In 2006, I teamed up with www.flyingsolo.com.au, Australia’s online community for solo business owners. Here on my blog you’ll find a collection of articles I have written about working for yourself.

Over on Flying Solo you’ll find over 360 more articles from our team of experts. Articles are discussed throughout the week on topics such as starting out, networking, marketing, working smarter and technology.

If you are one of Australia’s million solo business owners or have dreams of going it alone, you’ll find inspiration, advice and a sense of connection through Flying Solo. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, I was talking to a friend who described his excavation business as a ‘time-hungry beast’. It sits by his side all day, every day, at night and on weekends with its gaping mouth drooling for time and attention. But I realised “That’s life.”

Wherever you turn there’s family, friends, customers, television, kids, telemarketers, books, chores, telephones, advertisements, daydreams, meetings, Gordon Ramsay and exercise all wailing at you for a piece of your time. Read the rest of this entry »

The philosophy of “Do what you love!” and “Find your passion.” implies if you’re not bouncing out of bed every day with fire in the belly then you’re in the wrong career. But seriously, are we chasing the impossible dream?

Whether you run your own business or work for someone else, I believe it’s unrealistic to think you can truly ‘love’ your job. Read the rest of this entry »

In Flying Solo’s recent survey, you told us online marketing strategies such as websites and social networking were among the top ways to find new clients. Yet only 53% of us soloists have a website we’re happy with.

Delving deeper it turns out that of the soloists who had a website, only 40% had done search engine optimisation (SEO) and less than 18% felt confident that SEO was working for them. Read the rest of this entry »

Whether you’re leading a team from the corner office, crafting clothes from the kitchen table, working in a shop or bringing up children, I hereby declare you a solo business owner. You are the CEO of You Inc.

Life’s big challenge, just like in business, is turning the limited resources available into something we find rich and rewarding. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a simple email you can send to your clients or customers that they are guaranteed to love.

If you want your customers to perceive you as switched on, reliable and trustworthy, read on.
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There are two basic ways to keep your money box full: 1. Make more money, 2. Spend less money.

I’ve always thought maximising your income through professional development and better business operations is the best way to go, but losing site of costs can be, well, costly.
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When talk turns to starting your own business, there’s never a shortage of someone to tut-tut to themselves… “Most small businesses fail you know.” “Never go into business with family.” “Don’t borrow from friends.” “Don’t work with your partner.” And so it goes on.

True, it’s quite possible that it won’t work out. So based on this logic I’ll go one step further and suggest that you should never start your own business with anyone, never lend or borrow money and, definitely, never get romantically involved with anyone, let alone a business partner – because there’s a real risk of disaster. Read the rest of this entry »

You stroll into your boss’ office, flick your resignation letter nonchalantly onto the desk and explain precisely what they can do with their stinking job. Then you swan out to the cheers of your workmates. Or so goes the fantasy.

Much of the appeal of working for yourself is escaping the annoying, incompetent and/or bullying bosses that make your life a misery. But when you leave employment to run your own show it’s not just those bosses that you leave behind. Read the rest of this entry »

Selling products or services direct to customers is all good and well. But could you be missing out on a potentially larger and more lucrative marketing opportunity?

In the past I’ve done a lot of work on channel marketing for IT companies. Put simply, channel marketing involves selling through partners or resellers rather than direct to customers. Read the rest of this entry »