business
The natural seasons of business
When I was a bookseller, the month of October always meant Christmas because that was when the Christmas new releases arrived. It was a time when our stock level doubled (if not tripled) and the whole build up to the end-of-year busy season began.
The weird thing was, the books that made the bestseller lists at [...]
Meeting your clients’ needs
Lately, I’ve been exploring Needs – those essentials in life. I’ve been wondering what are the simplest building blocks of a good life and how can that be applied to business so that we aren’t continually producing waste (products, time, energy, etc). As I delved into the world of Needs, it became apparent that it [...]
Understanding your needs as a solo business owner
Here’s my latest article from Flying Solo… One of the essentials of business success is understanding and meeting your customer needs. But a valuable first step in creating a business that works for you as well as your customers is understanding your own needs…
To succeed in your solo business, you have to understand your physiological [...]
Career Change: Designing my new brilliant career
When you’re self-employed, changing careers isn’t just about looking in the local paper to see what jobs are on offer. You actually have the opportunity to continue creating your own work in whatever field or way you choose. Over the last few months I’ve been re-imagining the work I do (and importantly, could do) and [...]
Seven ways to create a sustainable business
Creating a sustainable business isn’t just about turning off the lights at the end of the workday. The triple bottom line of people, planet and profits is a useful way to approach creating a business that will manage all your resources sustainably. Here’s Part 1 of an introductory, sustainable soloist series that I did for Flying [...]
Good karma job hunting: Connecting with the hidden job market
Tapping the “hidden job market” is an oft-mentioned strategy touted by employment experts advising how to find your ideal work.
If you’ve been looking for a job recently, you’ll know that relying on the newspapers or job sites for finding out about job opportunities doesn’t turn up many “woo hoo” jobs. At the other end, if [...]
Business Action Groups: Your success is in the BAG
This article has a special place in my heart. It was the first to get published at Flying Solo in 2006 which lead to google rankings and traffic for the WLD website. For me, it’s a reminder that, even when writing business articles, the good stuff comes when I write from my heart and my experience.
When [...]
Dealing with Non-paying Clients
I recently had my first non-paying client as a soloist. And, if I may share, it hurt. As someone who likes to go on about the importance of building great client relationships, this really stung. I couldn’t just let it ride.
Apparently, Andy Warhol said
Apparently, Andy Warhol said, “Being good in business is the most fascinating art”.
I love how Warhol refers to business as an art. Business is usually presented as this rational, hard-headed thing – and it rarely is. Being good in business? He’s right. That is an art.
Is this the coolest business card ever?
I love business card design. I think there’s something about the size constraints of the card that make people think a little bit more creatively about how they represent themselves and their business. In the most memorable cards, it’s the combination of typeface, colour, text and images with texture, material, shape and size that give [...]
