​Are you feeling overwhelmed and uncertain as we enter Lockdown 2.0 in the UK?

It's a little hard to figure out if you should keep calm and carry on or join the crowds and start buying ALL the pasta. AGAIN!

Let’s not even mention the banana bread fiasco!

I don’t have all the answers, I’m not sure anyone does, and it’s easy to feel like you’re going this alone.  

But I want you to know I’m here and I’m weathering this storm with you.

And let’s face it, we’ve done this once this year already, we CAN get through it again.
​
I’ve been chatting to small business owners and authors, and here are the top takeaways I hope will help you navigate lockdown the second time around:

​​This week, my partner has turned around his business.

As a music teacher faced with lockdown and the prospect of losing all of his lessons, I encouraged him to take it online.

To use Skype, Facetime, Facebook Messenger, Zoom - any platform that his students preferred - to take those lessons online and continue teaching.

To his credit as a teacher and a musician, almost every single one of his students have agreed to online lessons during this trying time and his first lesson (with his youngest student) yesterday was a resounding success.

I've seen so many other examples of creativity and out-of-the-box thinking in the last few days from Joe Wicks' online PE classes (yes, we're doing those too!), live zoo broadcasts, authors reading their books online, new podcasts and so much more. 

​Running a small business isn’t easy. Working towards your dreams isn’t simple. It takes effort and commitment and it can be easy to justify working on your business every waking minute of the day.

The problem is, if you keep pushing yourself, working longer and longer hours, you’ll find yourself becoming stressed, losing focus and suffering from burnout which can actually have an opposite effect on your small business than what you’d intended.

The key thing to remember is that you need time away from your business, time where you can relax, clear your mind and take care of yourself so that you can approach your business feeling refreshed and with a new perspective.

​Here are our top tips to help get you started:

If you’re in the stages of starting a new business and looking into funding, you’ve probably come across the term ‘crowdfunding’. Crowdfunding is one of the fastest growing methods of funding new businesses and products, allowing you to pitch your idea/product and receive the validation and financial backing you need to get started.

However, be warned that crowdfunding isn’t an easy alternative to traditional funding, it takes a lot of time, effort and planning; three things necessary to launching a successful business.
​
If you’re ready to seriously consider crowdfunding for your start-up, I’ve put together some tips to help you get started: 

For the last few years, my home has been my office.
 
This followed years of working in a traditional office environment where I was surrounded by colleagues who put water cooler discussions before getting stuff done and phones which never seemed to cease ringing.
 
The switch has transformed both my life and the amount of satisfaction I derive from work.
 
Alas, this wouldn’t be possible without the following six productivity mantras:

This time of year can be particularly stressful for small business owners. With the new, start-of-year targets and the possibility of yearly staff performance reviews, many find that their workload and working hours are increasing. This, coupled with the inevitable pressures of New Year's Resolutions and the holiday backlog, many entrepreneurs can face burn-out.

​It's important to consider a good work/life balance and to carefully prioritise work-related tasks to ensure they don't impact your well-deserved relaxation time. It is vital you don't over-dedicate yourself, particularly after the rush of Christmas. You need to be refreshed and well-rested this time of year.

This morning I woke up to find that the postman had delivered me a present. 

The purpose of this highly amusing and unusual photograph is to demonstrate STRESS!