If there is such a thing!

1. start up the computer and printer

2. turn on the kettle (have to start the day with a coffee!)

3. once orders have finished printing, sort them, confirm payment has been received, write out gift tags (yes we hand write each one) then update order status online (got to keep the customer informed on the progress of their order)

4. make a list of gifts needed so far for the day, groan when you realise you’re out of Snakes so need to make a mad dash to the supplier (luckily they’re not too far away)

5. go through emails, reply to urgent ones (aren’t they all) - highlight ones that can be answered later

6. see what bills need paying today, pay said bills

7. make another cup of coffee

8. deliveries arrive, unpack, check everything is there (ring supplier/courier and chase up missing carton)

9. do orders up plus process new orders

10. check emails again, reply, file, delete etc

11. box and satchel orders

12. update customers order status

13. enter orders into myob then file (or put back in bottom tray for filing later!)

14. make daily trip to Post Office

15. answer final emails

In between this we also, answer the phone, place orders, check advertising, put together newsletters, write blog posts, chasing up delayed customer deliveries, explain to 5 different people that we do not wish to advertise with them, use their Google Adwords program (no we DO NOT wish to be on the front page of Google for a cost of $5/click - anyone can do that!), donate 10 of our gifts to a worthy cause, buy their compatible ink cartridges or look after their $50,000,000 for them!

Yes, anyone can run a business but that doesn’t mean it’ll be successful, you’ll enjoy it, you’ll have customers (happy ones even) or that you can just sit in front of your computer and watch the money roll in! Owning and running a business is rewarding but also very demanding, don’t make flippant comments about ‘being able to watch Oprah, go to the beach everyday, sleep in, go to bed early, go shopping everyday, go on holidays whenever…..) it may look easy but looks can be decieving, money and customers don’t grow on trees!

Rainbow Designs - stressful oneday, perfect the next

A woman walked into the kitchen to find her husband stalking around with a fly swatter. ‘What are you doing?’ She asked.

‘Hunting Flies’ He responded.

‘Oh! Killing any?’ She asked.

‘Yep, 3 males, 2 Females,’ he replied.

Intrigued, she asked. ‘How can you tell them apart?’

He responded,
3 were on a beer can,
2 were on the phone.’

Have you calculated everything that it costs you to run your business? Not the cost of products or postage or packaging but the actual cost of being in business. Do you know what your monthly spend is to keep you business doors open? How about how many products you need to sell each week just to break even? If you don’t know this how do you keep your head above water?

It might be easy to look at the sales figurs each day/week/month and think ‘woohoo - look at all those sales!’ but did they make you any money?

We’ve being going over our accounts this month to find out exactly where Rainbow Designs is at and I tell you it was quite an eye opener! (Good and Bad) We are certainly growing and increasing our monthly orders but so are all our expenses, everything is going up from petrol and delivery costs to ink cartridges and cardboard boxes but we haven’t had a price increase since we open our doors in 2004!

This made me think ‘how can we possibly be making a profit’? So the only way to do this is to sit down and go through all the comings and goings of the business. How much does it actually cost for each gift, not just the physical items in the gift but the generally everyday costs that need to be met to keep the business running. There is so much I have to admit that I missed plus I don’t factor in my time running the business and simply ‘doing’ the orders.

Running your own business is rewarding but it is very hard contrary to what some people like to tell me! You NEED to know what products are worth selling and what aren’t, what profit each one makes but also look at the time it takes you to do each gift - are they still worth doing?

Advertising, marketing & promotion plus all the other bits and pieces that are part of your costs must be calculated into each product you sell to get a true reflection of how profitable they actually are.

Some of the things you need to take into account when working out the running cost of your business:

* electricity

* ink cartridges/copy paper

* telephone/mobile phone

* bank fees/merchant fees/eftpos fees/paypal fees/credit card and cheque fees

* internet/computer/laptop

* website hosting/domain name(s)

* newsletter program

* business insurance

So do you know what your business is actually making (or losing!).

Something else to think about: You can earn 8% on your money just by it being in a savings account, sitting there doing nothing. So work out your margins, how much higher than 8% is it and how hard have you had to work to get those margins? Makes you think doesn’t it!

superstitious, just a little stitious!