Bartering Your Services

Be wary of requests to trade or barter your services.  While it can seem like a good way to get goods or services without spending cash - think carefully.

- Is it really something you want or is useful for you and your business?

- Would you be prepared to pay for it anyway?  There's no point in trading for a product or service you'll never use or don't want.

- Make sure it's a like for like trade and of equal value.

- Be very clear about exactly what they're getting.

People take liberties when they think they're getting something for 'free' and will often push for more.

Make it clear this is a one-off or only applies to this transaction.  Any further work is a separate transaction and requires full payment.  If you've already given away or traded your services once - they may well expect a discount for anything else.

Does the person offering the trade actually value what you do or are they just after a freebie?  If they can't afford you normally, they won't value what you do and are more likely to end up being difficult to work with, quibble over price and ask for more.

One of the businesses I'm working with recently fell foul of this.  They agreed to a trade of equal value.

• What they got wasn't actually worth it for their business.

• What they offered was accepted and agreed. But the additional work they took on was changed several times and last minute changes and additions were even made on the day.

Needless to say a discount was also 'assumed' and they were left chasing payment.  Fortunately they've now been paid for most of the work but are still waiting for payment for the additional work completed on the day.

P.S. Be aware of the tax implications of bartering your services.

'Maori bartering a crayfish' (Photo credit: The British Library)

Forward planning for Christmas

Now's the time to plan for Christmas.

Yes really!  Get a head start and get out to the sales - stock up on wrapping paper, Christmas cards and decorations that are now going for a song.

Plan your present lists for family and friends - buy them in the sales - either now or as you go through the year, so you avoid that last minute dash for presents or having to deal with the crush of the crowds in December.

Start saving now - Christmas is one of the most expensive times of the year and if you've maxed out your credit cards to pay for it then setting aside a regular amount each month makes more sense and can avoid you getting into debt.  Open a savings account, put aside £50 a month and by December you'll have £600 towards Christmas.

Do the same for a holiday fund - save up a set amount each and every month into your savings account and by the time you book your holiday you'll already have a pot of money towards it.

Think about what worked and what didn't over the holiday period.  How much did you overspend by?  How much food and drink was wasted?  Yes it's great to over indulge once in a while and enjoy those seasonal treats but not if it ends up in unnecessary waste.  Make a note of what you could change next time around.

Christmas should be about being with friends and family and not about the material things in life.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Living Below the Line - halfway

Days 1-3: Well snacks are certainly out and after the first day, it made me realise just how much 'grazing' I do - my freshly made mid-morning coffee, popping down to make a cup of tea or have a soft drink between clients or the occasional treat.

When I'm feeling a bit peckish I'll pop down for a slice of toast, a piece of fruit or a snack but that's out of the question this week, as it easily adds up and can blow the day's budget in one go.  So without those I'm feeling hungry by meal time.

I've been measuring everything out - just to make sure I'm sticking to portion sizes, which makes it much easier to stick to the day's budget.  It's too easy to throw in an extra handful when you're not focused on quantities and price.

Buying in bulk helps - larger packs work out cheaper per unit (although do check prices, it's not always the case - supermarkets are sneaky like that!). 

Buy things when they're on offer, at or near their sell-buy date - you can save at least 50% on goods you normally buy, but watch those tempting offers on things you don't really need.

Plan your menu - tot up the cost for each day, so you know how much you can spend on breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as a few pennies for drinks and snacks each day.

Protein is a challenge - meat is very expensive when you're limited to £1 a day and pretty much out this week.

(Photo credit: demandaj)

Live Below the Line - can you survive on £1 a day?

This week 1000s of people are accepting the challenge to live on just £1 per day.

I only became aware of this at the weekend but decided to join the challenge and see just how feasible it is.

Well, it's going to be tough.  After a quick calculation of store cupboard essentials and what I was eating last week, some items are definitely going to be out.  Even a simple orange works out at 30p, nearly a third of the day's allowance.

It means no cafe latte's and definitely no treats.  Although I've worked out that I might be able to manage the occasional home brewed coffee and will be drinking more water (free) to replace the more expensive (relatively) teas and coffees I drink on an almost daily basis.

I'm not going to resort to basic/value ranges to keep the cost down.  I want to become more aware of just how much my daily food bill is costing and what I'm eating.

I've not shopped specifically for this challenge to get the very cheapest unit price, which could have saved a few valuable pennies here and there but I've taken what I've already got and picked up a few items on offer to keep the cost down.

May aim is to eat healthy, balanced meals - waste less, eat less and see just how much we take for granted.

So far porridge, brown rice and eggs are likely to feature quite frequently on the menu.

Please support me in my challenge and help raise funds for Practical Action at me/clareevans

Related articles:

• Live Below the Line

Rice with peas (Photo credit: pelican)

Are you running a business or is it running you?

I had a call recently from someone who is running their own business but working long hours, giving up their evenings and weekends and putting a lot of time into it but not getting the results they want - namely, they're finding it hard to earn any money.

Mums (and Dads) want a business that provides flexibility, fits in around the children, gives them with financial reward and a lifestyle they enjoy.  So, they decide to start up their own business based on something they enjoy doing, are passionate about, the skills they have or that fills a gap they see.

Many successful businesses start this way - from the kitchen table - but they can end up being all work, no play and no money.

While you may have no previous knowledge of running a business and although you may not be heading for global domination, you need to take your business seriously.  You need to know if you're running it just for fun or if you want to earn a living from it and recognise when the balance changes, so it's no longer fun or profitable.

Get clear about what it is you want.  Know what you don't want.  Recognise when things need to change and what you need to do to make those changes.  If you're find you're working long hours and giving up your weekends but earning less than if you were stacking shelves in the local supermarket, perhaps it's time to do something different.

After all - "if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always got."

That doesn't mean you need to give up.  A few simple changes and a different approach could make a big difference.

Take a step back, get a fresh perspective and inject some new ideas and new ways of working into your business - get in touch if you'd like to talk things through.

 (Photo credit: megrje)

Carrier Bag Accounting

Image via Wikipedia

Your client turns up with a carrier bag full of receipts days before the tax returns are due and hands them over.

There's an expectation that somehow you'll be able to perform a miracle and turn them around in order to get their tax return completed on time.

It's also the weekend and you were looking forward to time with the family having completed all your other clients returns on time.

The last few days of January are always particularly busy for accountants.  Clients will inevitably leave it to  the last minute, before sending their paperwork to their accountant and that puts more pressure on you to get the work done.

If you meet their expectation - you're likely to end up working late or over the weekend in order to get their return completed in time.  Great service perhaps but it's not respecting your time.

If you let them do it once, they'll do it again and again and again and you're the one left working long hours to complete all those last minute returns.  (This doesn't just apply to accountants).

So, what can you do to stop it happening next year?

• Let them know the last date you'll accept their records, to guarantee that you'll be able to submit their return on time.

• Email them reminders at the end of the Tax year and at intervals before their returns are due and increase the frequency the closer the deadline gets.

• Apply a financial penalty the closer the deadlines gets, especially if it means you'll be working overtime or at the weekend.

• Make it clear that you may not be able to complete their return in time if they're late and they will have to pay the £100 fine + interest.

Use the same principles for any work you do with clients who leave things to the last minute or put pressure on deadlines.

You could also suggest that they get in touch with me or complete the Time Audit if their time habits are impacting their business in other ways.

Related articles

• 7 last-minute Self Assessment tips (simplybusiness.co.uk)

Networking Tips #8 - What It Really Costs

Networking takes time as well as money.

Image by Gunnar Ries via Flickr
I've seen people attend every networking event that's going - hoping to get business and potentially wasting their time and money.

Your Time - Even free events have a cost associated with them:

• Most networking meetings last one to two hours.
• Add your travel time, time spent preparing and following up and a networking meeting can easily result in three to four hours for each meeting.
• Multiply this by the amount of events you attend on a regular basis and it soon adds up.

Unless it's your only function in life or you really have the time to maximise your investment in all those networking events, I'd recommend a maximum of two events a week.

Your Money - The financial investment includes:

• The cost of the meeting
• Annual membership fees
• Travel expenses
• Cost of your time (use your hourly rate)

How much does this add up to for all the events you attend?

How much business have you got as a result of attending these network meetings?

Take into account that networking is a long-term investment but if you're not meeting the right people at the events you go to - be more selective.

Better to attend one or two good quality events on a regular basis than dozens of events for very little reward - balance your networking with your other marketing activities.

Related articles:

• Networking Tips #4 - Which Meeting?
• Networking Tips #3 - Follow-Up

M.A.D. Want It All And Want It Now

These days we expect to have everything we want and we want it all now.

Strawberries and salad vegetables are available all year round – shipped hundreds or even thousands of miles from half way around the world.

If you see a new outfit, suit or pair of shoes that you can’t afford – out comes the credit card, you can have it now and pay for it later.

How many unworn clothes are hanging in wardrobes or unused gadgets are tucked away in cupboards and drawers that you'll probably never use or throw away in a year or two.

Image via WikipediaIf something breaks, we don’t even think about fixing it, we just throw it away, go out and buy a new one. Technology changes so fast that things are usually obsolete as soon as we've unwrapped them.

We think it's our right to have the very latest of everything and to have everything new. We don’t want to buy second-hand or make do with hand me downs. But there’s a whole industry built around passing on second hand goods and recycling to those less fortunate - not just on Ebay and Freecycle.

Things don't last either.  My parents are still using things they were given at their wedding – over 40 years ago – not much you can buy these days that will still be working in 40 years time.

How many times have you bought something that breaks down after only a couple of years use or just after the guarantee runs out?

What happened to make do and mend – or saving up to buy things?  A little restraint and patience can’t be a bad thing.

Related articles

• Freecycling at Work Drives Green Engagement, Business Growth (greenbiz.com)
• Recycling unwanted gadgets (telegraph.co.uk)
• More Month Than Money - weekly ecourse to make your money go further.

M.A.D. Tips For A Greener Christmas

Tips For A Greener Christmas Image via WikipediaAs we enter a few weeks of mass consumerism and over indulgence, here are a few tips to green up your Christmas and save you money.

Shopping - buy presents from charities or fair-trade sources and where possible don't buy over-packaged goods. Think about what you're buying and why - don't buy just for the sake of it. There are loads of eco-friendly ideas for Christmas - wind-up torches, something for the garden. There's a wide range of 'green' gifts - from adopting an endangered animal to 'buying' a sheep for an African community to supporting your local wildlife charity.

Christmas Lights - switch them off when you go out and don't have them on all the time. Use energy efficient bulbs in the rest of the house to at least offset some of the energy used. One low energy bulb will save as much energy in the coming year as 30 strings of fairy lights over 12 days. LED lights are brighter and use a lot less energy than traditional bulbs.

Wrapping paper - most of this can't be recycled as it contains little actual paper and too much foil and plastic with added sticky tape and labels. Save as much as you can for re-use next year. Use ribbons and string to tie up packages.

Cards - save money and resources by sending electronic cards to colleagues and give the money saved to charity. Recycle cards to local charities or cut up into gift tags for next year.

Festive spirit - recycle all those bottles in the nearest bottle bank or in your kerbside collections.

Trees - if you have a real tree - make sure it's from a local, sustainable source. Thousands of Christmas trees and grown, cut and dumped each year. Most councils will take trees for recycling after Christmas so they can be composted or chipped for local parks and gardens. Buy a rooted one and plant it out in the garden - if you're lucky you can re-use it next year.

Decorations - deck the halls with boughs of holly - well at least see what you can harvest from your garden to decorate the house - holly, ivy, berries and evergreen plants provide a more natural display and can be composted at the end of the festive season.

Christmas Dinner - buy locally at your farmers market and steer clear of intensively produced food which stresses not only the animals but the environment. Farmers markets can be cheaper than supermarkets, have a wide range of seasonal produce, reduces the food miles and tastes far better.

Check out some of the other energy saving tips that apply year-round and not just at Christmas.

M.A.D. Less Waste, More Money

The UK is officially the biggest energy waster in Europe. Our worst habits are leaving mobile phone chargers, appliances (like the TV, DVD, HiFi) on standby and leaving lights on.  'Switching things off' could save up to  £300 in a year.

Image by o5com via Flickr
Carry out a few energy saving tips and you could save 10-20% on the average utility bill.  Especially as the weather gets colder and we're more likely to be using more anyway.

How much would that mean to a family of four ... with teenagers? All those mobile phones, TVs, DVD players, iPods, computers, laptops ....

What would 15-25% of your annual utility bills be worth to you?  Here are a few ideas to save energy and money:

• Don’t leave appliances on standby – switch them off! TVs, DVDs, video recorders. Save about £40 a year.
• Unplug mobile phone and MP3 chargers – this could save enough electricity to power 115,000 homes.
• Switch off the computer at the end of the day, switch off monitors, printers, scanners when not in use.
• Change to energy efficient light bulbs and switch off lights when leaving a room.
• Wash clothes at lower temperatures and save 40% less energy. Avoid using a tumble dryer.
• Turn your thermostat down by 1C and save 10% on your heating bill.

See what you could you do this week to reduce your energy bills, save yourself money and reduce your impact on the environment.

Check your money habits with a free checklist and get hundreds of money saving tips.

Great Deals With GroupOn

Now, I’m always looking out for a bargain and ways to save money and I came across this website via Twitter. Groupon – My City Deals offers you great savings on local businesses – from health and beauty, exercise, restaurants and fun.

I'm fairly sceptical when it comes to most things like this, so was expecting there to be some catch and 'no such thing as a free lunch', some complicated sign-up process but these are genuine deals that can save you between 60-85%.

There’s a different deal each day, so you'll need to subscribe to their daily email if you don't want to miss out but if you want a haircut for 60% less or six exercise classes for a fraction of the cost, take a look.

How Much Money Are You Throwing Away?

We live in an everything now, instant gratification, disposable society.  We buy ready meals to save time.  We throw away things when we've had enough of them.  We spend out when we have money or just put it on the credit card when we don't.

According to the Love Food Hate Waste campaign we throw away on average £50 a month of uneaten food.  That's £600 a year - enough for a decent holiday.  We're more likely to do a big bulk shop once a week, rather than shopping fresh every few days - we don't have time.  We throw away perfectly edible food because they're past the Best Before, Display Until or Sell By dates.

We've all heard those stories of people who buy those bargain 'two whole chickens for £5' and then only eat the breast meat and throw the rest away!  Sheer madness!  (Never mind the quality of the chickens, how they've been raised and where they've come from.)

A roast chicken can provide at least three meals - Sunday - roast, Monday - cold chicken and salad or risotto, Tuesday - soup.  Freeze leftovers and use them later.

Here a few tips to save you time and money:

• Shop with a list - you'll get less distracted and avoid impulse spending.
• Plan your meals for the week - then buy for the meals you've planned, less waste.
• Use the freezer if you're not going to eat the food you've bought immediately.
• Have a good stock cupboard, so you have basic ingredients for several options.
• Check your fridge/freezer regularly so you know what's in there and it doesn't go off.
• Batch cook food - make double and freeze for later.
• Shop locally - buy fruit and veg every couple of days.  It has more flavour, few air miles and doesn't go off as quickly.

For other ways to save you hundreds of pounds a year and improve your money habits download the free Money Habits checklist.

M.A.D. Your Money

This is the third in a series of M.A.D. Moments based on different areas of your life to inspire you and motivate you into action.

What does Money mean to you?

• Do you spend more than you earn, less than you earn, about the same?
• Are money worries a source of stress?
• Is your credit card debt more than you can handle (be honest)?
• Do you manage to save on a regular basis.
• Do you spend for the long-term or short-term.

We could all benefit from improving our finances – unless we’re in the fortunate position of having more money than we know what to do with and have wisely invested for our future and old age, so have nothing to worry about.

Overspending may be something you do every now and then or it may be a pattern of behaviour that you need or would like to change.

What beliefs do you hold about money that affect your current money behaviours and habits? Our beliefs and spending habits develop in our childhood from our parents, society and religion and what they teach us about money. We may either take on the same behaviours or they may be totally different.

Action:

Here are three ideas to help you make a difference to your Money this week:

• Start a money diary. Write down everything that you spend this week, from the smallest amount to the biggest bill – every newspaper, coffee, snack bar, bus fare, car park fee. At the end of the week see how much you’ve spent and where.

• If you don’t know the numbers already, work out your monthly expenditure. Gather all your bank statements, credit card bills, household bills – everything that goes out and payslips, dividends, interest statement – anything that comes in.

• Reduce your outgoings. Are you getting the best rate on your car and house insurance? Check your bank statements – are you paying for things you no longer need.

Get a copy of my free Money Habits checklist and you'll get the first chapter of my More Month Than Money e-book.

See how much you can save this week.

What's Your Time Worth?

Do you know what your hourly rate is?

Whether you work for yourself or as an employee - it's useful to know what your hourly rate is, so you can put a value on your time.

To find your hourly rate, divide your annual salary or annual income by the number of working days in a year (230) and then the number of hour you work or get paid for (8hrs).  You can give your time a value which is particularly useful when you realise how much time you're wasting.

Wasting just an hour a day - based on the average salary which works out at £15 per hour, adds up to over £3000 a year.

So how much is it costing you or your employer for each wasted hour?

Microfinance - small scale loans that make a difference.

I first came across the idea of microfinance and Kiva (www.kiva.org) when I was discussing a client's long-term goal to set up their own charity to help people in Africa. Microfinancing is an instant, easy way to help without the need to be a philanthropic millionaire. 

Prompted by David Ferrers' recent blog post, I've just made a loan to an entrepreneur named Seang La Chea in Cambodia. Her group still need another $150.00 to complete their loan request of $200.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!). I know we may all be short on cash at the moment but for the price of a few coffees, you can help me get this entrepreneur off the ground by clicking on the link below to make a loan to Seang La Chea's Group too:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=156583

I chose Cambodia and Seang La Chea's Group, as I visited the country a few years ago and it was the most amazing place with incredibly friendly and genuine people.

I choose exactly who my money is loaned to and what they're using it for. And most of all, I know that I'm helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.

You can go to Kiva's website and lend to someone across the globe who needs a loan for their business - like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent - and you get updates letting you know how the entrepreneur is going.

The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back - and Kiva's loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.

Join me and the team at Zenaid and start making a difference - one loan at a time.

Thanks.

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What others are saying about www.Kiva.org:

'Revolutionising how donors and lenders in the US are connecting with small entrepreneurs in developing countries.'  -- BBC

'If you've got 25 bucks, a PC and a PayPal account, you've now got the wherewithal to be an international financier.'  -- CNN Money

'Smaller investors can make loans of as little as $25 to specific individual entrepreneurs through a service launched last fall by Kiva.org.' -- The Wall Street Journal

'An inexpensive feel-good investment opportunity...All loaned funds go directly to the applicants, and most loans are repaid in full.' -- Entrepreneur Magazine

June/July Newsletter - Planning For Profit

Most of us are currently tightening our belts and being careful about how and where we spend our money, in the current economic climate. How many of us are as careful about where we spend our time?

Time Management might not seem like a particularly exciting subject but when you think about where you spend your time and what it's actually costing you, it puts the importance of good time habits into perspective ...


Read the rest of the article in this month's free newsletter, just sign up on my website and you'll also receive free tips, advice, information and news on how to improve your time management for your business and personal life.

Blog Action Day - Poverty And The Girl Effect.

Well, if you didn't know about it you might have missed it too but the 15th of this month was Blog Action Day. One day for hundreds of bloggers to post about one specific topic. Last year it was the Environment, this year it was Poverty.

When many of us are feeling the pinch as prices rise on food, fuel and the cost of living, there are many more who are far worse off than we are. As a result of several Blog Action Day blogs I read on Wednesday, I came across this:



Take your time to have a look around The Girl Effect website to find out more. It makes interesting and humbling reading.

Shopping Around - Petrol Prices

If you're looking to save money then it certainly helps to make sure that you're not paying over the odds for your fuel - especially as it's been rising rapidly over the last few months and now costs about 30% more to fill your tank each week.

I usually fill up at my local Asda, as it always has the cheapest petrol in the area and seems to drop it's prices before the others. The other two local petrol stations are a couple of pence per litre more, which isn't a big difference and not worth making a journey out of my way to fill up but I passed a petrol station this weekend that was charging almost 10p per litre more than what I was paying. That amounts to an additional £4-£5 every time you fill up. Multiply that over the course of a year and that's over £200 - just on fuel.

Check the Petrol Prices website for your local area.

August Newsletter - How Much Is Your Time Worth?

My latest newsletter is just out. This month's main article is about looking at how much your time is worth and why this is important. Also news on my book publication.

Whether you work for someone else or work for yourself the amount of time you spend working is worth something. Either your employer pays you for the hours you work or charges your time out at a particular rate or you charge your clients for the work you do. Would you be inclined to fritter it away on things that add no value if you knew what it was costing you? ...

If you want to find out about the importance of your hourly rate, then read the rest of the newsletter, just sign up on my website and you'll receive the latest issue and free Power Time Tips.

BHCC - Sustainability

Tonight's talk from the Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce was on sustainability. Actually nothing I hadn't heard, wasn't aware of or don't do already but at least it's raising awareness in the business world of not only becoming more environmentally aware but saving money into the bargain.

Involve your staff in the discussion - not only will they then be more likely to buy into what you're trying to achieve but they'll come up with their own ideas.

Easy saves for your business premises to reduce resources are:

• Reduce the temperature of the office by just one degree and save an average of 10% of your heating bills.
• Don't heat or light empty offices - save 50% on your bill.
• Get staff to 'switch-off' lights when not in use.

• Fix leaking pipes and taps - save hundreds of litres a year.
• Install water-saving devices in cisterns - save 3 litres every flush.
• Make sure taps are properly turned off.

• Flat pack boxes and other waste to reduce disposal/collection costs.
• Reduce waste bins required and frequency of collection.
• Don't print emails.
• Re-use scrap paper.
• Print double-sided.
• Use recycled paper products.
• Recycle waste - paper, glass, cans, card, organic waste.

For longer-term results or when changing or updating equipment - try some of the following.

• Replace lighting with compact fluorescent tubes or low wattage bulbs.
• Install flush controls on toilet cisterns.
• Replace taps with sensor or push spray taps.
• Install waterless urinals.
• Ask your suppliers for reusable packaging.
• Use Fairtrade products.
  
• Install proper insulation.
• Use energy efficient appliances.
• Implement home-working - less commuting.
• Encourage use of public transport.
• Install energy saving equipment for heating and lighting.
  

Even if you don't work in an office and work from home, many of these can still apply to your home office.

If you'd like to find out more and get some great tips, information and advice on Greening your Business join my eco-friendly Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Club on Ecademy.

Get your Sustainable Business Checklist from Sally Lever's Downshifting site.