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Virtual Assistants – what are they?

Happy New Year! We hope you’re festive period has been a relaxing one.

As coordinator of our South Essex Business Woman’s Network, I am often asked; “So what can a virtual assistant help me with and how?” Hopefully, this will answer some of your questions.

Ours has been bliss, thank you very much. Now we’re looking forward to working with you all to get your day-to-day tasks finetuned so they operate like clockwork.

But let’s rewind for one minute. Some of you have worked with us before so know what a Virtual Assistant is and can do for your business. Others may be saying Virtual What?! For those of you, here’s a quick run-down of what a Virtual Assistant is, and how we can make a big difference to your business.

Think of us as Personal Assistants, secretaries, administrative assistants, events organisers, marketeers and more, all rolled into one. We have spent time working in different organisations so we understand how different businesses operate and what needs to be done to support senior leaders do their job well.

We get on with all those jobs you’d rather leave til later, but which you know you should do.

Here are some of the things we’re quite good at, even if we do say so ourselves.

1. You’re not employing us so you don’t have to worry about paying tax, NI or benefits for us. Give us a job and we’ll get on with it to budget and to deadline.
2. We’re flexible and fit into your work routine as and when you need us. If you’re particularly busy and need extra support – give us a call.
3. We’ve worked for many clients across a range of industries which is good news for you. It means we’ve picked up effective ways of working over the years which will benefit our clients in the future.
4. Sometimes all you need is a different perspective. We can give you that. Coming from the outside we can see clearly where you need support and how best we can offer it.
5. We have LOTS of contacts. From suppliers to contracters and tradesmen to caterers, we’ve worked with them all. So we can get you a good price for what you need.

So if you know you’ve got a busy year coming up and could do with an extra pair of hands to help with marketing, social media, admin planning, drop us an email at info@pangels.co.uk or give us a call 0844 500 7818.

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Why Savvy Women Save

Think financial advice is not for you?

Think again!

Here Sarah Travers, Senior Financial Planner at Ajax Wealth Management Limited shares her advice and worrying trends she sees for women in business. You can talk to Sarah in person at many of our Essex events – including Colchester, Braintree and Tendring;

For women in particular it is vital we take charge of our financial security and that is why I am on a mission to get every woman engaged with their financial planning. Read on to find out why and what we can all do to help ourselves.

NB Financial planning is for everyone – not just the rich and famous!

There is a worrying level of financial inequality and this is damaging our financial futures. We are all aware of the gender pay gap, which has been well documented, and this has a knock-on effect into later life. Women tend to live longer and earn less – we are also more likely than men to take career breaks to care for children or older relatives. Put this all together and it does not create a great financial picture.

Women currently aged 55-64 will on average have a pension pot of just half that of a man of the same age. We also tend to have smaller State Pension income and even if we were to retire on the full amount this currently only equates to a little over £700 per month.

Why don’t women engage with financial planning?

Studies have shown that women tend to lack confidence in making financial decisions and in investing, financial jargon is off-putting, we lack time and quite frankly do not know where to go to get good, reliable financial advice. Many of us also put off saving or making financial provision until we have ‘more money’. If we save, we often to stick to the apparent safety of cash which may not be in our best interests over the longer term.

These misconceptions are damaging and limiting our financial security – let me say it again – financial planning is for everyone, not just the rich and famous!

There are steps we can all take to help ourselves and each other.

What can be done? Start by thinking about some important questions:

• What would happen financially if you were to die suddenly?
• Would your family be financially secure, would extra money be needed to pay for help with children or an older relative, for example?
• What would happen if you (or your spouse/partner if you have one) were unable to work long term due to illness or accident?

If you think this won’t happen to you (unless you have a crystal ball) just bear in mind that in 2017 UK protection insurers paid out a record £5billion in claims.

When do you want to retire and what do you want your retirement to look like? Most of us do not envisage retirement scrimping and saving living on the poverty line.

What if you need care in later life? It is estimated that 1 in 2 women will need some form of care in later life – this will not be funded by the NHS unless there is a severe medical need, and with local authority budgets being squeezed to breaking point they are only able to help those with the highest level of need and who do not have capital above £23,250.

Next look at your budget – sit down and write out your expenditure across the year – include everything from essential expenditure like food and utilities to luxury spends like holidays. Don’t forget about annual costs and little things, like getting the chimney swept or the car MOT. Once you have your household expenditure detailed you can see how much surplus income you have on average.

If you do not have a surplus you may want to consider whether all your expenditure is needed – could it be reduced? Freeing up even small amounts per month could help to pay for important life assurance, for example, or help you to start saving into a pension. Take stock of any financial arrangements you already have in place – make a list and consider whether they are still appropriate for your needs and are providing good value.

Make sure you keep track of pensions – there is an estimated 1.6 million lost pension pots valued at some £20million that could remain unclaimed. The Pensions Tracing Service may help you to find lost pensions.

Tackle your needs in order of priority – for everyone this will be different. Speaking to a qualified financial adviser can really help you to think about what is important for you and to explain your options clearly. Many financial advisers (including me of course) offer an initial meeting at no cost to discuss your circumstances and how we may be able to help. This is a fantastic opportunity to get some free guidance and I would encourage everyone to do it.

Make sure you are using your tax allowances and claiming any benefits you may be entitled to – not all are means tested. If you run your own business – which many of you reading this will do – consider appointing an accountant if you don’t already have one – they can make sure you comply with HMRC regulations and operate tax efficiently.

Finally, don’t forget about the importance of having a will and powers of attorney in place – that way you can ensure your assets are dealt with how you wish on death, and if you cannot make decisions for yourself during your lifetime (which could, for example, result from an accident or sudden illness) you will have appointed people you trust to make those decisions for you. Remember that family members do not have an automatic right to make decisions if you lack capacity and on death there are strict rules as to who will inherit if you do not leave a will.

Conclusion Financial planning is a vast topic and that in itself can seem daunting, however, it is vital that we do not leave our financial security to chance. Taking small steps can help reap great rewards in the long term.

Take action now – the sooner you act the more chance you will have of a secure financial future – and that is something I think we all aspire to.

Do get in touch if you would like to discuss how I can help.

Sarah Travers LL.B. (Hons) DipPFS

Tel (office): 01206 805901
Mobile: 07484 231768

sarah@ajaxwealth.co.uk

Suite 1, Unit 4 Lanswood Park Business Centre, Broomfield Road, Elmstead Market, Colchester CO7 7FD

Sources:

Office for National Statistics pension wealth, February 2018 (sheet 6.5) bit.ly/2JLAHAF

Based on full entitlement to the new state pension in 2018/19

Source: Association of British Insurers iv Source: Association of British Insurers v https://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details Sarah

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The BWN launches in Tendring!

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Funny how things happen – Norfolk Business Women You Will Love This!

Founder of The Business Womans Network (The BWN), Mandie Holgate shares her excitement and the weird coincidence that led to our newest team member joining us….

“I’d been invited to speak at the Norfolk Caistor Hall, Norwich event. And when I arrived I sat down to get a cup of coffee and this lovely lady sits next to me.

She sums up the new business women that walk through the door of our events, because she said “I’ve never been to one of these before I don’t know what to expect”. That always makes me smile, because one of the things that matters to us dearly is that everyone gets a warm welcome and that we have the same structure to every event wherever you go. I’ve been that nervous shy person (yes I used to be painfully shy and lacking in confidence!) and I dreaded walking into networking events!

From South Essex to North Norfolk you will hear business women tell you what to expect from us, and we care deeply that every single woman in business gets that networking experience – friendly, welcoming, reassuring, supportive and business focused. Denise Bretton was the coordinator at our Norfolk events and like every other coordinator at 10.30 Denise stands up and welcomes her guests and then reminds people of the structure so that those that are new to us, new to networking or nervous can feel at their ease.

To say I was sad when Denise told me that she needed to step down was understatement. The BWN coordinators aren’t a team, we are a family. And I respect and care about their families, dreams, businesses and big ambitions in life. What I love is that all coordinators feel the same. We meet up when they want some training or advice (I’m happy to do this up to once a month and I’m always there on the phone/text/messenger/pigeon) and so I feel we get to know each other very well and have shared a lot of opportunities between each other over the years. Not forgetting the kindness, support and friendship too.

So I’m sat here thinking “I will really miss Denise, whose going to look after our Norfolk events? And then the phone rings and it’s this lovely lady I’ve sat and got to know only a few days earlier at The BWN in Norfolk!” We chat for ages and I don’t feel like I’ve only just met her, but hey, that’s The BWN. That’s what happens, we start to build relationships that turn into good relationships and then lifelong friends. I know that some ladies that have networked with me have now moved away and will still drive for 3 or 4 hours just to meet up and have a coffee and “boost their confidence” with a session at The BWN.

I mentioned the news I’d just had and how sad I was feeling and the lovely lady says “well, I have been thinking for the last few days, The BWN was amazing, how do I get more involved in this? And so I decided to call you.”

That’s the interesting thing about us business women, we do worry far too much about phoning people. I know that there is a whole chapter in my book (Fight the fear) about picking up the phone, because;

• We don’t want to get in the way
• We worry about saying the wrong thing
• We worry about what people will think of us
• We worry about looking desperate

The list is long!

And rarely accurate! The fact is picking up the phone (instead of hiding behind email) enables miscommunication to disappear, the risk of tonality or your own beliefs being interpreted or assumed incorrectly goes away and usually the opportunity for clear focus, new action and new business.

That lovely lady is called Olivia Bucher, and Olivia is a Financial Advisor at Anderson Wealth Planning Ltd. We met up a few days later and  sat in the sun in a garden again I felt like I’d known Olivia for years. I’m really excited to welcome Olivia to the team.

That’s the thing about life, you are sat next to a stranger and you have a nice chat oblivious to the fact that this person will feature heavily in your future.

Would Olivia have joined the team if I’d have chosen a different chair to sit in?

Would Olivia have joined the team if we hadn’t had the chance to chat freely?

I don’t know, but what I do know is that when the phone rings I know it’s usually a great opportunity heading in my direction that is likely to be good for business women too.

I spend my life asking “Will this person/company make a difference to our BWN members?” and it has to be a yes for me to move it forward. With Olivia it was most definitely a yes!”

To learn more about Olivia and her Norfolk events click here

Olivia has a special offer to welcome you all to her BWN Norwich events to the end of the year – £40 for all four events to the end of 2018 AND get a free stand at any 2018 event worth £35. It’s a mini Golden Ticket! Just contact Olivia to learn more.

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5 reasons why you will make 2018 suck too!

Founder of The Business Womans Network Mandie Holgate shares her top 5 tips to make 2018 better than 2017…ignore them at your peril!

“Running your own business I don’t think I’ve ever seen a year that’s not been described as “really tough” or “unprecedently difficult environment for business” From Brexit to interest rates, wars to weather, there’s always a reason why this year is the toughest year yet, however why and how is it that some seem to thrive regardless? Creating new products and services and more importantly selling them in their thousands to adoring customers while other struggle to make ends meet and seem to fight for every sale?

What can you do to ensure the same old story doesn’t impact on your success in 2018?

Fail to learn.

Don’t berate yourself if this year saw you make the same mistakes or very similar ones to the previous year. Consider what the reasons are for this? Seriously, take a moment to look at the things that impacted on your success this year that was the same or similar to the year before. What are you scared of? What is becoming glaringly obvious as an obstacle to success. (You don’t have to tackle it (yet!) but you do need to know what it is!

Don’t go it alone.

It is a sad fact that November and December are my busiest times of the year because people struggle on through the Autumn thinking “I can do it,” and the very real realisation hits in  at the end of the year that you are going to face another year of disappointment unless you do something different and fast! It’s sad because I know that if people had come to see me for coaching earlier in the year we could have dealt with the obstacles, increased sales and most importantly helped them have the business they wanted. Don’t go it alone, get some professional help. Why do we always assume we have to be master of everything in our businesses? Which leads me on to top tip Number 3.

Learn new things.

Learning new things can be scary, especially if we aren’t keen on technology, or speaking to crowds of people. Therefore, accept that to achieve more and not let 2018 suck as bad as this year, you are going to have to go for it and learn the things you hate, that or go for Top Tip Number 4.

Outsource.

Getting help is not a sign of weakness it’s a sign of sense. I asked the Insiders the other day if they could work just 3 quarters of their working week and still maintain their clients, productivity and current profit margin. The point being that if they couldn’t how are you going to grow your business? Learn what you can outsource to others so that you can get on with the money making jobs. (Which leads me nicely into…)

Is it a money maker?

I’ve lost track of the clients in 2017 that I’ve worked with who have discovered within the first half hour of our session that their business model is destined to fail. When you take the time to do the maths and actually work out your earning potential, as your coach I’m public enemy number one when I showcase the limitations that a clients current pricing structure, business model and strategy are creating. The realisation that no matter how hard you work it’s going to fail to produce the results you would really like is disheartening, however, I’d rather get a client to know the numbers and create a powerful business model charging the right prices before we start filling your diary with tons of clients. (There’s nothing more soul destroying to discover you are working so hard and won’t get the riches of business success!) If you have failed to make a great profit this year and you’ve worked so hard you feel you need a holiday it could be time to look at what you charge, who you work with, what hours you work and how your business model is (or is not!) working for you. If not you could be agreeing to another over worked year with little benefits for all your hard work, take half a day of 2017 to work out what really needs to change, and ask yourself “What can I expect to get more of in 2018 if I don’t take action right now?”

Don’t be a busy overworked fool, make the changes now to see the benefits in 2018.

Want more help? Check out Mandie’s courses on increasing sales, writing your first book, rocketing confidence, powerful elevator pitches and more. Ranging in price from £7 to £24! Perfect present for every busy business woman!

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What to do with your old phones and cameras (and do good in the process!)

Here one of our fabulous corporate photograher Jayne Lloyd for our Wivenhoe House, Colchester events, shares an exciting opportunity for you to get rid of your old junk and maybe change someone’s life;

Our corporate photographer, Jayne Lloyd is Project Manager at photography organisation Shutter Hub, who have launched #CameraAmnesty to support Accumulate, an inspirational enterprise helping young homeless people to develop their confidence and self-worth through creativity.

“The Accumulate photographers exhibited the work they produced on their photography course at the Guardian offices, were featured in the national press, and some were offered opportunities to continue their work beyond this, like Eric, who was offered an exhibition at his hostel. As exciting as that was, he was limited in what he could do because he, like pretty much every student in the group, was relying on equipment borrowed from Accumulate.

It occurred to us at Shutter Hub that between us we have a few old cameras or even mobile phones with good cameras gathering dust and not worth very much on eBay, and we’re sure other people might too. What if we donated these to Accumulate so that people like Eric could continue to develop their skills and keep taking photos?

For practical reasons, we are looking for the whole package so that includes bodies, lenses, chargers, batteries and memory cards too. If you think you might have something that could be donated to a student that’s fantastic – please do get in touch.”

Links:

Shutter Hub Article: https://shutterhub.org.uk/blog/cameraamnesty-an-appeal-to-help-homeless-photographers

Guardian exhibition article: https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/gallery/2017/may/08/london-photographed-by-young-and-homeless-accumulate-made-by-us

Accumulate : http://accumulate.org.uk

Jayne Lloyd Photography

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Mental Health as part of your winning business

Here Dr Maria Hudson Lecturer in Human Resource Management shares an exciting opportunity for you to look after your team. Learning about the promotion of positive mental health. There is a great opportunity to get involved, raise awareness with your connections and make a difference to our local business communities;

“There is growing discussion of the need for greater understanding of employee well-being at work. Mental health is an important part of this. The main aim of the Action Learning Set will be to foster increased understanding and takeup of better practice, with support tailored to employer contexts. The Action Learning Set is being run by Dr Maria Hudson who is a Lecturer in Human Resource Management in the Organisation Studies and HRM teaching group at Essex Business School. The project builds on recent research funded by Acas on the Management of Mental health at Work. This follow-up work is supported by funds that the University of Essex has been awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council in order to maximise the impact of research. Employer participation is free.

The Action Learning Set is being run by myself in the Organisation Studies and HRM teaching group at Essex Business School. The project builds on recent research funded by Acas on the Management of Mental health at Work. This follow-up work is supported by funds that the University of Essex has been awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council in order to maximise the impact of research. Employer participation is free.

In parallel with the Action Learning Set, I will undertake case study based research to explore the impact of employer participation on the promotion of positive mental health. All data collected will be treated in strictest confidence.

The first meeting of the Action Learning Set takes place in October 2017. To learn more contact me to receive an information sheet which provides further details about what participation in both the Action Learning Set and research would entail and how confidentiality will be managed.

I do hope that you will consider participating in this important learning and research project. If you have any questions about the project, please do not hesitate in contacting me by email: mhudson@essex.ac.uk or phone: 01206 744 046/ 07712674505.
Thank you for your attention and consideration.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Maria Hudson.

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The power of thoughtfulness for business success

Meet Jen and Jen. Well, Jenny Sjollema from PA Angels and host of South Essex events and Jenny Animashaun from JA Business Services hosts of our Braintree/Halstead events and our Essex Charity Coordinator. They may look thoughtful in the image above but they are more than just looking thoughtful, they are thoughtful.

As a businesswoman with Lupus, I don’t drive to a lot of my speaking engagements and events I attend and these two fabulous Jen’s are the business women that travel around the UK with me the most. (That is not the interesting part!)

The interesting part is that as a businesswoman I don’t know about you but I’ve always had an issue with asking for help (that’s probably why I still rely on that chapter in my book on the fears that impact on success!) It took me years to suss that if I wanted to achieve big I’d have to accept help. (When I wrote the book I couldn’t think of one person that has achieved great success completely alone, from rock stars and athletes to entrepreneurs and CEO’s no one gets there alone. Can you think of anyone?) And as such these Jen’s are essential to my success. And so I want to share why this is so important;

1. They care about my success. Do you know how important it is to know that you are not alone? Not only do you get a sounding board and support on tough days it also means you are more likely to get the results you want because you’ve shared your goals with others.
2. We are part of the BWN team meaning we work tirelessly for each others success and our members. This is great news because a) it helps raise their profile to grow their own businesses, b) it helps them feature in the press and on the radio and c) we get to learn new skills from each other and d) obviously is we get more business!
3. Being a thoughtful businesswoman is good for business. The 2 Jen’s don’t get a great deal of benefit from driving me around the country (well they do call it car coaching!) but by being thoughtful to me it means I hold them in possibly even higher esteem than I did already. There is a bond. I would do anything for them.

When you read these things can you say you are a thoughtful business owner? Do you show you care? Do other business owners know that they can rely on you? By showcasing your thoughtfulness not only do you build rapport which leads to a desire to do business together it also means that you get to showcase your professionalism something that I fear is woefully lacking for some.

Written by Mandie Holgate author of Fight the fear and Founder of The Business Womans Network – how to beat your negative mindset and win in life.

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How to get your blog seen, loved, read and creating sales!

You’ve written your first blog and now you need to work out how to get it read. If you spend hours writing your blogs its frustrating that no one comments on your social media posts about it. That no one shares it. And don’t even following the link in your newsletter. Gutting right?

Over on the Insiders, I’ve just shared a blog article in the Knowledge to help you get your blog seen and loved, followed and shared! And bear in mind I actually feel very confident to say that I know what I’m talking about here. It’s led to me being asked to write a book for the UK’s leading non-fiction publisher, which continues to be one of their top 3 sellers for travel reading, being asked to be a featured blogger for 2 international publications and lots of clients for my coaching, courses, BWN events and books as well various great speaking engagements too. So I know this works, you just have to actually do what I suggest.

If you are an Insider head to The Knowledge or the secret confidential Facebook page now for the full story. For those not signed up yet, here is a very abridged version of how to get your blog seen and loved to get more lovely sales.

Where is it?

It needs to be on your website (those reasons are on the Knowledge) but if that’s not an option for you WordPress, Blogger, etc is better than not having one.

LinkedIn also has a useful feature that enables you to blog within your profile. 

Obviously, talk about through your social media platforms but if you are the equivalent of selling your blog at people stop it, it’s not going to work.

If you have a mailing list, don’t share the whole thing, just put something like “A client had the issue ………. so I shared this great solution and so I thought I would share it with you too. To read more…….”

Remember in this fast paced world everyone wants instant answers so sharing little useful titbits makes you a very useful golden nugget to keep in touch with – what’s that going to do to your sales and business growth?

Tell people about it in every form of your marketing in a useful relevant informative way ALL OF THE TIME. People make the mistake of assuming you can tell someone once on Twitter and that will get you a thousand hits – it won’t! You need to be consistent.

And don’t make the mistake of writing in a different style to your normal on line voice, it puts people off.

These ideas will work, I have a ton more to share but get this right for starters, be consistent and you will see positive results and a great impact on your business.

I will also share a webinar on this subject of what to write, how to write it and how to get it seen on The Insiders too. If you have personalised questions you wish to ask, just say.

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Why you should join the Insiders