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4 key time-saving tips for small business owners

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After careful consideration, we’ve come up with what we believe to be the top four ways that small business owners can save themselves time and lighten their workload.

Being a small business owner is hard work. When you are the driving force behind your own success and have few or no employees, it’s easy to find your to-do list is as long as your arm every day.Personal Errand Services

Use these four super effective time-saving tips to work more efficiently and start feeling more focused and less frazzled.

Enlist the help of a PA

Sometimes accepting that you are taking on too much and could do with some help is the first step towards business growth. Figure out which tasks are eating up the most of your time, or an area where you could benefit from the help of a specialist and outsource the task to a virtual personal assistant.

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How flexible working can improve health and wellbeing

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Take the first step towards improving your health and wellbeing when you join our team of Pink Spaghetti virtual PA Franchisees.

Work at homeThe modern world is hectic and many of us are guilty of trying to keep too many balls in the air. Trying to juggle earning an income, running a household, looking after a family and a social life can put you at risk of burning out both mentally and physically.

Flexible working opportunities like those offered by Pink Spaghetti can help you to find a healthy work/life balance that keeps you feeling centred, puts you back in control, and makes you happier and healthier whilst still earning an income.

Here are the top four ways that flexible working can help to improve your health and wellbeing.

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How to balance running a business and children

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Vicky & Caroline

Vicky & Caroline

This blog post, written by Vicky Matthews, one of the founders of Pink Spaghetti, was first published on www.workingmums.co.uk.

Running your own businesses is hard work, however, when you throw into the mix your children, the challenges can be even harder. However, before I moan about how short school days are and how frequent the school holidays are I need to remember that our children are the reason why we set up our franchise Pink Spaghetti. We wanted the flexibility to do the school run, be at every sports day and not have to put our children into holiday clubs all of the time. Largely, we have managed to achieve this and here are my top tips on how to do this:

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5 Key things we didn’t know before starting a small business

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1. Outsource
Entrepreneurs often feel they need to be able to do everything on their own, but this can lead to you wasting precious time doing mundane tasks that someone else could do better and faster. Look for ways to automate or outsource repetitive jobs, and you’ll have more time for the important things. You’re also only as good as the team you have behind you. Make sure you have the right people in place to deliver the service you want to deliver.

2. You’ll spend a lot of time running your business
So you’ve started your business because you’re passionate about what you do, but as a business owner you’ll spend the majority of your time on administration, marketing, selling, business planning and answering a whole load of emails. To make any money out of your new business these are things you need to get to grips with, even if admin’s not your first passion.

3. The importance of making friends with the media
However fantastic your product or service, you need to tell people about it if your business is to succeed. Local press can often have space to fill and will welcome newsworthy stories about your new business. Editorial will often seem more credible to the general public than advertising, so make friends with your local media and harness the power of free publicity.

4. It’s about solving a problem, rather than making money
Obviously you’re looking to make a profit, but your first goal should be to provide a product or service that solves a problem for your customers. If you get this right, you’ll attract more customers and create a profitable business.

5. It’s like running a marathon
You can burst off the blocks at a fast pace, but you’re not going to be able to keep that up for the whole race. There will be intense sprints, followed by periods of jogging along to stay in the running. It’s not the destination that’s important, unless that marathon finish line is somewhere you particularly need to be, it’s keeping going for the whole journey.

Be More Organised in 2017

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If you are one of the 5.3 million small businesses, how you grow your business is key. We know from experience you have to ‘work smart’ so here are our top tips to be more organised. Once you’re organised, you can pack more of the right stuff into each and every day and cut out the tiring and frustrating bits which make you feel hassled.
Follow these straightforward steps and see what a difference they make.
1. Know what’s importavirtual administrative assistantnt to you – we all have long to-do lists, but what items on it are really important? What would you regret not doing…
2. Conversely, know what’s not important to you. What can you stop doing or delegate to free up time?
3. Just get started. Break the task down and set some parameters for when you’d like to achieve certain aspects. What simple steps can you take right now?
4. Set a time frame for finishing – and commit to it.
Accept that you don’t have to do it all yourself. With a bit of imagination – and some support from Pink Spaghetti – 2017 could be your best year ever!

From Christmas Fear to Christmas Cheer – Christmas Day Lunch Planning

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It’s your turn to have everyone for Christmas this year but there’s one slight problem – you’re working up until Christmas Eve, the kids will be running amok and you haven’t a clue where to start! Well don’t despair just yet as Pink Spaghetti has a few handy hints on how to make life a little bit easier so you won’t be reaching for the sherry before midday like last year!

The first thing is to get organised and plan ahead and there’s no time like the present.

1. 3 weeks before Christmas, start your festive food shop by ordering non-perishables like nuts, sauces and of course wine and beer! Part-baked bread is also a great standby and ensures nice fresh bread with starters or for nibbles. Also make sure you book your online grocery delivery shop for the Big Day as dates will no doubt be booking up quickly!
2. 2 weeks before the Big Day, you can even start cooking a few recipes to save you time on the day. Make your stuffing, mince pies and perhaps even the starter as things like pate and soup freeze perfectly – just remember to defrost them thoroughly on Christmas Eve!
3. 1 week before, start buying fresh vegetables as these will keep well in the fridge or in a cool garage, leave yourself plenty of time if you need to defrost a large turkey too! This is also a good time to stockpile a few family meals to keep in the freezer. With everything else you’ve got to do leading up to Christmas you may not have time to cook but everyone still has to eat, so grabbing something from the freezer is ideal and saves a fortune on takeaways or eating out! You may also want to boil a large ham a few days before Christmas, this is perfect for rumbling tummies or as part of a boxing day buffet. Boil in cider and glaze with dijon mustard and demerara sugar – yum!
4. Congratulations, you’ve made it to Christmas Eve – nearly there! This is a great time to cook your turkey, parboil potatoes for roasting, prepare the parsnips and defrost anything you’ve pre-made as well as setting your table if you’re not going to need it beforehand. Chop up any herbs and parsley and cover with clingfilm to keep in the fridge overnight.
5. It’s here – Christmas Day at last! Hopefully all the preparation means that you can relax and have fun with friends and family without feeling like you’ve run a marathon!

So all that’s left to say is a Merry Christmas to you all from the Pink Spaghetti team.

Facebook for Business

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Over 1.39 billion people use Facebook every month, over 223 million of them in Europe. Over 4.5 billion likes are generated daily, 300 million photos are uploaded daily and 293,000 Facebook photoshoppedstatus updates per minute. It’s safe to say Facebook is massive – but how do you use it for your business?

Using Facebook for business is a balancing act. You need to keep your product or service in the front of people’s minds but NOT flood them with so much sales-talk they switch off. In summary – don’t be boring!

Here are our five top tips for what you should post to promote your business on Facebook.

1. News

This is probably the most obvious thing to post on social media platforms but it’s easy to forget that sometimes telling people what you are doing is also a great way of getting across the services that you can offer.

2. Quotes and Images

Quotes and Images are all over the internet and can provide some great visual posts for your social media. Make sure they are relevant to your business or in line with current events (like wishing people a Happy New Year).

3. Offers

Offering a discount for your social media fans shows them you care. Nobody can resist a sale, especially if it feels like they’re getting an exclusive deal!

4. Videos

Videos are huge! At present very few people do them and thus people will engage with a video more than almost any other post. People are 64% more likely to buy a product or service after watching a video on it. It doesn’t have to be expensive, just record yourself talking on a computer or phone and upload it.

5. Don’t stress – schedule!

Facebook is a great tool, but not if it’s taking you away from your work. Schedule in a period each week when you can create a series of posts and use the Facebook schedule tool to set the date and time to send them out.

Finally, don’t forget – we’re here whenever you need us to get your social media working for you. Click here for more details

How to Get Organised…the Pink Spaghetti team’s Top Tips

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So much to do – so little time! Here at Pink Spaghetti a big part of what we do is help clients save time every day by instigating small but powerful time-saving techniques for home organisation…and to help ease you into the New Year, we thought we’d share!

1. Meal plan! Onpink spaghettice a week or fortnight; it clears any further thoughts for the rest of the week, reduces shopping trips, cuts spend, ensures yummy meals and delivers happy families.

2. Once a week double up on meal portions of an easy-to-freeze dish such as fish pie, beef stew or curry and freeze the extra portion. Then you always have a home cooked meal you can pop out of the freezer the following week without any cooking needed!

3. Spend an hour typing your address book into a labels template, ready to print out a few copies, that way you are ready for Christmas cards, thank you notes and birthday cards throughout the year. (Actually – you could ask us to do this one for you, then you’re saving even more time!)

4. To save a lot of last minute trips to the shops, invest in a birthday card book that has storage for cards for every birthday. Next, go online or make a detour to your local card shop and populate your card book. Add a few extra ‘for emergencies’ and you’re sorted!

5. Create a ‘get rid’ storage box, drawer or section of the wardrobe and use it for everything you no longer use but still has life left in it. Unwanted gifts, last year’s school coats, bags that you don’t like – pop them all in. Once a month or so, throw it all in a charity bag or take an hour to list it all on eBay. This way you clear as you go and never have to undertake a major de-clutter.

6. Keep a chart on your fridge showing what each of your children need to take to school each day. This not only helps keep your mornings sane, but if ever (heaven forbid) you are poorly, your other half can manage the morning rush without bothering you!

While these top tips are ideas for you to implement at home, we are always here to take on the tasks that cost you time and energy and you could quite simply do without, whether at home or the office. Visit our website now to see what we can do for you – it’s bound to be more than you imagine!

Declutter your Life!

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Did you know that clutter can actually take a toll on your health?!  If you feel stressed when you look at the junk stored in the spare bedroom or, even worse, in the hallway or dining room, it’s time to take action! 

Here are our top tips for getting sorted:

·         Book time in your diary for a declutter.  Don’t allow yourself to be distracted!

·         Don’t make the mistake of thinking you need to do it all in one go.  Start with small steps – by clearing one table top or half of that spare room, you will get that feeling of accomplishment and the motivation to keep going.

·         Start with a Three Pile System: Keep it, Bin it, Donate it.  Be totally ruthless – if you’ve not used it for six months, the likelihood is you don’t need it! 

·         If the task is completely overwhelming, there are professional organisers out there, like Pink Spaghetti, who can help.  As we are not sentimentally attached to any of your items, we can add a sense of practicality to the task, supporting you in gaining control.

Benefits of decluttering:

·         Having a place for everything means that it’s always there when you need to put your hand to it – no more searching around the clutter for those scissors and sellotape when you are rushing to wrap presents for that party deadline.

·         Decluttering the kitchen means no more out-of-date food, or those small appliances that seemed like a great idea but are just taking up space in cupboards or on worktops!

·         You could earn a little from your ‘donate it’ pile, by actually selling it instead of giving it away for free.  Remember that old adage: ‘your rubbish is someone else’s treasure’!  We often help clients sell their clutter on eBay – you’ll be amazed at the value of the items that you no longer use.

Making a start on the physical clutter might even motivate you to deal with the often more difficult psychological clutter too; getting rid of anything that is not benefiting your life or bringing you value will often bring you peace. 

Bringing order from chaos can be incredibly uplifting and energising: your newly ordered life can bring with it the benefits of reduced worry, better sleep, more energy, having more time to get out and about and generally enjoying life.

So what are you waiting for?  Get out those bin bags!

Get In Sync!

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Like many working parents, my week can often feel like a whirlwind of school runs, business meetings and grocery shopping, a quick dash to a yoga class, with a few appointments, after school clubs and birthday parties thrown in for good measure!

And in amongst all this I do a full time job too!

So how do you keep on top of it all?  Do you trust to luck and a good memory, or do you take advantage of everything the technological age has to offer?  The latter option gets my vote!

You may already use the calendar on your smartphone, but it can still be all too easy to miss things when there are so many family members to keep up with and both you and your partner are juggling complex lives, independently and together.

Most businesses use a shared calendar facility across their teams, so it’s not a stretch of the imagination to see how this might help make it possible to plan, organise and synchronise family life too.  A favourite tool of ours here at Pink Spaghetti is Google Calender.

There are so many benefits to using Google Calendar:

  • Many internet enabled calendar services allow users to only view entries, but Google Calendar allows users on any of the linked devices to create and update them as well.
  • Scheduling is so much easier if you know there and then when everyone is free or busy – no more double bookings!
  • If, like me, you like to receive reminders, you can choose to be notified by email or receive text messages sent to your mobile phone.
  • Everyone can access the calendars on the go, and you can check your calendar wherever you are because there is offline access too.
  • You can choose to share calendars with whoever you like; if having your childminder or dog walker included makes sense to you, go for it!

 

And…IT’S FREE!

But don’t forget, even if you become the most synchronised family on the planet but still struggle to fit everything in – you can give Pink Spaghetti a call! Pass those necessary but tedious and time consuming tasks to us and free up your precious time for something more rewarding!

Written by Pink Spaghetti South Hampshire

email help@pink-spaghetti.co.uk or click here to find your nearest team