I have been collecting Vintage Jewelry for several years now. It didn’t take long to realize that I couldn’t wear all the pieces and as a collector, my shelves, and closets were overflowing. So I decided that since most of the pleasure for me is in the find that I would look for jewelry from estate sales and auctions and then pass them on to other collectors, hopefully for a profit. I finally got around to starting my online Vintage Read the rest of this entry »

I spent many years as a “work at home” Mother. Working from home proved to be a great challenge for me. One thing I found was that it’s a difficult concept for some people to grasp. Most of the time, people figured I had loads of free time and could leave the house whenever I wanted. Neighbors would stop by to chat, or friends would call during the day. It seemed I was forever explaining that I “work from home”, not “I work when I feel like it”.  Eventually I got better at just explaining that I was busy and I would make arrangements to contact them later. 

Another difficulty was when it came to my children’s Read the rest of this entry »

There are hundreds of ways you can market your business, however, it’s important to have a plan when it comes to marketing. One of the most important tricks to the best marketing technique is to get the same audience to hear about you over, and over again. In order to accomplish this, you must set some sort of marketing goal for your business.

Setting your sales and marketing goal helps you to have a “destination” plan for your business. Whether you choose to create a promotional mailer, speak at a business function, send e-mail campaigns, or call or visit people in person, it’s important to lay out the plan as if you were laying out Read the rest of this entry »

Hiring your first employee is a major step towards growing your business. I recently hired my first employee and I’m interviewing for my second. I was fully prepared as I spent months writing a 37 page business plan and I knew that it was time as my workload had increased to a level impossible for 1 person to handle. Hiring the first employee was exciting but also involved so much work! I was amazed at how much paperwork was involved. From the application process, to the non-competition agreement, the employee handbook, the offer of employment letter, the notices and regulations that had to be posted, the filing of tax documents and registration online through the child support office. I suddenly felt like I needed a human resource department just to handle the one employee!  Next was the first payroll date, which was mostly painless with the help of QuickBooks, and involved setting up the employee information, printing that first check and then enrolling my employee into the direct deposit feature which only cost .99 cents per transaction.

With all the extra work, the most difficult adjustment had to be the “delegation” process. Although I have been self employed for a long time, this was my first experience as “The Boss”.  I was accustomed to doing all the work and I knew that I could do it right. So suddenly Read the rest of this entry »

I recently opted to move my business outside of my home office into a leased office space in an office building about 20 minutes from my home.  For starters, the expense far exceeded my budget to get started in a new location. While I expected that there would be the lease payment, I was not fully prepared for the expense of just setting up an office for day to day operations. First there was the business phone lines, we opted for Voice over IP. Then there was the alarm system to protect the 4 iMac computers we had to purchase as well as the Adobe Software licenses to make sure we were legal! In addition we had to buy Read the rest of this entry »

Getting the word out and advertising your business can be a challenge. Some businesses choose to join associations, or attend business networking groups to get the word out. Others rely on advertising or word of mouth. In promoting my newly expanded business Windrich DotCom, Inc. I have found that a combination of these techniques works best for me. I recently joined the local Chamber of Commerce and attended so far, two events that have proven to be effective in meeting new people and exchanging business cards. So far, at the first gathering I have already made contact with 2 potential clients. Also, I was sure to bring marketing materials offering a special price on a 10 page website to anyone who mentions the coupon when they contact me. If you have suggestions or unique ideas on how to network or meet new potential clients, please share your ideas!