When you first start up your own business it can be difficult working out what records you need to keep: especially if cash flow is tight as you might not want to spend money on accounting software or a bookkeeper to start with.

These tips outline the bare minimum that you need to do for bookkeeping while the levels of transactions in your business are fairly small:

1. Open a separate business bank account, even if you are trading as a sole trader, so that you can easily distinguish between personal and business transactions.
2. Keep unpaid sales and purchase invoices separately from paid ones so that you know what customers you need to chase for payment and what money will need to be paid out in the near future.
3. Keep all your business receipts and invoices in one place so that you can quickly find a receipt/invoice if needed. Usually the easiest way to do this is to file them alphabetically by supplier but people also like to file them in date order as well.
4. Note on your invoices when you paid them and how. This will help if there are any queries from your suppliers.
5. If you don’t want to keep a detailed cashbook of your transactions, make sure you jot notes on your bank statements of to what each transaction relates.
6. Do your accounts monthly as it is unlikely you will remember what a receipt was for after a couple of months.
7. If you want to claim for business mileage, make sure that you keep a note for all your business journeys as the Revenue will expect to see a mileage log if they decide to investigate you.
8. If you pay for business expenditure using cash or from your personal bank account, make sure you keep these receipts separately to ensure you are reimbursed for these expenses.
9. If you are working from home keep records of your household expenses as your accountant will be able to make a claim for use of home allowance.
10. Speak to your accountant; they will be able to offer guidance on the expenses you can claim and help you get a system in place before it gets on top of you.

The next stage on from this would be to prepare an Excel cashbook or use a simple accounting package. This will help to keep track of your business profits. Your accountant should be able to provide you with a template for an Excel cashbook or recommend accounting software.

Carol Lewis and her colleague, Gail Bainbridge, run the Bainbridge Lewis Accountancy Practice in Hove. Carol works with growing businesses to help them succeed by offering all the traditional services of an accountant in addition to providing year round support and business advice. Find out more on www.bainbridgelewis.co.uk

“If you want a virtual assistant, I can heartily recommend Vicky for a cost effective and fast service. My tip is to ply her with cake and she’ll make everything run smoothly for you.”
Julia Chanteray

The ‘It’s Easy Being Green’ Breakfast,
07:45, Friday 13 January at Carluccio’s, Jubilee Street, Brighton

Many years ago I started doing my MBA course. I was working full time, setting up and running social enterprises in Edinburgh, and I had to work lots of evenings. I didn’t want to give up my friends and my social life, and I still wanted to go to the pub. I knew that I was going to have to study 10-12 hours per week, on top of the 50-60 I was already working. Something had to give.

Photo by Vicky Townshend

I asked around other MBA students who were already doing the course. One woman told me she got up at 5am to do 2 hours studying before getting her kids to school and then going to work. I knew this wasn’t going to be for me. A couple said that they spent all weekend studying – again, I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to resist going out to play, but that I could spend Sunday afternoons (the most boring time of the week) on the books.

And then someone said that they’d given up TV, and it had freed up enough time to study. So I looked at how I spent my week, and thought about what programmes I actually enjoyed watching. I decided that I would tape those programmes; this was a while ago, so I was recording ER and the West Wing on video tape.

And I’ve hardly ever watched live TV ever again. I have no idea what happens in East Enders, and I run away from the living room shrieking if I know Come Dine With Me is on. I record (now on my DVR) some quality drama, comedy to cheer me up, and some films. When you include films, I probably watch about 5-10 hours of TV a week, but it’s all things I actually want to watch, and I’ll actively enjoy.

Apparently, average TV viewing in the UK is 30 hours per week. I’ll leave it to you to decide how much of my extra time I spend on running my business, how much on reading novels and business books, and how long I spend in the pub……

Julia Chanteray has spent her life setting up and running different businesses and now helps small businesses who want to grow at The Joy of Business. She is the President of the Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce. Find out more on www.thejoyofbusiness.co.uk

“If you want a virtual assistant, I can heartily recommend Vicky for a cost effective and fast service. My tip is to ply her with cake and she’ll make everything run smoothly for you.”
Julia Chanteray

The ‘It’s Easy Being Green’ Breakfast,
07:45, Friday 13 January at Carluccio’s, Jubilee Street, Brighton

We were thrilled to be asked by Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce to give a talk on social media in August 2011. We were even more thrilled at the feedback we received and the numerous requests for a copy of our notes. So, please find below Kelly’s notes from that very talk!

Enjoy and the very best of luck.

Firstly, the clue is in the title SOCIAL – it’s about interacting, sharing, listening, being friendly!

Bid & Borrow operates in a market that is in its infancy; there is currently little or no demand. So we use social media to:

• Build awareness of our concept and our brand
• Connect with BIG PICTURE: people and organisations who buy into / understand what we do (i.e. not necessarily to gain customers)

Which, in your opinion, is the most useful social media platform for businesses?

Twitter but with significant reference to LinkedIn.

Twitter is a platform for:

Initiating and starting conversations and networking.

• Sharing / influencing / building relationships i.e. not self-promotion
• Researching a large number of people very quickly with the ability to discern relevancy (from bio and tweets)
• Conversing with people that you couldn’t contact otherwise, i.e. celebrities, politicians, journalists
• Engaging people in mini conversation, use # and @ their names
• Encouraging feedback – encourage social media as a feedback mechanism
• Evaluation – Twitter stats, review Google analytics, Bit.ly – track history, mentions

LinkedIn:

LinkedIn to get a sense of an individual and to prepare for meetings.

• Research like-minded individuals / organisations. Join relevant groups for Q&A section to post questions
• Build up your reputation

How have you used social media to build awareness of your business?

1. Tweet every day: a diverse range of tweets (the majority of which are not self-marketing):
• updates on what we have been doing; tell the businesses story – from a personal / human perspective
• links directly to the website; newsletter, media coverage etc
• a specific item listing, borrow request
• a relevant picture

2. Retweets of relevant / interesting information and stories
3. Identify key influencers (organisations and individuals) and start conversation / engage using # and @

Some examples of our successes include:

• Twitter led to us being invited to pitch for Welsh Government funding of £10,000 – which we won! We were in touch via Twitter with a relevant individual for a few months. We retweeted that person’s tweets and commented on them to start our initial conversation.
• Caroline Lucas (29,000 followers) – we tweeted then, once both parties were following each other, sent a Direct Message. We now have her support!
• Global Cool (3,500 followers) – we tweeted them to gauge interest; they responded and wrote an article about us.
• And a similar story with some large corporates and charities… Identify and research the appropriate contact; comment and share to kick off the communication and get on their radar.

What is your top social media tip for other businesses?

Just do it!!! Don’t be afraid, it’s just about being sociable and nice!

Specifically, make the most of the ACCESSIBILITY that Twitter provides. We would say:

1. Recognise your target group e.g. mum, schools, celebrities, corporates
2. Identify individuals / organisations that you think are relevant within this. Cross reference with Linkedin
3. Use Twitter to form a relationship with them
• get on to their radar by retweeting their tweets
• including them in #ff (Follow Friday) or your relevant day
• check their Twitter feed regularly
• comment on their tweets to show your interest
• initiate conversation – start with tweet then Direct Message to get contact details
• once you have one person / business you think is relevant, you can use their followers or find lists that they are in to find other relevant people

Kelly Scales is the Founder of Bid & Borrow. For 15 years her career criss-crossed the fields of education and business. Teaching Business Studies to young adults played a big part in inspiring Kelly to set up her own business in 2009. This was followed by a move from London to Hove and swapping her car for a bicycle. Find out more on www.bidandborrow.com

The ‘It’s Easy Being Green’ Breakfast,
07:45, Friday 13 January at Carluccio’s, Jubilee Street, Brighton

Well, it depends. If your team is healthy, there will be different approaches, diverse ideas and challenges to the status quo. Managing these differences is what makes for a strong team. Whereas weak teams lack diversity: it’s all vanilla. However, some conflict is not so healthy:

• There is bullying, and it goes unchecked.
• People don’t speak up, for fear of censure and/or exclusion.
• There are in-groups and out-groups, or cliques and outcasts.
• Competition is focused inwards, against fellow team members, to the detriment of the team.

So what can you do?

• If the troublesome behaviour is due to the team leader, your best option may be to switch teams.
• If you are the team leader, get some feedback from stakeholders beyond the team. What’s working well / not so well? This will identify the impact of team conflict and inform what needs to change.
• Get specialist advice, for example from HR. Find out your organisation’s policies on whistle-blowing, dispute resolution and grievance handling.
• It may be necessary to hire in external help such as a facilitator or professional moderator through organisations such as PMA.
• Change the environment when working on the team’s behaviour: get out of the office and into a different atmosphere. No, you don’t have to go paintballing for the day; a meeting room will suffice. However, consider the surroundings carefully and aim for somewhere that fits your needs. Do you want inspirational, tranquil, enlivening, outdoor, indoor, sporty, musical, theatrical?

“Difference of opinion leads to enquiry and enquiry to truth.” Thomas Jefferson.

Dawn is director of dstc, which helps creative professionals make the most of their talent and that of the people they manage. Find out more on www.dstc-ltd.co.uk

The ‘It’s Easy Being Green’ Breakfast,
07:45, Friday 13 January at Carluccio’s, Jubilee Street, Brighton

I recently attended a wonderful talk given by Chloë Hobden, Associate of Camillindenny Architects; Chloë is responsible for designing and delivering this fascinating project. The First Base Day Centre for the homeless is run by Brighton Housing Trust and situated within a Grade ll listed building, designed by John Crunden in 1766. The project called for the repair and restoration of the Adams style interior and to incorporate the centre’s facilities within this historic surround. The centre’s training kitchen, offices, consultation rooms, shower facilities and reception have been contained within ‘pods’ that sit inside the hall, allowing the original building to remain intact.

What makes this project work for me is the sophisticated and controlled use of colour. The paint colours, Little Greene’s Celestial Blue 101 and White Lead 74, are stunning and really reinforce the original building’s elegance, allowing the intricate detail to stand out. The Celestial Blue shade has clean, tranquil and visionary qualities; it suits the many functions of the hall from open educational and training spaces, through to more private consultation and office rooms.

The centre will also be used for educational purposes – the social history of homelessness and to promote understanding. I can’t imagine a more inspirational and uplifting space for this cause.

Frances is a design and colour consultant; advising on trends in colour, the effects and benefits of colour and the coordination of colours, materials and finishes. She works with architects, designers and manufacturers creating colour palettes for fashion collections, product ranges and the built environment. Find out more at www.francestobin.com.

“Vicky has transcribed teleseminars, produced materials and course manuals for me over the last 2 years. She consistently delivers high quality work and provides excellent customer service.”
Duncan Brodie

The ‘It’s Easy Being Green’ Breakfast,
07:45, Friday 13 January at Carluccio’s, Jubilee Street, Brighton

Here at Green Mop, I am used to people questioning me about green cleaning. Often people have doubts about it. They’re usually a bit like this:

• “Things aren’t really clean unless you’ve zapped them with a chemical cocktail are they?”
• “Those adverts imply my children will die unless I kill 99.9% of ALL bacteria.”
• “Eco friendly cleaning stuff is really expensive.”

Well, dear readers of Vicky’s blog, let me reassure you on all those worries.

My mantra for cleaning my own home is to do little and often. That way, things never build up to be a huge task requiring chemical warfare to deal with.

For example, I rarely actually clean my shower! After every use, I squeegee the glass doors and buff the chromey bits with a microfibre cloth. This takes 10 seconds and stops the lime scale and water marks from making my shower look unclean.

This costs nothing. No chemicals. Just a change of habit and making it your routine.

The cleaning products I use most are white vinegar and soda crystals. These can both be found in your local hardware store.

White vinegar is effective for killing most mould, bacteria, and germs, due to its level of acidity. And it’s about a pound for a bottle of it! I use it in my bathroom and kitchen. It’s also the best glass and mirror cleaning product. And I also use it in place of fabric softener in my washing machine. This not only softens my washing cheaply, but also helps reduce lime scale in my machine.

Soda crystals are just as versatile. I use both the powder version, which are less than a pound for a 1kg bag, and the liquid version, again really cheap. Soda crystals cut through grease and grime. It can be used from cleaning your oven, to de-griming your bath or cleaning your drains. And I mix a bag of it with my washing powder too. This means I use less of the expensive washing powder!

So, as you can see, just a couple of cheap products can keep your home clean and fresh and safe. Free from air polluting, poisonous, hazardous, unsafe toxins.

Racheal Hughes spent 20 years as an IT professional before deciding to opt out of the rat race and start her own green cleaning business in 2007. She is also an active member of the Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce, a devoted Albion fan, and keeps a tortoise called Dave under the stairs. Find out more on www.greenmop.co.uk.

“Vicky has transcribed teleseminars, produced materials and course manuals for me over the last 2 years. She consistently delivers high quality work and provides excellent customer service.”
Duncan Brodie

The ‘It’s Easy Being Green’ Breakfast,
07:45, Friday 13 January at Carluccio’s, Jubilee Street, Brighton

Ask managers what their biggest challenges are and the chances are delegation will appear as one of the things on their list. At the same time they also often come up with a whole host of excuses for not delegating. Here are my 4 favourites:

Excuse 1: I Don’t Have The Time

Now is this illogical or what? If you are drowning because you have too much to do, you need to get rid of some stuff. Sitting down and delegating something is a one time investment of time that pays back over and over again. It’s not that you don’t have the time; you do. It is the choice you make not to delegate that is the issue.

Excuse 2: They Won’t Do It As Well As Me

Maybe they won’t. At the same time could they do it to an acceptable level? If yes, what’s stopping you?

Excuse 3: They Might Do It Better Than Me

Perhaps they will and if they do it is conclusive proof that you should not be doing it in the first place. Ask yourself this; would the manager of a soccer team play their top goal scorer as goalkeeper? Of course they wouldn’t. Your job as a manager is to facilitate getting the best from everyone.

Excuse 4: They Might Let Me Down

They might or might not. Just because someone let you down in the past does not mean that it needs to be that way in the future. The key thing is to learn from the things that did not work out as you hoped.

The Bottom Line: Unless you are willing to delegate you will always be under pressure and struggle to deliver to your potential. So what choice will you make? Be the serial underperformer or be a highly successful manager?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to become highly effective leaders and managers. He invites you to take advantage of his free audio e-course Leadership Success at www.goalsandachievements.co.uk

“Vicky has transcribed teleseminars, produced materials and course manuals for me over the last 2 years. She consistently delivers high quality work and provides excellent customer service.”
Duncan Brodie

The ‘It’s Easy Being Green’ Breakfast,
07:45, Friday 13 January at Carluccio’s, Jubilee Street, Brighton

Recent news stories have, yet again, highlighted the issues of mental health in the workplace and the very different attitudes that employees and employers have to those with mental health problems.

One person admitted to their problems and then became the subject of ridicule and abuse from fellow employees.

Another person was supported by their management and able to continue with work, although they still had to take time off work.

An increasing number of people are having to take time off work with mental health problems and related illness. However, they’re unlikely to talk about it and tend to keep it hidden from friends, family and their employer.

Mental health problems can vary from stress; mild to severe depression; post-natal depression; anxiety – leading to panic attacks and phobias; bi-polar/manic depression; personality disorders; drug or alcohol abuse related to mental health.

One in four of us will suffer from mental health problems at some time in our life.

Undiagnosed and untreated, mental health problems tend to get worse, resulting in poor performance, loss of productivity and increased absenteeism at work, which ultimately affects the bottom line.

Treatment varies from self-help for milder symptoms to mediation and psychiatric treatments. There’s a lot you can do to look after your own mental health. Recognise the symptoms before they get worse. Talk to your doctor about the best treatment for you and your particular situation.

If you can or feel comfortable doing so, talk to your manager, HR or occupational health about your situation.

Don’t suffer in silence and don’t feel you’re alone.

Related articles

• Mental Health Problems in the workplace (Harvard Health Publications)
• Just how common are mental health problems? [Graham Wilson] (ecademy.com)
• Work related stress (Health and Safety Executive)
• Mental Health Foundation

Clare Evans is the author of Time Management For Dummies. A business and personal coach, she enables individuals and business owners to get more out of their day and make better use of their time. How good is your Time Management?

The ‘It’s Easy Being Green’ Breakfast,
07:45, Friday 13 January at Carluccio’s, Jubilee Street, Brighton

Looking after customers, chasing suppliers, paying the bills, updating the website…… does this sound like anyone you know? Many of the business owners I work with are so busy running their businesses that they don’t have time to let their staff know what’s going on. Unfortunately, this can be a recipe for disaster.

If staff don’t know what the business is doing on a strategic level, they’re not going to be able to help out. If they don’t know about the new service you want to develop, they won’t be able to tell customers that it’s on its way, so you’ll miss out on potential sales.

If staff don’t know what each other is doing, you’ll get two people doing the same thing, often in very different ways or Maggie will assume that Tom is doing it, and vice versa. Or no-one will do it.

Unless you tell staff what your sales target is for the week, how do they know whether they’ve done a good job? And if you want to sell a lot of red things this month because red things have got a better gross profit margin, you need to be able to tell everyone else to sell red, because otherwise they’ll be focussed on the orange things.

Emailing people is not enough

You might think that you’re mentioned the new products or the great margin on red things. But in reality, people don’t remember everything they’re told about, especially in our world of constant emails and potential information overload. People need to hear the important things from you – you can’t get your passion for red things over in an email. The power of thanking someone for a job well done is raised exponentially if you thank them in front of everyone else.

Why people don’t have team meetings

• “We were busy that week so we didn’t bother.”
• “Morag was in late, so we skipped the team meeting.”
• “Everyone’s so busy.”
• “We used to have them, and they were really useful, but we got out of the habit somehow.”

Rules of the 10 minute team meeting

Most of the meetings we have in a company are a waste of time. But this one is important. Here are some suggested rules to make it work:

1. A 10 minute team meeting takes 10 minutes. No more.
2. Have the meeting standing up. People are less likely to blether.
3. Talk about the same things each time – maybe you could pick a couple of these to have as regular agenda items:
• Targets
• did we meet last week’s target? What are we aiming at this week?
• Special things to look out for, such as red things, or people who are interested in buying the new apricot flavour we’re trialling.
• Things that are going well. This is where you get to say “well done” to people and make them smile.
• Things that are not going so well. Do not identify or blame individuals here.
• Holidays / people who are going to be out of the office.

Try it, and let me know how you get on.

And by the way, if you’re reading this and thinking, “Oh, that’s all very well and good, but there’s only me and the cat in my company”, you could try having a 10 minute meeting on your own (or with the cat) and see if it helps clarify your thinking. I bet it will.

Julia Chanteray has spent her life setting up and running different businesses and now helps small businesses who want to grow at The Joy of Business. She is the President of the Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce. Find out more on www.thejoyofbusiness.co.uk

“If you want a virtual assistant, I can heartily recommend Vicky for a cost effective and fast service. My tip is to ply her with cake and she’ll make everything run smoothly for you.”
Julia Chanteray

If no-one knows who you are, what you’re good at and what you’re like to work with, your chances of promotion won’t be all that great. You may already have a fantastic network that’s working well for you. Well done. But if all you have are website friends who thought your stunt with the vodka luge was the best photo they’d seen, then you may want to get a network. How to do it? Try these 6 tips:

1. Get to know your employer’s organisation

   Who’s who? Who’s been there longest, who got promoted fastest, whose team has produced the most talent, whose team delivers the best results, whose team has the highest employee turnover? Quietly and subtly find this stuff out.

2. Invest time and effort in your most important professional relationship: the one you have with your boss

   Have frequent, honest conversations about what you both want to achieve from your current roles and your careers as a whole. Ask your boss for advice and feedback, and ask them to tell you honestly how you can most effectively work with them. Every boss is different: learn what works best with yours.

3. Build authentic relationships with colleagues

   We all have very effective antennae for a sharp, self-centred political player, so tread carefully and with integrity as you build your network. Rather than ingratiating yourself only on the top brass, build relationships in all departments and at all levels. Don’t approach others only when you want something; offer to help. If someone does you a favour, you will need to return it. Connect people when you have nothing to gain from it other than the pleasure of introducing people who might help each other.

4. Help your colleagues to progress

   If you manage a team of people, you will create a loyal following if you are able to help them grow, get noticed and get promoted with you. One of the most effective ways to promote yourself is to encourage and empower the talent on your team.

5. Network beyond your organisation

   Build relationships with people you meet at conferences, on training workshops, at customers and suppliers. Keep in touch with where they’re working, what they’re working on and how you may be able to help them.

6. Nurture your non-work network

   It’s all too easy for non-work relationships to wither on the vine when we’re flat-out busy. Use evenings and weekends to attend to your non-work relationships: these are the people who will keep you grounded when you get too full of yourself, help you recover perspective when work takes over, and pick you up when you are down.

Dawn is director of dstc, which helps creative professionals make the most of their talent and that of the people they manage. Find out more on www.dstc-ltd.co.uk