You've put in the hours networking, followed up with one-to-ones, explained brilliantly what you do and your potential client has confirmed that they want to become an actual client.

What do you do now? Dive right in or make sure that you have all the necessary information in place to start working effectively from day one?

The onboarding period is your new client's first experience of working with you. It's crucial to get the process right and to make it as easy for them as possible to start that working relationship.

Here are a few dos and don'ts for creating that all-important client onboarding process.

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one." (Mark Twain)

These blogs have focused a lot on process so far this year - why you need them, the benefits, and which ones you should have for a small business.
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This is all well and good but if you've never written a process before it can be difficult to know where to start. Fear not! Read on for my guide on how to write a process…

In last month's blog I looked at how implementing processes can create thinking space, reduce your workload and lead to less repetition for small business owners.

If you've never recorded a process for your business it can be difficult to know where to start. Here are 5 processes every small business owner should be using.

I bang on a lot about the importance of processes in small business. That's because processes are key to an efficient, smooth-running business - something we all strive for. As April is stress awareness month this blog delves a bit more deeply into how robust processes reduce stress for small business owners.

How do you get on with Excel? I am an unashamed Excel geek - I think it's a brilliant piece of software. The versatility and usability are superb and you can do almost anything with it: from keeping track of your accounts to full-on project management.

However if you don't know your way around Excel it can feel overwhelming and simple tasks can end up taking a lot of time, not to mention causing a huge amount of frustration.

So for this month's bumper blog I'm sharing 12 tools and time-saving formulas that will make your Excel life so much easier.

Every business, big or small, needs processes. You can't manage the day-to-day workings of any business without them.

You may think you don't have processes in your small business but you do. We all follow certain steps when we carry out administrative tasks even if we don't realise it. Just because those procedures aren't written down doesn't mean they're not there.

If you don't have any easily identifiable processes in your business then you are almost certainly not working as efficiently as you could be.

Here are 4 key reasons why your small business needs to have processes in place.

New Year's resolutions - let me guess, this is the year you're going to stick to them? We all start off every year with good intentions, goals for our business and the knowledge that this year we'll definitely get it all done.

But it's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind and before you know it those resolutions are a dim and distant memory.

Here are some tools that can help you be more organised and stick to those resolutions, making it easier to achieve 2023's goals. 

You’ve made your choice. Decided to ditch overwhelm and get someone in to help with the admin. But you’re not sure whether you should take on a part-time employee or hire a VA. How do you decide which is best for your business? Read on for a breakdown of the key differences and benefits of the two.

Being a small business owner is tough. You have to wear so many different hats – CEO, Finance Director, Marketing department, Administrator. It’s usually easy to tell when you need to bring someone in to take on your marketing or sort out the accounts.
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However it can be difficult to know when you need to hire a VA, let alone admit that you need help in this area. There are some key pointers that can flag up that you’re ready to delegate that admin.