Everything you need to know about business and personal finance ...

How do you know what you need to need to know about business and personal finance?

This is one of those topics that many business owners shy away from.

It's not exciting or cool.

It's not clamouring for your attention.

It's easy to ignore.

That is, until you can't ignore it any longer and then you wish you'd paid more attention sooner.

This is why we asked Andrew Hawkins to host an Ask the Expert session on "Everything you've ever wanted to know about business and personal finance but were afraid to ask" 

Following experience in banking and insurance in the City of London, Andrew has spent 25 years as a business consultant, offering practical solutions to business owners as MD of business strategy and funding specialists The Mercantile Group.

This is a compilation of a live Q&A and there is a quick check list of other questions you may need to ask at the end!

Basic requirements for every business 

Q. What are the basics that every business owner needs to consider Andrew?

Andrew Hawkins The minimum requirements for any business are: Insurance of people, things and liabilities; banking; cashflow projection; business plan; good advice and a tax plan which, in simple terms, is a good estimate of likely tax liability.

Insurance needs to cover your office equipment and anything you need to run your business, possibly Public Liability to protect the business from claims of injury, Employers Liability – if you employ anyone this is a legal requirement, and is usually included with a basic policy - and perhaps Professional Indemnity if you are giving advice. Also check your car insurance to make sure you’re covered for business journeys, especially if you’re claiming motor expenses through your business.

Ideally your business needs to be a separate legal entity - so that means either a Limited Liability Partnership or a Limited Company. If you’re a sole trader at the very least you should have a separate bank account for your business.

You should also consider protecting I.P., trademarks and other ways in which your business might be vulnerable.

Insurance

Q. I have professional indemnity, equipment etc. insurance for my business and as a family we have life insurance which covers critical illness and accident. I don't want to duplicate insure myself (especially when various places have loads of small print that means they often don't pay out).

Andrew Hawkins This can be an issue. A detailed review of a family’s insurance requirements in parallel with those of a business is complex - but essential. Probably needs a qualified Financial Planner.

You can get various sorts of Permanent Health and Personal Accident cover which will pay if one has a major accident - e.g. loss of a limb/eye - or suffer a long-term illness. “Normal” health cover provides for private treatment if the NHS cannot treat you quickly.

A lot of trade or membership organisations can provide this sort of cover, often at discounted rates.

Q. Are there financial planners that specialise in self-employment?

Andrew Hawkins  Some will be more au fait with business matters generally but finding a good Financial Planner is a challenge. Personal recommendation can be useful but the circumstances of the person doing the recommending needs to be similar to yours for that to have any value.  If you can’t get a personal recommendation try asking your accountant, bank manager (good luck with getting to speak to one), solicitor or another advisor. It’s important to have a really strong personal relationship with a financial advisor/planner and to ensure that s/he really understands your full personal and business circumstances. The regulations should ensure that a qualified planner will delve into everything but it’s important that s/he understands the relationship between your personal and business finances.

Q. This is a great reminder on the different insurances - thank you. I have PI as required for my Practising Licence, but should think about more (perhaps when I'm making a lot more :-D )

Don't mess up your taxes!

Q. What are the things you see that most business owners trip up on?

Andrew Hawkins The most common thing is not setting aside enough money to cover the tax bill and not being covered for illness or accidents that prevent them from working and therefore, earning.

The things people really need to avoid messing up are VAT and HMRC payments (these officials can close your business at a stroke!) so these should always be set aside every month so that those obligations are met without any problems.

It’s worth mentioning here that if something does go wrong and you can’t meet any obligation, payment or debt, the earlier you talk to the people involved the better. Usually it’s possible to negotiate a payment plan if you are honest with them and don’t try to ignore the problem! If you aren’t happy negotiating with HMRC – ask around to find someone with a good track record of doing so successfully.

Q. I wince when I hear freelance friends who haven't put enough aside for tax (and don't know about the payment on account thing!)

Q.  My accountant tells me how much I need to set aside each month for corporation tax but I always set aside more than this to my tax savings account. I consider this untouchable and it gives me a good buffer in case anything goes wrong.

Andrew Hawkins  The ‘buffer’ arrangement is a great habit to get into.

If you’re self-employed you’ll be asked to complete a tax Self Assessment form each year for the tax year, 6 April – 5 April.

If you file a paper return, it’s due by 31 October. If you make an on-line return, it's due on 31 January the following year. The tax due is also payable by 31 January. This is why it's not a good idea to leave it to the last minute! There are penalties for late returns and late payments starting at £100. Where necessary you’ll be asked to make an ‘on account’ payment in July and this can catch people out if you haven't been setting aside monthly installments in a tax or savings account.

Pension Provisions

Q. What about investing for the future? My company pension plan with Prudential has been dormant for 14 years, since going self-employed. I don't know whether to resurrect that, as it already has a bit of a (small) pot. Or continue to haphazardly put money in ISAs. Or both? What about new things like PensionBee where they'll merge your pensions (I also have a tiny amount in another one!) Investing in a pension is also deductible, isn't it?

Andrew Hawkins Pension management requires specialist advice and yes - contributions can be tax deductible. The regulations change quite often so check that whoever you consult is up to date with the right information.

This is something a lot of people put off but with life expectancy increasing all the time, its a really good idea to get this sorted as soon as possible.  

Mortgage requirements

Q. Something else that worries a lot of self-employed people is that it may be harder to get a mortgage than if you're employed. Any advice?

Andrew Hawkins As an employee of your own limited company it’s fairly simple to prove your income but if self-employed the mortgage providers know it’s a more complicated calculation and often require independent proof over a number of years from an accountant for example.

Q. Personally, I haven't had a problem but I've been self-employed for a while! You generally need to prove your income over 3 years. With one re-mortgage, I did need to get my accounts certified by an accountant who was ACA qualified. It wasn't my accountant I just used them for that purpose. My accounts had been set up by a bookkeeper using QuickBooks, so it was fairly easy for the independent accountant to verify everything.

Q. So someone who wants a re-mortgage but hasn't had an accountant up until now shouldn't be put off?

Andrew Hawkins Each case is different and depends on the mortgage provider, the type of business, length of trading etc. Again if you’re using a qualified financial planner they should help with the documentation.

Bookkeeping and Accountancy

Andrew Hawkins People often confuse bookkeeping and accountancy. Good bookkeeping - whether by the business owner or a contractor - is an essential day-to-day business activity and can help with cash flow, profitability, decision making and many other things, whereas if you just get your accounts made up once a year, this means that your accountant is mainly dealing with history.

Accounting (for Limited Companies) is not rocket science but it is extremely complicated.... It's concerned with Legislation for Companies, Tax Legislation, relevant Accounting Standards, case law, and often "de-coding" the bookkeeping.

Both S(&)ME, accounts *should* be straight forward. However, that needs adequate bookkeeping, and if people favour doing it themselves, rather than paying for the expertise of a qualified bookkeeper then the risk is that the accountant gets unsuitable records, and... well... "crap in = crap out"... A qualified accountant needs to highlight Directors' responsibilities in this respect and the fact that not fulfilling them is technically a criminal offence!

 In the event of illness or death …

Q. What about in the event of my death? (Cheery, I know). But I'm concerned if I go under a bus my poor husband will need to untangle all my business financial affairs. Is there such a thing as a separate will for the business? And what kind of professional should be the one dealing with my business in the event of my death (speaking as just an owner-manager at the moment!)

Andrew Hawkins We should all give thought to this. If clients have paid a deposit and for any reason you can’t complete the work, do they get a refund from your business? Do they own any work / collateral you’ve already completed for them? Issues like this should be covered by your Ts & Cs and any contracts you enter into.

Your will(s) should include any shares and how they will be dealt with - obviously another good reason for NOT being self-employed. The company shareholders agreement should cover what happens and whether the inheritor of the shares will have any executive/management input in the business.

Similarly, if you have a shareholder or investor and they die, leaving their shares or investment to a family member, you may not want that person involved in your business. Similarly, if their role is to contribute to or work in the business and they fall ill so can't fulfill their obligations, this should all be considered and agreed before issuing shares. We always recommend spending some time working on a Partnership Charter and/or a Shareholders Agreement if you are going into business with another person.

Q. What if I don't have a person in mind to be the executive/manager? I can (at the moment) quite easily give the shares to my husband, but he won't want to run the business. How does one go about finding someone who would either sell, run or dissolve the company if I die?

Andrew Hawkins Either you need someone in the business who can take over – usually set out in a continuity plan that some clients require - or you need appropriate legal and accountancy advice to set up how you wish things to work in those circumstances and you may need to consider a number of different scenarios.

Q. For our Practising Licence we have to have a "back-up" Accountant if we have more than 7 clients. It's a pain, and hard to find someone one trusts, but good when it's done.

Ann Hawkins Having seen the chaos caused by an accountant who just went off the radar due to illness, leaving his clients with fines from HMRC (and is now back in practice!) so I strongly recommend that anyone who engages someone in a position of trust like this investigates their continuity plans!

Rainy Day Funds

Q. How many months income do you think people should set aside as a buffer / rainy day fund, both personally and for their business? I realise that there are lots of variables, but is there a general minimum that you suggest to people? For example, I'm a bit concerned about the best way to use resources as I don’t want to stop the business from growing (and me from doing things I want to do personally), but also want to reduce the risk of getting into financial difficulties.

Andrew Hawkins Two different things here Emma. A buffer or ‘rainy day fund’ is always worthwhile to protect against illness, bad debts etc. The amount you need will depend on what insurances you have in place and how quickly you can replace your income. If you have employees and payroll obligations, ideally you’d want to be secure for 6 months, but for a sole trader 2-3 months cushion should give enough room to avoid a disaster.

This also depends on how quickly you could re-establish a business if you had to close down. There are lots of cases of businesses closing one day and re-opening the next with a different name.

Q. I definitely over estimate tax, and I'm always saving for it out of the year it's incurred rather than the year it's due. 6 months buffer isn't a massive stretch from where I am at the minute, but I think I need to strike the right balance between putting the buffer in place and not holding back the business in order to do so.

Q. Definitely strike the balance. 6 months buffer and I'm relaxed but if not spending money is holding back the business I'll happily skim 2 months off.

The questions you may not know to ask

We're aware that some people just don't know what to ask on this topic so here's a quick checklist of things that every business needs to consider:

1. Basic Business Plan
2. Business name registered and protected / trademarked
3. Business bank account
4. Accounting system
5. Payments app/card machine
6. Insurances
7. Pension
8. Enough money or support until profits become regular
9. A rainy day fund or buffer of between 2 - 6 months
10. Incorporate limited company/Limited Liability Partnership at Companies House
11. Register domain name(s)
12. Bookkeeper, accountant, lawyer, other advisors
13. Website, email, internet security, and data protection support.
14. Communications, phone systems, admin support.
15. If employing people (or yourself) apply for an Employer Identification Number/register with PAYE.
16. Register for VAT with HMRC if turnover will exceed £85,000 (currently) in first 12 months – or if you or your advisors feel registration will be advantageous. Investigate ‘cash’, ‘annual’ and ‘flat rate’ payment schemes.
17. Working space
18. Suppliers
19. Networking / support group
20. A mentor/advisor to help you work on your business not just in it.

If you have any specific questions or would like to discuss a growth strategy for you business, you can contact Andrew by email or through the Drive website.  

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by Ann Hawkins

How to set up your business to be saleable

Could your business be attractive to a potential buyer?

Whether or not you're thinking of selling your business, these tips are worth following as they'll make your life and your business much easier to run!

How to set up your business to run without you  includes five free templates.

In this session, Ann Hawkins, MD of Drive the Network and Inspiring Entrepreneurs and Andrew Hawkins of The Mercantile Group, share their experience of how to make a business attractive to potential buyers.

This is a transcript of a live Q&A

What puts potential buyers off?

Q. What are the key things people get wrong in terms of not setting up their business to be saleable?

Ann Hawkins I'd say that main thing is in making themselves indispensable. That's why we started with Louise Lee last week with strategies to overcome that problem right from the start.

The other is in taking all the revenue out of the business, not showing a profit or paying tax. A buyer wants to see profit potential and some good accounts that show the business is being run properly and responsibly.

Q. Should we be thinking about this from day 1 (or if we've already started, ASAP)?

Andrew Hawkins 2-5 years before you want to sell is the minimum. It can take a lot longet than most people think!

Ann Hawkins As you all know, my favourite saying is "Start with the end in mind". If you set your business up with an exit plan in mind it can influence the decisions you make about the business is structured and it gives a clear focus right from the start. Even if you decide not to sell, setting your business up to run without you is the best way to grow it and stop you from burning yourself out!

Q. Is there a 'business eBay' where we can see what's selling and how much for?

Andrew Hawkins There are various agencies - but beware they all want to take your money! Hilton Smythe and Knightsbridge are examples - not recommendations.

Ann Hawkins This has always been a good "business marketplace" DALTONSBUSINESS.COM

Q. Are some types of business generally more valuable or easier to sell than others? E.g. products, services, websites, bricks and mortar

Andrew Hawkins Each business will be valued - although the methods of calculation vary - and compared to similar businesses. Generally ‘small businesses’ will be valued between 2 and 10 times annual profit.

Ann Hawkins If its a product, you'd need to show you own the intellectual property, trademarks etc.

Q. If you were starting a business today with the intention of selling it in 5 years time, what type of business would it be (asking for a friend 🤣)?

Andrew Hawkins Little effort, highly profitable, mostly automated. Recent trends suggest tech businesses are the easiest to sell.

Ann Hawkins Just think about some of the buy outs with big $$$$ in recent years. They're nearly all software businesses - and a lot are B2C consumer / services. Some haven't even made a profit but have huge subscriber lists and that's what they've been bought for. The buyer wants to sell more or advertise to those subscribers.

Q. Other than high profitability and low effort, what can help make a business attractive to potential buyers? I assume a coherent set of accounts is a good start?

Andrew Hawkins Coherent accounts - and credible. No surprises or hidden loans to directors etc. The other issue is a good team with complementary skills. The purchaser may not want the founder/MD for very long but a strong team is always attractive.

Ann Hawkins It can be something that's a match with what the buyer is already doing or they see you as a competitor and want your customers. Another reason could be that your business adds something to their current offering - think AirBnB who bought Martyn Sibley's Accommable (accessible accommodation portfolio)

Q. Let's assume it's easy to demonstrate coherent and credible accounts and the buyer sees me as either a competitor or a good fit. How do I demonstrate I have a strong team?

Andrew Hawkins You should be able to show that your team has the skills to cover all the basics: Product/service knowledge, marketing/sales, finance, operations.

A ten point checklist

Ann Hawkins Selling to an outsider is only one option. You might want to allow an employee to "buy in" with a view to taking over when you're ready to retire. If you've got a succession plan in place, that can be attractive to a potential buyer too as it means they've got someone ready in place to run the business if they don't want to do it themselves.

Andrew Hawkins  Often a great way to plan succession. A management buyout. You have some control over who is involved and negotiations should be more amenable. Other options include a management buy-in where a new external team is put together to buy; a straight ‘trade’ sale; a merger with a mother company - or even an arranged takeover by another business. Here’s a check list of things to think about, but most importantly plan early (2-5 years ahead) and consult an independent specialist (not a sales agent) at the earliest opportunity.

1. Plan ahead 2-5 years
2. Minimum 2-3 years profitable accounts
3. Ensure accounts are ‘clean’
4. Don’t try to avoid paying corporation tax
5. Need good level of profit over a number of years to attract buyers
6. Calculation of price is often dependent on level of profit
7. Make business less dependent on founders/MD
8. Most non-retail businesses require preparation of a credible proposal
9. Non-retail agencies can help attract potential buyers
10. A simple up to date business plan

Q. Individually I understand the words in point 8. Collectively I don't. Would you explain please? :-)  Oh and how does one manage to avoid paying Corp Tax? I'm asking for a friend 🤣

Andrew Hawkins A credible proposal is a sales document demonstrating the history, current position and future prospects. Plus a credible reason for the sale.  As for avoiding tax ... well.... that would be ..... Anyway - don’t do it - if you want too sell - pay the tax on your lovely profits. 😁

Q. What would a simple business plan contain?

Andrew Hawkins Very briefly - as each plan is different - a simple business plan needs to be completely up to date and easily understandable by an outsider who may have no knowledge of your trade or sector. It should include all the necessary financials - P&L, Balance sheet and cashflow projections. It needs to tell the reader what the business does, how it started, what exciting prospects it has for expansion and greater profit, the founder and the team together with CVs, description of product/service, competitors, SWOT analysis, marketing/sales plan, risk and reward.

Want to keep your intentions to yourself?

Ann Hawkins We're aware that not everyone wants to broadcast their intentions of thinking about selling their business so if anyone wants a private chat just send us a message!

You can find us on Twitter @AnnHawkins @Andrew_Hawkins  or contact us through the Drive website!

 

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by Ann Hawkins

What exactly is life coaching?

Is life coaching the same as therapy?

This is one of the questions I asked David Brown in one of those conversations that could have gone on for hours if we'd been in a pub with a bottle of wine!

Instead of that, I interviewed David for 20 minutes and we kept it (mostly) on track!

Some of the other questions we covered are:

• Why do people decide they need the help of a life coach?
• Do you dig into the reasons why people feel the way they do?
• What advice do you give people to deal with some of the emotions that come up?
• Do you work with people for a fixed term or is it open ended?
• Do people become dependent on you?
• Can they bail out if things get too tough to handle?
• Is there anyone you can't help?
• How do your mindful movement classes fit in with life coaching?
• Will life coaches ever be replaced by AI?

OK that last one happened after we'd stopped recording but it's a fascinating theory! It's definitely a bottle of wine discussion :)

For all the other answers, listen to David's interview here and if you'd like to get in touch for a chat, email him on david@potentialitycoaching.co.uk 

David's story, qualifications, blog posts, dates for Mindful Movement Workshops and much more are at www.potentialitycoaching.co.uk

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by Ann Hawkins

Can you take a compliment?

Are you more inclined to believe criticism than praise?

This is a guest post by David Brown of Potentiality Coaching.

Savouring positive experiences is a rare thing.  Many people find it almost impossible to accept praise.  They brush it off, deflect and move on without acknowledging the role they played in the success or kind deed.

What impact do you think this is having on your confidence?  How do you imagine this affects your business?

Savour the positive

What if we were to savour the compliments?  What if we took the time to let those kind comments sink in, feel it in our bodies, allow the praise to bolster our confidence, self- belief and sense of worth?

I think the world would be a very different place.  We would be more self- assured and our health would be better.

The act of thinking positively releases feel good serotonin and oxytocin around the body.

In workhops I notice people wriggle and squirm when they receive compliments and affirmations from other participants.  It seems to touch on feelings of unworthiness and imposter syndrome. These are deep- seated mindsets that prevent us from accepting praise and enjoying life more fully.  How can we experience fulfillment in our life and work if we do not savour the moments when life is great?

Focus on the positive

This topic came up in a recent Friday check- in on the Drive Facebook Group.  It reminded me of talking to my Father who was praising me for achieving my Black belt 4^th dan in martial arts a couple of years ago.  Every word of encouragement he said was competing with my own words of “Well, it wasn’t that hard” and “anyone can do it if they put the work in”.  I feel very different now and can accept the compliment more easily. It is a work in progress.

What have you been praised for in your work life?  Are there testimonials you can read that show you that you can do excellent work?  Do you savour the spoken compliments that people make in passing, or the throw away social media positive sound bites that big you up?  We all have a stack of them.  Find them.  Recall them.

In the article quoted below, the author explains that there is scientific evidence that points to the fact that negative experiences stick in our minds like Velcro.  Positive experiences, by contrast, stick like Teflon (i.e. hardly at all).  He explains that this has an evolutionary advantage and that we are biologically predisposed towards negative bias.  I would argue that while this makes sense, the brain is in fact neutral- it will do what it is trained to do by experience and practice.  If you practice focusing on the negative and ignoring the positive, you will see more negativity.  It works the other way too- train yourself to see things in a positive light and you will see more positivity.  That includes positive things about yourself.

Take in the good

Try the process set out in this article (https://www.rickhanson.net/take-in-the-good/) by Dr. Rick Hanson that I paste directly below:

“Here’s how to take in the good – in three simple steps.

How? 

1. Look for good facts, and turn them into good experiences. 

Good facts include positive events – like the taste of good coffee or getting an unexpected compliment – and positive aspects of the world and yourself. When you notice something good, let yourself feel good about it.

Try to do this at least a half dozen times a day. There are lots of opportunities to notice good events, and you can always recognize good things about the world and yourself. Each time takes just 30 seconds or so. It’s private; no one needs to know you are taking in the good. You can do it on the fly in daily life, or at special times of reflection, like just before falling asleep (when the brain is especially receptive to new learning).

Notice any reluctance to feeling good. Such as thinking that you don’t deserve to, or that it’s selfish, vain, or even shameful to feel pleasure. Or that if you feel good, you will lower your guard and let bad things happen.

Barriers to feeling good are common and understandable – but they get in the way of you taking in the resources you need to feel better, have more strength, and have more inside to give to others. So acknowledge them to yourself, and then turn your attention back to the good news. Keep opening up to it, breathing and relaxing, letting the good facts affect you.

It’s like sitting down to a meal: don’t just look at it—taste it!

2. Really enjoy the experience. 

Most of the time, a good experience is pretty mild, and that’s fine. But try to stay with it for 20 or 30 seconds in a row – instead of getting distracted by something else.

As you can, sense that it is filling your body, becoming a rich experience. As Marc Lewis and other researchers have shown, the longer that something is held in awareness and the more emotionally stimulating it is, the more neurons that fire and thus wire together, and the stronger the trace in memory.

You are not craving or clinging to positive experiences, since that would ultimately lead to tension and disappointment. Actually, you are doing the opposite: by taking them in and filling yourself up with them, you will increasingly feel less fragile or needy inside, and less dependent on external supplies; your happiness and love will become more unconditional, based on an inner fullness rather than on whether the momentary facts in your life happen to be good ones.

3. Intend and sense that the good experience is sinking into you.

People do this in different ways. Some feel it in their body like a warm glow spreading through their chest like the warmth of a cup of hot cocoa on a cold wintry day. Others visualize things like a golden syrup sinking down inside, bringing good feelings and soothing old places of hurt, filling in old holes of loss or yearning; a child might imagine a jewel going into a treasure chest in her heart. And some might simply know conceptually, that while this good experience is held in awareness, its neurons are firing busily away, and gradually wiring together”

Business Transformation

Then, don’t forget to continue doing this process.  The more you do it, the more your internal wiring will fire to let those compliments and other positive experiences really make a difference to your perception of yourself.  And when you have a great perception of yourself, when you feel that you really do a great job of the work that you do, the impact on your business is transformative:

• You are more likely to charge the fees you are worth and do so unapologetically
• Your confidence will shine through giving your clients greater trust in you
• You will speak with more authority about your business and your field
• That self assurance will come across more effectively to clients in business and to colleagues and other business owners in networking situations
• You will enjoy your work and the journey more

Please do not underestimate the power of savouring the positive moments in your life.  Although this article was prompted by a discussion about running a business, think about the impact that this could have on your life at large- your relationships with friends, children, partners and family, how you feel about yourself, the degree to which you enjoy daily life, living with less guilt and sense of unworthiness.  How different would life look and feel from this more positive and empowering perspective?

Over to you

Does this article resonate with you?  Is this a pattern that repeats in your life? Does it feel like this negatively impacts on your business and/ or quality of life?

If you’d like to feel more confident and more free to openly accept praise for the great contribution you make, why not get in touch?

David Brown
Potentiality Coaching

 

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by Ann Hawkins

How to use storytelling to attract customers

"Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make but about the stories you tell"

So says one of the world's great marketers, Seth Godin.

This Ask the Expert spot is in the capable hands of Rachel Extance who is answering questions on how to find the stories in our businesses, how to tell them in a way that connects with our customers and how to adapt them for different media.

This is a summary of a live Q&A.

You might be wondering:
❓What have stories got to do with business?
❓What kinds of stories can I tell?
❓ Do I need to be a good writer to use stories?
❓How do I know what stories my audience will be interested in?

Why should anyone care?

Q.  I sometimes hesitate because I'm worried my stories will be a bit cheesy or even why on earth would anyone want to listen to stuff about my life anyway?
Any tips for overcoming that?

Rachel Extance It's an objection I hear a lot 🙂 It's also not true. It's a story we tell ourselves and part of resistance. You have lots of brilliant experience and knowledge to share. You talk to other people all the time. This is no different except that you are writing it down, videoing it or talking on a podcast. Treat storytelling like talking to someone in the pub or coffee shop. What do they want to know? How can you help? Is there a great story you have heard which you would like to share with others?

What have stories got to do with business?

Every business has stories to tell. These create touch points for your customers, they make you memorable.
We all tell stories all the time. About our day, the things we’ve heard, things which have happened to us.
Humans have been telling stories since our earliest days. They create an emotional connection. While you are telling a story, your listener or reader is there with you, seeing the same things as you and empathising with your situation (or that of the person in the story). Stories help us make sense of the world around us and see how things can be relevant to us. Telling stories brings customers into your world.

Q. How do you know what's a good/right/helpful/engaging/appropriate story to tell for your business? I've seen people tell stories that show they are human but they've gone to far and made me doubt how good they are at doing the job! Also, do you have any tips for brainstorming story ideas when you don't have any? Asking for a friend.

Rachel Extance That's a great question. Storytelling isn't about baring your soul (unless you really want to).
I subscribe to the BBC mantra of Inform, Educate and Entertain. These three things will hold you in good stead. For example, a few weeks ago Instagram introduced IGTV so if you were into social media or marketing, you could tell a story telling people that this has happened. You could then have another story educating people about how to use it, tips and tricks. And then stories entertaining people with it. These could be your own IGTV stories if it's a platform that works for your business.

Stories don't have to be your own. You could tell stories about how others have done something.

Tips for brainstorming: think about the articles you have read or videos you have watched over the last couple of weeks. What stuck in your head? Is it a topic you could write about too by adding your insights.
What questions do people regularly ask you? Could you create content answering these?
Write down a list of 10 topics. Keep adding to it. Not every one will make you a story but the more you think about ideas and write them down, the more you will get used to thinking about stories.
Your business is interesting. You offer a product or service people want. Tell them about it.

What kinds of stories can I tell?

There are creation stories (the oldest of all) about how you founded your company, the problems you wanted to solve, how you built your team, designed your branding, came to be in your location.

Then there are stories about your people: you, your colleagues, people you collaborate with, and of course, your customers.

You can also tell stories about your products or services. How people can make use of them. Recipes are a form of story. You start with some ingredients, they go through a process and there is a delicious dish or sweet treat at the end.

How to... stories are useful. People want to learn about what you do and we all have plenty of knowledge to share. How to make a cake, create a flower arrangement, make a raised bed, choose colours. And then you can tell stories about the individual elements as well. Talk about the plants or fonts or colours or herbs. Tell people about their background and uses.

Do I need to be a good writer to use stories?

No. It's not about writing. It's about telling people a story and bringing them along with you. You don't need to write stories at all to make use of them. You can use pictures, record videos (nothing fancy, a piece to camera on your smartphone) or create a podcast.

Think about it as if you were talking to friends in the pub or over a coffee and what they would want to know about.

How do I know what stories my audience will be interested in?

A really good place to start is to see what people search for online. Then create stories about those topics.
Pay attention to the news. Is there a new development in your industry? Or is there something in the wider world which you could make use of.
For instance, I read a story yesterday about a woman who was encouraging girls to study science by writing Wikipedia articles about female scientists and their achievements. It's a great example of how stories can make a difference and influence people so it's one for me to share.

Q. I’m always a bit nervous of including too much personal stuff in stories in case of being judged or rather misjudged. Any advice?

Rachel If it's something you are happy to share and by sharing you will help others going through something similar, it fits with your brand and your audience, then you should be fine. If you think you're going to spend the next week or two cringing about it, then probably best not to share. There will always be critics. Ignore them.

Q. Any tips for making your story into bite sized pieces. There's no point creating a beautiful 5 minute video, 2,000word blog post or whatever unless you can break that down into small accessible and informative chunks.

Rachel When you've created a story you need to make it pay its way. You've spent time on it and you want as many people to see it as possible.
You can share it on your social media platforms several times. Vary the time of day between posting, have two or three different version of the message and also think about the image you are sharing with it.
You can pull out quotes for instance and use them to create an image using a tool like Canva.
Another way of repurposing blogs is to turn them into short videos using Lumen 5.
Break your post into bullet points to give you the message you want to convey and layer with images.
You will be able to share a story at least 5 different ways.

If you'd like to know more about business storytelling and how to reach and influence the right audience, connect with Rachel at www.extance.co.uk or on Twitter @RachelExtance 

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by Ann Hawkins

7 Reasons Why I Changed My Mind About Goal Setting!

Do you struggle with goal setting?

Business owners are always being told they need to set goals but the reality is that many just go with the flow, doing what they can and hoping for the best.

Helen Lindop recently had a revelation about goal setting that has transformed her business and her life.

In this Q&A from the Drive Ask the Expert session, she explains what changed and what benefits she experienced.

What are the main advantages of goal setting?

Helen Lindop I've saved so much time. I have far fewer blind alleys now. If something isn't working I know quickly and adjust. I underestimated the mental effort of making decisions. It's much easier now because if something takes me closer to the goal I do it, if not, I don't.

Here’s me arguing with myself about the reasons I didn't used to set goals and now I do. You might relate to a lot of these!

1. I'm a one-person business, I can respond to whatever comes in anyway.

Yes, but it's going to save a lot of time and effort if I can replicate what I do, or at least parts of what I do. It'll make my life easier and be more cost effective, too. And it'll be much easier to get a team member to take it over when I'm ready.

2. I'd been trying for years and never stuck to them more than a few weeks.

Most goal setting systems seem to run for a whole year, which is far too long for me. When I found the 12 Week Year I realised this is a much better fit because it's long enough to get stuff done but not so long that I can't see the end of it.

3. I had a young family, so I frequently had to drop my plans to deal with a sick child etc. What was the point in having detailed plans?

One of the big problems I had with most goal setting programmes, is that they don't acknowledge how messy life can be. That made me not bother with them at all for many years. But I started to treat my goals as more of a compass to point me in the right direction rather than a stick to beat myself with. If you have a compass it's not a big problem to stay on track, you just look at it regularly and adjust if you wander off. And even if some days it's two steps forward and one back, at least you're going in the right direction instead of in circles!

4. Part of the reason I became my own boss was to not have to do this stuff.

I think this is often overlooked by many experts - for many of us the whole point of going self-employed was to get away from boring stuff like this! Obviously, you can't fly completely by the seat of your pants, but I think we need to at least acknowledge goal setting doesn't always sit well with an entrepreneurial streak and find a way around it, rather than go straight into the hard-core YOU MUST SET GOALS EVERY JANUARY FOR THE WHOLE YEAR approach. 😀

5. The main goal of running a business is to sell as much stuff as you can, did I really need another set of goals?

Yes, but there are many, many ways of selling as much stuff as you can and that goal is FAR too broad. The goal is about how you sell as much stuff as you can as well as building the infrastructure to do it well.

6. It was one more thing on my scarily long to do list.

I used to think setting goals was one more thing for the to do list when in fact it reduced my to do list. I was trying to do everything at once and not doing anything well. By setting a goal I was deciding what was most important I could put many items on the backburner and make progress on the things that were important right now. Some of the 'backburnered' things got crossed of the list completely. I found out that goal setting was often about saying no to stuff.

7. I was pretty jaded with the whole coaching/personal development scene, if I'm honest.

I think a lot of the personal development 'industry' isn't working very well and I could no longer filter out the useful stuff from the junk. But it is worth panning for a gold nugget or two, keeping things simple, and finding something that works for you.

Q&A 

Q. How do you stay focused?

A. Apparently, there never used to be a plural form of "priority". Choose one thing to do first and when that's done, choose the next one. Don't list every single thing you want and need to do, or try to do it all at once.

I had another breakthrough when I realised I had two types of goals 'business as usual' goals (e.g. bookkeeping - had to be done by a certain date, but wasn't strategic) and strategic, growth-based goals. The business as usual stuff tends to get done anyway because you eventually have clients or HMRC etc breathing down your neck if you don't  🤣. The strategic stuff is where I procrastinate, talk myself out of it and generally go around in circles unless I have a plan to keep me in line.

Goal setting and perfectionism

Q.  I find it difficult to set goals because the perfectionist mindset is 'what if I can't achieve it?' I am working on 'good enough' but it does mean I struggle to set goals, not knowing what I can achieve. Hope that makes sense.

A. Don't even think about perfect. Just work out one thing you want to have done in the next 3 months and write down the series of steps you need to take to get there. Add a few milestones e.g. what do you need have done by August to fit it all in by September? Then every week check the list and see what needs doing that week. Tick off when done.

By doing the things on the list you'll realise your plan isn't quite right anyway, because some things you don't know until you try them, or you need to take a morning off to get your car MOT'd etc. So adjust the list. No perfection required. :-)

I found the compass analogy helped me a lot with that. A goal guides you and keeps you going in the right direction. Rather than being something you shoot for and either hit or miss.

Managing the day to day actions

Q. How do you make your goals part of your day-to-day? What do you do to "not forget about them until you realise you've forgotten about them"? :)

A. I break my them down into tasks (some weeks it all goes wrong, but that's just life!) and put them in Asana (a project management tool) and add a due date. Every day I look at the calendar in Asana and see what needs doing. Then I check them off when they are done.

Q. Was it a case of building a new habit (checking Asana) that made the biggest difference Helen?

A. No, the goals came first. You have to start with what you're aiming at then do the software thing after. Otherwise the software just makes it worse. 😂

If you'd like to know more about goal setting or using Asana to manage tasks, Helen is happy to answer questions. Connect with her on LinkedIn or at www.HelenLindop.com

 

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by Ann Hawkins

How to build a great network

Most small businesses find new customers by networking.

Like most things, some ways of networking work better than others!

You just pitch up and sell your stuff to anyone who'll listen, because we're all there to network right?

You only have to put yourself in the position of the person being sold to to understand why this is the least effective way to build a great network!

Ann Hawkins, a reluctant networker and founder of Drive, the Collaborative Network, answers questions and shares her tips for building a great network by combining on-line and face to face networking in a seamless process that is about collaboration and support.

Getting started

When Martyn Sibley decided that he wanted to leave his full time job and start his own business he spent three hours a night, for two years, building his on-line network. Six years later he was voted No 3 in the Power 100 list and is a major influencer in his field with frequent TV and radio appearances and paid speaking gigs at major events all over the world. (He even has an agent ... )

There is no quick way to build a solid, trust based network but there are good habits to adopt that will help to grow it consistently.

Good habits to adopt:

1. Share other people's stuff as much as your own. If you help other people, they'll help you.
2. Show up regularly, not just when you've got something to promote - show up to build relationships and to help other people to connect.
3.  Before you go to a face to face event, research and connect with the people who will be there. Get an idea of the person behind the business, their values, interests and their extended network. It makes the meeting much more meaningful.
4. When you meet someone (on-line or face to face) connect with them on Twitter & LinkedIn. Find out if they've got a FB Page and if they have, like it. In each instance, start a conversation.
5. Don't be all business. People connect with you, and are more likley to buy from you, when they share your values and interests.

Q. I have a large number of contacts but I'm rubbish at staying in touch with them. What’s a good way of keeping track of your network, in terms of keeping up with folks over time?

Ann Hawkins You can't have a meaningful relationship and understand how each person relates to the others, with more than 150 people (see Dunbar's number) so choose the most important / useful ones and work on those. If your motivation is to learn more about them, be genuinely interested in them and connect them to others it gives a different perspective and reason for developing the relationship.

A CRM is useful and many of them now will fill in social contact info, so for things like events that can be quite good. However, the relationships in a CRM are all one way and individual – from you to them. In a network, you're helping others to build relationships and that makes you a useful / valuable person to know, so others seek you out.

Two of the things that need to be present to build a great network are trust and reciprocity. It can't all be about you!

Q. What about mailing lists?

Ann Hawkins Giving people a reason to stay in touch with you and inviting them to sign up to your mailing list is the best way ever to keep in touch but its still only one way – you to them.

Never, ever, EVER add people to your list just because your connected to them on a social network. (I don’t really need to say that, do I? Judging by the number of lists I get added to by LinkedIn connections, yes, I do!)

Q. How much do you need to trust that other people’s stuff is any good before you share it? I’ve met people I really like and I want to support, but I haven’t actually experienced their service or have evidence they are any good! I can research them, but how deeply? Or is that not what is important here?

Ann Hawkins It's vitally important to only recommend things you believe in. Once you've built trust you don't want to risk losing it. I agree that we all need someone to take a chance on us when we’re starting out but I'd always do some homework first! It's generally quite easy to check people's credentials on-line. If you do promote or recommend someone ask for feedback from people who have worked with them.

Q. What proportion of your time would you put into dedicated network building, Ann? (Assuming one is an established micro business)

Ann Hawkins Face to face networking is obviously more time consuming so it's important to make the most of that time by researching and connecting with people on-line before the event. Don't wait until you get there to try and find the people you're most interested in. After the event you can actively maintain and build the relationship on-line - it can turn a very business-like connection into a fun, social one where you get a much deeper understanding of people's values and also see who is in their extended network. Once you're established, a few minutes a day on each of your chosen platforms is enough to keep building your network - but it has to be about conversations and sharing other people's content not just pushing out your own.

Where does your target market hang out?

Q. How do you identify the best network events to attend so as not to waste time and effort at events riddled with other consultants and/or advisors all trying to sell themselves? Getting away from the serial and very boring networkers who only seem to push themselves and selling, selling and selling, can be problem!

Ann Hawkins I’d never go to anything where I couldn't check out the attendance list first. (Or ones that ask everyone to introduce themselves with an elevator pitch, or those that practice "exclusions" or "competitor lock outs"!) However, there's no reason to avoid events with competitors - people will buy you on your values. It's always about how you interact with people first. Drive is built on the philosophy that collaboration will benefit more people than competition and this is proving to be true in the number of collaborations that crop up all the time and in the genuine, wonderful way new people are welcomed to the group by people in the same type of business.

Q. Going back to Martyn's 3 hours a night for 2 years building a network - how much time (how often/how long) do you recommend setting aside every week to build your network? Or maybe it's better expressed as a % of time spent on your business?

Martyn Sibley I think it comes back to strategy. Who are your customers and how are they best reached? If research shows social media is the best marketing channel, you just do as much as you can. The more time on it, the quicker you'll get there. Not to say going slow is a bad thing. That also depends on the priorities and strategy.

Ann Hawkins  If your target market is larger organisations, corporations or members of the public you won't find them at small business networking events, but you will find them on-line, in professional or special interest groups.

Twitter is especially good for interest groups and influencers. Use hashtags and Twitter searches to find the right people. You can have conversations with almost anyone on Twitter without any barriers! Once you've got some quality (it's never about quantity!) you'll find it grows exponentially. People you don't know will find you because of something someone else has said or shared. Be interesting and useful and people will refer you to their wider network.

It can be harder to make connections on LinkedIn but a good tip is to find the people you want to connect with and see if they're on Twitter. Connect with them on Twitter first and they're more likely to accept you on LinkedIn.

Share, share and share some more!

Ann Hawkins I can't stress enough how important it is to support other people in your network. If you think no-one notices that you don't share their content (where appropriate to your followers), they really do and so do the many, many lurkers that you may not even be aware of! Only turning up when you've got something to promote will get you ignored.

Don't support other people in order to get kudos or for some fake karma. Just do it because you can. Even if nothing comes of it, you'll feel good because you've helped someone.

It's also important to be a fully rounded human being, not a business automaton. Being social (not too personal!) is what encourages connections. People will be attracted by your values and interests, even if they're not an obvious prospect for your business and then they share and recommend you to their wider network.

There is no quick fix or fast track way to build a network. If you have interesting stories to tell people will connect with them, but never expect an instant hit, it just doesn't happen, especially on social channels where it's much more of a drip feed process. Networking is a constant activity, It's like so many aspects of business development, it's easy to get disheartened by networking, but if you keep going there's immense value to be gained on lots of levels.

The other thing that is sometimes overlooked is the fun you can have with on-line networking! Some people who rarely speak in a face to face situation really show their sense of humour on line - as we know from this group! When you're having fun and building trust your network will be its most valuable!

 

• Website:http://www.annhawkins.com
• Twitter Profile:https://twitter.com/AnnHawkins
• LinkedIn Profile:https://www.linkedin.com/in/annhawkins1/

 

 

 

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by Ann Hawkins

Top tips for business and life!

Want some tips from people who are running a business?

Drive the Network members (our Drive Tribe) are constantly learning about running a business and how to live a good life. They love to share what they learn.

The Index Card of Power is an idea from Adam Brooks, illustrated by Anne-Marie Miller.

Big thanks to Drive Tribe Members for their words of wisdom! What's your favourite?

 

• Don't try to do everything in your business yourself.  This is guaranteed to stop you growing. Your business will be more effective if you delegate the tasks you're not so good at to specialists in that field (you can always learn from them so it's not 'giving up' in that area).
• Don't be afraid to ask for help (look at the amazing help and contributions the Drive team give each other all the time.  Often something that seems huge and impossible to you is really no biggy for someone else, 
• If you're thinking of making an online course or any digital product, *start* with the marketing - make sure people will be prepared to pay for your course beforeyu write and record it. Really understand what they want. Even better, run it first as a series of webinars so you can listen to questions and incorporate the answers in the course. Also, with a webinar if nobody signs up you haven't wasted much time.
• All businesses need to be dynamic. It's not enough to do what you've always done. Continuous improvement and changing with the times are the only way to guarantee success and longevity.
• It´s impossible to succeed alone. Involve people in your business.
• Listen to your clients. Listen to other people in business. Follow what's happening in your area. Don't be afraid to say, 'I don't know'. And the Drive Tribe is an amazing resource. Check out the Learning Hub.
• Quick fixes are like trying to put a band-aid on a broken leg, they often break more than they fix.
• If you can't work out what you're doing, find someone who listens properly to explain the whole thing to. You'll probably find it's the process of explaining it that provides the insight you wanted, not the person you're explaining to.
• Never underestimate the power of self care, whatever that means to you. It might be a daily or weekly break or perhaps a bigger break less frequently. It might be for your body, mind or soul. Big, small. Expensive, free. Know what works for you and you'll work a lot better.
• Know your numbers. How much do you need to invoice to make it worth getting out of bed in the morning? Never discount. If you need more money put your prices UP - you'll attract much better clients. And remember - you're not running a charity!
• Automate as much as you can, whether it's using your accounts software's repeating invoice functionality, or setting up rules to automatically file client emails in the right folder and add the task to your to do list. Just because things need to be done it doesn't mean they need to be done by you (or even by a human!)
• Make sure you have your payment terms and bank account details on your invoices. Sounds obvious, but make it as easy as possible for people to pay you!
• Value yourself! Value your time, your health and your worth.
• If you are happy to pay someone else for their services, ask yourself why you feel awkward charging people for your own!
• Don’t sit down all day! Build regular movement into your day. Walk, stretch, workout, cycle, dance, play, do classes. Your health, wellbeing, creativity, productivity and business success depend on it. Do what feels right so that it revitalises you. Listen to your intuition.
• People buy from people so spend time being interested and curious about other people even if they're not your obvious market. You never know who other people know and if they like you they'll recommend you. 
• You get what you pay for.
• From a 'big picture' perspective, move on from things that don't work for you quickly, rather than holding on for too long. That doesn't mean move on when things get difficult; but do so when you know they're not for you.
• While you can't buy time, if you know your 'worth' per hour, you can automate, delegate & outsource tasks which 'cost' you less so you concentrate on what does make a difference to you and your business.
• Be true to yourself...on every level, if something doesn't feel right, it won't be right. Identify what it is that makes you happy about the 'work' you do. As you develop your business sense check that the 'happy' factor still exists and fulfils you. If it doesn't, make changes. Do it and do it quickly, politely and efficiently.
• Don't look back at the what if's.
• Remember to pat yourself and others on the back for all the things we have achieved this week - and to not just focus on the ones we haven't!
• A desire for control can turn negative when we feel helpless. By learning new skills, feeling worthwhile and coming up with effective strategies, we can move forward with a healthy level of control.
• You really do get what you focus on. If you tell your brain that your focus is X it'll quietly steer you in that direction. The flip side is that what you don't focus on doesn't get done.
• Downloading tasks from your brain onto paper or an on-line tool will free up bandwidth for your brain to do its thing.
• Some people either don’t want to listen or just want to give their opinion no matter what.
• Learn to love selling because it’s about sharing what you offer rather than forcing people to buy something they don't want!
• If you surround yourself with and collaborate with awesome business people, then you can achieve great things!  It’s important to have a strong team - a virtual one is just as good - and a bank of experts you can call on in times of need.
• "You have to prime the pump first", which is to say don't expect the good stuff to come up straight away, at the start of your endeavour. Get used to producing unusable stuff and don’t look at early attempts and assume you’re not up to the job! Keep going and keep getting better.
• It's all about who you know... sharing, helping, supporting and working with other like-minded people.  
• Laughter and fun are just as important in your working day as anything else, sometimes more so.
• Time and space are simple elements which we need to offer ourselves to step away from our busy minds and daily missions and use to reflect on other matters.

 

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by Ann Hawkins

An Introduction to Xero by Emma James

Emma James, aka The Number Ninja, takes us through a step by step guide to getting set up with cloud based bookkeeping system Xero.

If you have any queries for Emma, please contact her at The Number Ninja 

 

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by Ann Hawkins