fill a need, see if you can resell their products instead of re-creating it. For example, if you sell hair accessories for little girls, you may want to resell other products for little girls, or products for Mum.
There are other ideas you can use, these are just a few that can help you provide a wide range of products and services without you having to do all the work!
For more about strategic alliances, join the Strategic Alliance Success club. This is an amazing resource that will help you with all you need to know about creating strategic alliances for your business (and yes, they are a strategic alliance partner of mine).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyDoing “Mum Stuff”
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As a business mum, there is a certain amount of “Mum Stuff” I need to do in a day. This could include helping out at school, doing some baking, housework, washing, and tidying, not to mention being “Mums Taxi” taking the kids to extra curricular activities and friends places after school and on the weekend.
So, what do you do, and how do you get it all done?
I aim to get as much business work done while the kids are at school as possible so much of the “Mum Stuff” is done while the kids are home after school or on the weekends. Occasionally there are days like today when I’m not feeling particularly motivated, I’ll do some of the “Mum” tasks.
So far today I have done some baking and changed the sheets on the bed. It’s a beautiful sunny day, so I”m hoping to get all the washing on the line so it will drive before the rains come in the next couple of days.
“Mum Stuff” can also be an effective procrastination tool - if you let it. It can be easy to see the pile of washing or the kids toys around and deal with them before you do any work for your business, especially if you work from home. It can be easier if you work in a shop or office outside home as the constant reminders are not right in front of you.
Schedule in your Mum tasks as you would any other task. You may put aside an hour a day, or whatever works for you, to do these tasks, or even a morning or day a week.
If these tasks are getting too much for you, then outsource. I have a cleaner who comes in on Friday mornings to clean, all we have to do is make sure everything gets tidied. I know of some Mums who outsource their ironing and gardening.
Doing “Mum Stuff” is important, but it can be tempting to let it take over so nothing else gets done.
What are some of your tips to help you get all the Mum Stuff done as well as your business tasks?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyDon’t be a hero
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Does the lady in the picture look like you? Are you trying to do everything - housework, business tasks, childcare, not to mention spending time with friends, your hubby or partner, and trying to squeeze in a little bit of time for yourself?
Recently I saw a post on Facebook asking how other Mums do it. My simple answer is “Don’t be a hero, get some help“.
A lot of business mums tell me they don’t have the money to get help in their business. Getting help doesn’t have to cost a lot. One thing to do is teach your children to do things around the house. Are they able to make their beds, put their clothes away, even make their own lunches for school? Depending on their age, there are a number of things around the house they can be responsible for.
If your children are not old enough, consider hiring a cleaner. I have one that comes once a fortnight and we pay $50 for 2 hours. It’s fantastic as she cleans the toilet, bathrooms, and vacuums, as well as any other tasks she can fit in that 2 hours. It saves a lot of stress and I know things get cleaned.
On a business front, there are many ways you can get help. This may include outsourcing your book work to a bookkeeper, or getting someone else to look after your website updates. If your children are old enough, you can get them to help out too.
Another thing to remember - if you were working for someone else, you’d be working 9-5 (give or take) and in the evenings you could relax. Add this to your schedule and make sure you take evenings off. Same goes for weekends.
If things start getting on top of you, then give yourself permission to let something go.
One great example I read on a blog was from Annette Piper. She recently “played farmer” while her husband was overseas. You can read an account of her fortnight here. She apologises in a later post for being quiet on her blog. Something had to give, so her blog went quiet.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums Daily