How to Set Up the Perfect Work from Home Space for Your New Business

When setting up a new business, having an effective work-from-home space is key. This can help you keep your costs down while you get up and running, but you need to have a setup that will allow you to maximise productivity, comfort, and professionalism. This post will show you how to create the perfect space at home. Choose an Ergonomic & Productive Layout First, you need to choose a suitable space and layout. Selecting the right location and arranging furniture to support healthy posture helps maintain focus throughout the working day. Consider lighting, noise levels, and accessibility to daily essentials. When purchasing essential office items for your new business, opt for suppliers offering next-day delivery to speed up your workspace setup and minimise downtime. Invest in Reliable Technology & Connectivity When you work from home , technology and connectivity are key. This means investing in a high-quality and reliable computer/laptop, high-speed and secure Wi-Fi that me......

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Encouraging Entrepreneurship in your children

Like most parents I want to encourage a sense of independence and self belief when it comes to ideas and creativity within my children. I don't want them to doubt themselves when it comes to business and have the confidence to take calculated risks. What is also extremely important is that they both know the value of money and that you need to work hard to achieve ones goals and I don't think it's ever too early to encourage entrepreneurship especially as both John and I are self-employed we want our children to know that they can choose to follow their own dreams. My eldest loves role playing, whether it be pretending to make soups and salads on his mini kitchen or getting his play mobile men to purchase tickets for his train track he sets up it's really fun to watch and is the perfect way to gently lay the foundations of business skills he may need in the future.  I personally have fond memories of setting up a craft stall with my friends as a kids business......

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Recalibrating and finding a balance

Being self-employed can give you so much freedom which when you become a parent is something I am forever grateful for but equally working freelance and for yourself brings along a kind of stress you don't get with other jobs. Your income purely relies on your own ability and productivity and what is currently on offer. Some weeks you will be inundated with work and at other times it can be worryingly slow, although even so I wouldn't change it for a minute.  I have been self employed for a few years now and I have worked very hard to ensure I have a constant stream of work and a steady income although this year I have faced a few obstacles that have certainly taught me a few things about life as a freelance writer and blogger. Firstly I didn't take any maternity leave when my youngest arrived on the scene 18months ago, this was simply down to not actually having time to stop working, to put this into perspective I had emails asking for when posts would be going......

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Why I moved to the UK

A younger child free me My mother is Welsh and my father South African, I spent 19 amazing years in Cape Town, South Africa, the place that will be forever home yet I doubt I will ever live there again. I flew over to the UK at the tender age of 16 as I had been invited to train full-time at a well respected Judo Dojo in Edinburgh, I had some success on what was at the time my future plan but needed to return to South Africa when I was 19 when my father passed away suddenly. This gave me a lot of time to reflect, I had had the chance to live in two different countries and I realised that as much as I loved South Africa in terms of work and school the UK offered better opportunities at the time as well as my mother and brother living in the UK it seemed like the best choice. As I said the UK does have some great opportunities if you are willing to work and work hard at that. I was lucky enough to achieve my degree in the UK, something that would of been a lot harder in South Afri......

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Mums making the move - Working from home

A beautiful home office, a creative place to work ( image ) A couple of years ago I came to a cross roads, my maternity pay was coming to an end and I was doing some freelance photography work as well as copy writing and blogging but nothing to really write home about. I knew I didn't want to go back to full time employment with a child under one and thought it was the perfect time to make the leap and really pursue my freelance work and I am so glad I did as even with the stress that comes with working from home and in the back of your head knowing you don't have a regular income it's been such an exciting journey as well as having the amazing opportunity to spend a lot of time with my son, which no matter what the future holds I will forever be grateful for. My work game face Now I know for some women working from home will simply never be an option, perhaps because they have amazing careers that they worked long and hard for and should be very pro......

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Expat Life - The banking reality

Me, enjoying life in Rimini, Italy When I first left South Africa more than 12 years ago to venture out into the world on my own at the tender age of 16 - yes I know what was I thinking! I first landed my feet in Edinburgh, a city I truly fell in love with and will always have a special place in my heart. Luckily I had pre-arranged my accommodation before leaving home and soon found a job in the city, but little did I know how tricky it was going to be to open a bank account, especially at 16 and believe it or not it was harder a few years ago than it is now, I needed a reference, they wanted me to have lived in the UK for at least 2 years and  various other loops I needed to jump through to just get a debit account and there wasn't really internet banking yet but after a few failed attempts I did manage to sort one out, which was a huge relief as my work would only pay into a bank. Luckily while I was sorting this out, my brother who was living in Wales allowed for m......

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The birthday posts

So there is a good reason to why I have not posted anything for a while - basically within the same week it's my birthday and then a few days later Arthurs first birthday. I never knew that organising a one year old's birthday would be so much work!!! Lots of baking, wrapping, shopping, cleaning blah blah but never mind I felt really spoilt for my birthday - with some wonderful treats - a vintage belt, necklace, amazing little brogues and some beauty products - reviews and pics to follow soon, Arthur was also treated to a Ralph Lauren shirt for his big day. Here are just a few pics from the past week - more to follow. Arthurs healthy banana muffin and my cupcake :) My boy on my birthday Arthur rocking Ralph Lauren  ...

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