Should you outsource Christmas?

3 December 2018 by Vicky

Do you remember a time when Christmas was fun? All you had to do was race downstairs and open your presents, and wait for delicious meals to appear on the table?

Christmas when you’re an adult can be a stressful time, not least because of the average of 302 miles driven over the festive period. A survey found that the biggest drain on time, and one of the leading causes of stress, is the amount of time spent dealing with general household administration and other day to day chores. At Christmas time this burden increases dramatically, with present-buying, festive food shopping and card delivering all needing to be done on top of normal day to day tasks. If you have children, you’ll also have to find time for school concert attendance, possibly nativity costume sourcing as well, plus you don’t want to miss out on all the festive activities on offer at this time of year.

How to cope when the season’s getting all too much and you’re struggling to cope? Have you thought of outsourcing Christmas?

Outsourcing is a concept we mainly think of in terms of big business, but you’d be surprised how many personal tasks you can outsource to relieve the pressure: window cleaning, gardening and household cleaning can all be outsourced to a professional. It may take them less time than it would take you to perform the same task, as they are focused on just the one thing – how often is your mind on other things when you’re cleaning the bathroom? By outsourcing your repetitive tasks to a specialist you are freeing up time to devote to the things only you can do.

How about outsourcing your Christmas shopping?

Many department stores have personal shoppers who will guide you in your purchases which will save you time. There are also professional gift buying services to whom you can give your recipient list and they will source appropriate gifts. If you want to buy your own gifts, take advantage of stores who offer free gift wrapping services. If you buy online, try to buy as many gifts as possible from the same company, to reduce postage costs.

Outsource your Christmas cooking by ordering from one of the major supermarkets – there are plenty of ready-made delights which can go simply from fridge or freezer to oven. Get organised and book a delivery slot early to get a time close enough to Christmas so you don’t have to store things for too long.

Wrapping presents can be a time consuming chore

Did you know you can outsource this as well? Try searching for ‘gift wrapping services’ in your area (or asking your Pink Spaghetti PA of course). Card writing can likewise be given to your virtual PA, who can also create a spreadsheet of names and addresses to use in future years if you are currently using bits of paper and backs of envelopes to record them.

There are companies who will supply and deliver your Christmas tree – fully decorated if you wish! Try Pines and Needles who deliver nationwide.

If you don’t want to use outside help, try giving members of your family specific tasks in the run up to the festive season – children can be keen to take on responsibility and everyone loves receiving a card which has been obviously written by a child in their best handwriting, regardless of the spelling!

Whatever your plans for the season, however you’re celebrating, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Pink Spaghetti.

Here is why you should outsource to a virtual assistant…

16 October 2018 by Vicky

Do you deserve a bit more time and money? We believe you do.

We believe every small business owner needs and deserves a great Virtual Assistant. Why? Because a great VA will save you time and make you money. Bear with us on this one…

So let’s just say you have a task you have to do each month. It takes you 5 hours. Quite honestly you hate doing it, you don’t really have the skill set for it and you procrastinate over it each month.

It’s always sat on your to do list making you feel slightly uncomfortable, guilty and let’s face it a little bit resentful that it won’t just vanish from your list FOREVER.
You have one in mind, don’t you?

If you hand this task over to a VA with the right skill set it’s likely they can do this task in a fraction of the time… or they could even automate it for you.

The task can be outsourced to a virtual assistant in 3 hours each month, saving you 5 hours. Or it could be automated as a one-off project and now your task only takes 30 min each month!

Now you have 4.5 hours free, 5 if you just outsource the 30 min each month. 5 hours to focus on your business and what you are great at doing; to look after a new profitable client; get out networking; spend time on marketing, sales, strategy or simply spending time with family or friends. What about that hobby you’ve let slide or that new service or product you’ve been wanting to launch?

Now just think about all the processes you have in your small business. Taking up time and energy. Keeping you away from productive, money making tasks. Repetitive but necessary processes that a VA could look after, schedule or automate for you. Whether its admin, social media or email marketing. Those tasks that are taking you hours each month could take a VA a lot less and your time is then… well that’s up to you what you do with it!

We’ve proven this time and time again with happy clients and we would love to show you how we could do the same for your business.

Want to know more? Just drop us a message and we can arrange a call. Simply email help@pink-spaghetti.co.uk and we will put you in touch with your closest Pink Spaghetti PA to get your tasks sorted.

Written by Laura Cooper, Franchise for Pink Spaghetti Newbury & Swindon since September 2014.

Making a Success of Outsourcing

6 November 2017 by Vicky

Outsourcing is for big business, right?

Wrong! Outsourcing can be the key to growing your microbusiness if you use it strategically. With the advance of cloud technology, outsourcing is becoming increasingly accessible to even the smallest business, making data instantly accessible from anywhere. This means the right person to do the job doesn’t necessarily have to be in your office.

The catalyst for starting to outsource is often a large order coming in or a sudden rush, but with careful planning, your business can benefit from outsourcing from the very start.

Being a small business owner can feel like you’re a juggler, and keeping all the balls in the air can sometimes seem impossible – how do you focus on bringing in new business when you’re struggling to meet existing demand? You know social media is key to marketing your service but keeping on top of it is so time consuming. Your accounting would be so much simpler if you had an organised filing system, but you haven’t the time to sort it out. No one is good at everything, and sometimes it pays to get an expert to tackle particular jobs.

All these are good reasons to look at outsourcing particular tasks. To make it work for your business, think about outsourcing repetitive tasks which can be easily passed on in their entirety (often administrative tasks), or those which are time-consuming, and particularly those jobs which need expertise you don’t have, for example:

Bookkeeping
Marketing
Data entry
Social Media
Research

Sometimes the hardest thing is relinquishing some control of these things. It’s important when outsourcing to find someone you can depend on, as you will have to trust them with your business data. The right virtual assistant can not only take away a lot of your administrative headaches but become your right hand (wo)man with expertise that can help your business grow to the next level. For the relationship to be productive you need to be able to treat them like a team member who just happens to work remotely.

So how should you go about finding the right person to outsource to? Well you can’t beat personal recommendation, but even so, you’d want to check that they will be able to meet your particular needs. Try googling them and their business name – see what results it brings up, are there any links to industry related sites? Check social media – can you find any testimonials or recommendations? It’s important when starting to outsource that the parameters of the relationship are clearly defined, so be clear about what you are expecting and what you are paying for it. Make sure the payment terms are agreed and everyone is aware of what the expectations are at the start of the relationship, and you won’t be in line for nasty shocks later.

Whatever function you choose to outsource, if you pick the right person to work with, it can be of huge benefit to your business and will contribute to its future success.

Business as Usual On the Beach

1 August 2017 by Vicky

Juggling a small business and the school holidays can be difficult for parent entrepreneurs, and hopefully you’ve planned some holiday time for yourself and your family. But do you check your emails on the beach? Are you tweeting as you sightsee? Do you fret about missed opportunities while you’re trying to relax?

Many people start their own business to improve their work-life balance, then find it impossible to switch off and enjoy the downtime. The good news is that you can outsource many tasks and automate others to keep things ticking over while you’re away.

Tasks to Automate

Social Media posts

Are you spending all day posting on different social media sites? It’s important to regularly connect with your customers, particularly on platforms such as Twitter where frequent posting is essential, but there are tools such as Buffer, Hootsuite and Tweetdeck which enable you to schedule posts in advance across multiple platforms.

Email responses

Why not set up an automatic follow up to enquiries? We find that Mailchimp can take the strain out of your email marketing, and your Pink Spaghetti PA can always help you by setting up a template.

Accounting

Use a tool such as Xero – it can automatically link to your bank accounts, PayPal, etc. and allow you to keep on top of your accounts.

Tasks to Outsource

Social Media content

Are you spending precious time trying to come up with regular content to share on social media when you could be on holiday? You’ll be surprised how quickly it can be done by an expert, and it’s the sort of thing Pink Spaghetti PAs do all the time. We can help with automation too, and give you more time to concentrate on the important things.

Business Calls

If you want to get away and really relax, you don’t want to be checking your phone constantly for missed messages. Your Pink Spaghetti PA can monitor and respond to calls for you while you take a break.

Research

Any kind of research is time consuming and can eat into your day, especially when you’re trying to get organised in anticipation of taking time off over the summer. A Pink Spaghetti PA can shoulder this burden for you and leave you free to tie up loose ends before your break. We can even research holiday options and organise your getaway for you if the demands of your business mean this remains at the bottom of the to-do list!

Small Business Owner? Why it Pays to let your Employees Work Flexibly

2 May 2017 by Vicky

Although most small businesses in the UK employ no one but the owner, nearly 25% have employees. If your business is expanding and you are starting to take on staff, it’s worthwhile considering giving them the flexibility to work from home.

A key advantage for small businesses of having employees who can work from anywhere, at any time, and who aren’t tied to their desks means that they can be more responsive – one of the biggest advantages small businesses have over their larger competitors.

Technology such as video conferencing, social media groups and instant messenger can create a ‘virtual office’ to enhance collaboration while obviating the need for employees to be physically present in an office. If the majority of your work happens on the computer and online, the location of the person is no longer important – as long as they have a reliable Internet connection.

Studies have shown that people who work from home are happier and more productive. You may expect people to have more interruptions at home, but for many people office distractions can be a major source of procrastination: it’s often easier to focus on a task at home.

Here are some of the ways it can pay to allow working from home:

• If you yourself are working from home, letting your employees do the same may mean that you don’t need to go to the expense of renting office space, or at least reduce the size of the space needed.

• You’ll increase the size of the talent pool available – more people will apply for your vacancy if where they live is less of a factor.

• You’ll be helping the environment by reducing commuting – and also reduce the risk of your employees not making it into work because of bad weather or transport disruption.

• People love being able to work from home! As many jobs don’t offer this, your employees will be more loyal – surveys suggest 24% of British workers would rather work from home one day a week than receive a pay rise.

What happens when you skip the commute, work to your own schedule, and with fewer distractions? Your productivity increases and you can do the same job in less time. At the end of the day, giving your employees the flexibility to work from home could give your small business the competitive advantage it needs.

Small is Beautiful

4 March 2017 by Vicky

So you run your own micro business, congratulations! You may be surprised to learn that you are in the majority – businesses employing fewer than 10 people make up 95.6% of all UK businesses.

So what’s great about being tiny? There are myriad advantages to small businesses, both to the business owner and to the customer. Here are a few of them:

For the entrepreneur:

Independence – be honest, who hasn’t ever wanted to be their own boss? People working for themselves are happier too.

Personal Satisfaction – you’re working in a field you really enjoy, and you have the creative freedom you only dreamed of in the corporate world.

Work/life balance – you can set your own hours, reduce your commute to zero and see as much of your family as you want to!

Learning opportunities – as a cog in the corporate machine you typically only perform a tiny part of the overall function. As a business owner you have to get involved in the whole process, even when you outsource parts of it to other experts.

For the customer:

A narrow focus – small businesses will often service a niche in the market that big business does not cater for.

Flexibility – a small business has more scope to be adaptable, sometimes changing its business model for each client.

The personal touch – in today’s world of technology and automation, customers appreciate the opportunity to speak to the same person each time. The opportunity to speak to the business decision maker will rarely arise with a larger company.

Technology has done much to enhance the natural advantages of small businesses, but technology changes quickly. When you don’t have the internal resources of a large company to call upon, strategic outsourcing to other experts can bring the benefits of a larger business while still retaining the advantages of the small.

#smallisbeautiful

What’s in it for Me?

19 September 2016 by Vicky

Pink Spaghetti offer support to businesses in many ways. While many people appreciate the help, there is often the question of “What’s in it for me?” and how does your service really impact our lives? Let me tell you about one case, and the tangible difference our help made. small_Bundles,

A client was due to attend a trade show on her own, and called Pink Spaghetti to see if we could help her on the day. Of course we said yes! The initial brief was for someone to be on the stand and to speak to people if she was unable to; a standing position if you will.

The service that Pink Spaghetti offered was support before, after and during the event in the end. Prior to the day we sourced and prepared giveaway items, taking the pressure off the client meaning she could concentrate on her preparation; no last minute panicking about things she hadn’t had time to do. On the day, Pink Spaghetti arrived early to help prepare the stand, and rush out to get last minute supplies. After taking some time to understand the key offerings of the business, and how they were different, we represented the business during the show.

Our practical, supportive approach provided the client with an “Oasis of Calm” from the off. Getting to know the business meant we could really engage with attendees, sell the business and explore possible relationships and collaborations; for Pink Spaghetti it was not just a case of collecting business cards.

The overall result of hiring Pink Spaghetti was that our client was able to capitalise on all the potential business opportunities. Where she was unable to talk directly to someone, Pink Spaghetti jumped in and made the connection. More connections equal more opportunities and equal increased profit; it’s as simple as that.

The moral of the story is that you, as a small business owner, don’t have to go it alone. In fact, it’s often better if you don’t. We are out there, understanding the pressures that go hand in hand with owning a business, and are more than capable of supporting you through it. Make sure you don’t miss those opportunities in your business!

Outsourcing – A Customer View!

5 September 2016 by Vicky

We have recently been exploring the subject of outsourcing and how this can benefit busy people. We asked successful small businesswoman Carole who owns AlphaBake Cookery about her experience.

1. When did you start your business?

I started my business back in 2003, originally called Cookies for little cooks that love to bake yummy things like biscuits! It seemed appropriate! These were the days before healthy eating really hit home, Jamie Oliver wasn’t on the bookshelf and mums really didn’t like the little ones in the kitchen making a mess! As far as I am aware, we were one of the first cookery schools in our field.

2. What has been the best thing about starting your business?

The best thing about my business has to be the difference I have made to many people’s lives. Alongside working for myself, setting my own goals, making my own money, deciding what roads to take, if you ask me what the best thing is you will be met with a huge smile. I have seen people with so little confidence in themselves that have learnt, grown and developed into confident people, just through cooking! For example, Jamie who has Asperger’s. I taught him for 10 years and he is now working in a Michelin Star restaurant in London and gained an A* in catering when he was told he would never manage anything academic. Or Trevor, an ex-addict who I worked with for 10 weeks through a charity programme. He has now enrolled on a full time college course. These are just a few of the reasons I love my job and I am smiling as I am typing this!

3. What has been the hardest thing about starting/running your own business?

The hardest thing, if I am totally honest, is the lack of time I have had for my family. I have juggled well, but I do find myself continuously on the computer or running workshops during holiday times instead of days out with them. I managed this by trying to involve my children, either joining in or helping in the kitchen. My younger two actually argue over whose turn it is to help out! I have learnt you need to mark days out in the diary to have family time and not let work completely take over. It is in your control, but when it is your business it is very hard to say no when the demand is there.

4. How and when did you decide outsourcing was right for you?

I have never been very good at delegating. However, over the years I have learnt that outsourcing is not just ‘giving somebody the jobs you don’t want to do’! It actually saves so much time, money and effort! I could waste a lot of time trying to do something that somebody else could do in half the time and much better than I could do myself. Initially I started outsourcing my marketing and this made so much difference to my business. It is important that my material looks good as it reflects on what I am offering. By outsourcing to a professional it saved me a lot of time and money. I have continued to outsource to other professionals including my accountant, web designer and my IT manager. All have helped ensure my business runs smoothly and to a higher level.

Last year I made the decision to franchise the business; this was a huge decision as although I have successfully run the business as a sole trader for 13 years, I have no knowledge of franchising or what the role of a Franchisor is. Regardless of exhibitions, books, internet etc. I would not be in the position to launch this summer if it hadn’t been for outsourcing. I have relied heavily on advice for outsourcing. I outsourced a Franchise Consultant to guide me in the right direction. However, there were still a number of ‘grey’ areas for me including the social media and pulling together the Operations Manual to name a few. I was spending a lot of time finding out how to do things rather than doing it until I met Nicola from Pink Spaghetti who has been fantastic. Together we created a plan of things I can do and things to outsource. Nicola has helped me to learn the things I need to learn and has taken over things that I can outsource. I feel I am in very capable hands and I am confident that we are heading in the right direction. Without outsourcing I would still be chasing my tail.

5. Has what you outsourced originally grown beyond the initial ‘job’?

I rely totally on everything I have outsourced. Graphic designers, accountant, IT providers etc. are now all part of the business. Nicola from Pink Spaghetti will grow with me too. The bigger the franchise, the more outsourcing I will need. I cannot imagine not outsourcing. In fact, I may need to get an extra desk!

6. What made you choose outsourcing instead of an employee?

By outsourcing you are only hiring for the jobs and hours that you need. You are recruiting experts to do a job in a number of hours. To recruit an employee you may find that you do not need that person all the time and it is a huge commitment.

7. What do you think are the main benefits you have seen for your business from outsourcing?

Personally I feel the main benefits from outsourcing have been the level of service. The jobs I had on my to-do list have been completed better than I could do myself, which in return has saved time and money while making the business look more professional.

8. What do you think others need to consider when thinking about outsourcing?

How well you can do the job and who could do it better. If you feel you can do the job but it would save you time and effort (bit like outsourcing your cleaning), then it is worth doing. If it is a job that can be done better than you can do, then without doubt, it is in the business’s interests to outsource.

AlphaBake Cookery franchises are now available across the UK. We would like to wish Carole every luck with this new venture.

For further information visit Alpha Bake Cookery.