Starting a Business No 7 - Financial Strategy - No 1 Types of Accounts

Job Club members who start a business must have some idea about accounts. Members who work in a business usually find it useful to have some knowledge of accounts. From a businesss  start-up member's perspective money is the root of all business so you will have to have money for your business activities. It is useful to divide money into the following basic accounts:

1. Capital accounts - expenditure on and receipts from assets which will subsist for some time and occupied or operated by the business, eg buildings, vehicles, machinery, tools;
2. Revenue accounts - expenditure on consumables, and receipts taken from customers for sales or the provision of services;
3. Value added tax accounts - mandatory accounts required when registered for VAT; and,
4. Income taxation accounts - mandatory accounts to arrive at profit for income tax purposes; and
5. Capital taxation accounts - mandatory accounts and/or calculations to arrive at assessments for capital tax purposes.

Two of the other types of accounts you may decide to use for evaluation are:

1. Management accounts - optional accounts used in various ways to evaluate the quality of operations; and/or,
2. Project accounts - optional accounts used to evaluate a particular project(s).

The last two may be important if the business is growing: but the first bunch will begin to swing into action from scratch or within about a year. As indicated, taxation accounts are essential.

Personal Time Management No 6B - Complete To-Do List

Since posting Personal Time Management No 6A I have been given a very useful tip. It is a Complete To-do List.

It works like this - every time you identify a task that will need to be done in the future add it to the end of your  "Complete To-do List". Thereafter, a task will be deleted from the list when it is achieved or when you decide that it need not be done afterall.

Henceforth, almost every to-do on your daily to-do list shoild come from your complete to-do list! Although I have not yet done so, you might like to add:

1. a date for its completion;
2. where no date is needed, relative priority note may be denoted by "U" for urgent, or "I" for intermediate urgency (Non-urgent tasks need not be denoted until they become U or I);
3. a note of an estimation of how long a task may take in hours or days. 

Training No 1 - Fund Finding for the Future Update No 1 - 18 January 2012

Although there are and will be problems it seems that full time students are assured of being able to obtain loans to fund their time at Universtity.  Some on the more expensive courses are, it seems, subsidised by those on the cheaper to run courses!  Likewise many of those in employment will obtain support from their employers - in the form of time off to attend courses; a books allowance, travel expenses, etc. Even the tax authorities have been known to chip in with income tax relief , eg for training expenses for certain types of courses and a scheme which I call "buy-a-bicycle". 

But, what of the general unemployed..? Are they able to obtain long-term loans, tax reliefs or other kinds of official support? Yes, I know that "benefits" could be used by the unemployed to "invest" in training  in their future but is it a realistic notion?

I suggest an official scheme of a)  training loans; and/or b) training vouchers. Firstly; they should be aimed at helping the needful unemployed to seek basic knowledge and skills in:

1. reading competency;
2. writing competency;
3. first aid;
4. health and safety;
5. risk assessment; and,
6. time management.

(Of course many students and those in employment may lack some of the last four items but I guess they are not the priority!) 

Level 2 training needs will be dealt with in a later post on this site.

Update 18 January 2012
A Twitter follower had a note that part-time students can get loans but ther only item I have found is that they may be eligible for "tuition fee loans". Is there any way of going the whole hog by offering loans for books, equipment and any protective clothing needed for the part-time courser? Also, what loan  is the non-higher education unemployed person going to be eligible for their future personal development?
  http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/DG_194804

Personal Time Management No 8 - Three Picked Time-saving Tips

On a normal day it is likely that your metabolism slows down by about 11 am - So:

• Tip No 1 - at the beginning of the week have one picked big job and four picked small jobs planned for each day. All these picked jobs for a day are to be completed by 11am. (Of course you may have more than 25 jobs to do in every week.)  Endeavour to complete the five big jobs by Wednesday. 

On some days you will find it difficult to think how to put jobs in priority- So

• Tip No 2 - at the beginning of the week against each job on the list in Tip No 1, put "Do-fast", "Do-next", or "Do-fit-in".  The Do-fast are priority one; the Do-next are priority  two; and the Do-fit-in are priority three.

Have a period of smart-time every day:

1. when you will only take calls in an emergency (life and death) or from your boss, spouse/partner, and children;
2. when your colleagues know not to disturb you;
3. your PC, smart phone, etc are off-line; and,
4. your telephone is closed.

[Note: your spouse/partner and children will know for what reason they can call you!]

• Tip No 3 - use the smart-time to complete outstanding Do-Fast jobs, to think about and work on policy and/or important operational tasks.

Books for Job Clubs No 4 - How's your dissertation going? (Book Review)

Book for a job club??? Maybe not: but the skills required to write a disseration are not too far away for the skills required for a) deciding on a career, b)  finding the right employer,  c) writing a targeted CV and covering letter,  d )  getting an interview,  and, e)  handling an interview.

"How's your dissertation going?" by Liz Hampson was published in 1994 by Unit for  Innovation in Higher Education, Lanchester University.

It is written from interviws with undergraduate and postgraduate students - it is quote-ridden in a pleasant manner so as to draw out themes - such as on Selecting a topic (topic = career); How do you choose a supervisor (supervisor = employer),  Who else might help? (eg other students = job club peers(?)), Is it worth it in the end? (degree = job).

Many of the skills needed by a student who wants to achieve a successful dissertation are, it is worth repeating, not unlike those displayed by a jobseeker who wants to achieve a successful job hunt.  [I recall having a discussion about methodology used by detectives, property valuers and biology reserachers - we agreed (a Home Office researcher, a property valuer and a biology teacher) that the skill-sets required were similar in their fundamentals.]

SWANLEY AND NORTHERN PARISHES JOB CLUB No 2 - PROGESS SINCE STARTING

This post outlines the kind of development strategy for what have become  "drop-in" job clubs at Hextable and Swanley. Members and volunteers intereact in four ways:

1. regular weekly meetings with fixed times and places;
2. occasional meetings at the library and Information Centre for advisory sessions on CV or covering letters etc;
3. emails and telephone (rarely) where a member gives contact details and communication consent;
4. social media, ie by Facebook, Twitter, and blogging eg Jaefoo-Blog 

Generally the thinking behind each approach is as follows:

• Meeting: The essence of our meetings is a)  members in small group discussion, and/or b) one-to-one "advice " sessions member/volunteer. A topic is sometimes introduced as a structured discussion.
• One-to-One sessions: These meetings  are for advice on CV and other aspects of job search or for business-building.
• E-mails and Telephone:  Media used for distributing vacancy notifications and other relatively urgent communications (a member registers consent for this approach).
• Social Media Marketing:  A relatively new approach for the following: a) to promote the Job Clubs or aspects of our work to members, volunteers, local Facebookers' Walls and more widely; b) to obtain and promote vacancy information;  c) to identify "good job club practice", eg by being a follower on Twitter; d) to give diary events information and e) to promote the locality (it may lead to jobs). 

Systems" Development:   From the beginning of December 2010 to the end of January 2011 "systems" development was heavy.  In this period much advice and help was given by Jane Gould of GB Job Clubs and the Leaders of the Job Clubs at Edenbridge, Sevenoaks and Strood.

Openings:

• Hextable Job Club:     Eventually we opened the Hextable Job Club on Wednesday 9th February at the Heritage Centre, College Road Hextable by kind permission of Hextable Parish Council. Open at 1.30pm to 3pm
• Swanley Job Club:    Nearly a month later we opened at the Swanley Job Club at the Library and Information Centre, London Road, Swanley Town Centre. Open 3pm to 5pm.

Format:  The two Job Clubs are of a "drop-in" format and are in effect one club for members but there are few "dual" members. If appropriate, arranged meetings take place outside "hours", eg to advise on an urgent job application draft CV.


Promotion Strategy 
Posters and flyers -  Information has been distributed by hand or by email - several organisations kindly display them. 
Word of Mouth  -  Introductions about the Job Clubs have been given to a)  three audiences in Swanley; b) a business- to-business show in Sevenoaks and  c)  participants at two training course in Swanley and  c) to numerous representatives of local authorities, government agencies and private sector companies and individuals.
Social Media Marketing (SMM) Having attended a course at the Stag Plaza, SMM has become part of the means of contacting and keeping in touch with members; developing on-line information posts  and generally seeking job opportunities, etc. Examples are:

 Entries for both job clubs have been published on the Directory of Job Clubs; See http://www.gbjobclubs.org/?page_id=30


 Fairly frequent Facebook messages are a) posted on the Hextable Job Club and Swanley Job Club wall; b) a few are sent to Doug Bug of West Kent Housing Association - he has many friends;


 An short article on job clubs was published by HortWeek;


 A blog has been created at http://jaef-jaefoo-blog.blogspot.com/2011/02/swanley-and-northern-parishes-job-club.html


 Blog and forum on Saga Zone;


Support:  We have been given support, advice and offers of help from many employment, business and other specialists in the community: Examples : a) Next Step sees members from time to time;  b)  Business Link courses have been attended by members - one member has attended three and now has a formal mentor relationship through Business Link to help develop his business,  c)  help with talks and discussions have been offered and taken on one occasion.


Diary of Events Outside events at which members and volunteers may learn about employment and also networking has been started, eg a)  on 17 February 2011 we attended the recent HMRC event on taxation and starting a business; b) Kent Vision 2020 was attended.


Information   Prepared and published Notes, Newsletters and other documents for members and others. Much is at Jaefoo Blog.

Starting a Business No 6 - Objectives and Profit...?

Your Business Plan will set out a) a mission statement and b) some objectives you want to achieve; they are likely to be business objectives and personal objectives.

Fundamental to any financial objectives will be your pricing startegy. How you set your prices for goods or services will be another part of the Business Plan (1 of the 4 x P's). At the end of the day, however, you will want to make an overall profit.

Consider what you want "profit" to represent - against some possible financial objectives. A property valuer's approach to profit suggests that net profit must cover the following  business and personal objectives, ie for a business person who rents or is intending to rent a commercial or industrial or property. (The approach will suffice for our purposes to illustrate the relationships between profit and objectives.) :

1. A business and personal objective will be establishing and maintaining good terms with HMRC by paying your taxes etc! Income taxation is payable on net taxable income which the business makes and which HMRC will take from you and/or your business;
2. A business and personal objective will be interest on capital invested. You will probably invest your own or borrowed money in a) property, b) plant and machinery, vehicles or other equipment,  c) furniture and d) other items. You will need to pay any interest on: a) borrowed capital (money); and (in principle) b) on any money you personally invest (from savings). It is useful to see this as being at a commercial rate of interest.
3. You will need to cover the salary or wages you would have earned as a manager of your business or by being employed by a rival (set it at the going rate). If you don't earn that in due course, you may as well give up your business and work for another;
4. Finally, a personal objective will be to recognise the risk inherent in running your own business. You are taking a risk in running your own business so you will want a portion (%) of the profit as a reward for your risk-taking.

Of course, you will not necessarily expect to achieve all of 1 to 4 in the first year: indeed your business may take several years to become established. Once it is established your might check that the business and personal objectives are being achieved - at least in financial terms!

Starting a Business No 5 Promotional Strategy

Your notes for you business plan (see Starting a Business No 3)  will almost certainly include "advertising" or "marketing"; but they are used, perhaps, in a casual sense of "publicity to get business". In this post we shall use the term "promotion" which will include all future activities to create a more embracing concept of what you are about as a business start-up.

Scope  Your promotional strategy will enable your customers' and/or suppliers' tol gain a wider and better understanding of the following:

• your business ethos or mindset;
• your business policies; and,
• more particularly, your products and/or services.

Promotional strategy is likely to cover relevant activities like the following: a) free publicity; b) advertising;  c)  public relations; and; d)  special events.



Free Publicity:  They are purposeful activities which are not charge for and are likely to incude: a) person to person networking;  b) free Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, etc activities (see Research No2 for social media marketing SMM);  c)  press releases for editorials in newspaper and magasine, trade journals, etc.

Advertising:  Initiated by you but are promotional products and activities which are paid for and executed by third parties - might include:  a) newspaper advertising; b) "knick-knacks", pens, place mats, keyrings etc, bearing information about your products and services

Public relations:  Information you distribute about your business, products and/or services which enhances their standing to your customers, suppliers and others - maybe to counter adverse publicity.

Special Events: Events such as: a) business to business events, b) trade shows; c) exhibitions d) an awards ceremony. The intent is that your business has some objective or purpose, eg a product or service launch, an award to donate, etc.

Starting a Business No 4 - Premises

Your business plan is hardly dry and you are asking about premises. Well...a surprisingly large number of businesses begin at home; they are usually a workshop in the garage or a desk and phone in the spare bedroom.  Yes... it is not immodest to think about premises and to include the topic in the business plan.

You ask   "What are my options?" At this stage I give a short list of ideas to mull over and include some pointers to consider. A few of the possibilities are:

1. Working from Home:   Might suit the likes of one of the following: a)  a small workshop in the garden shed / garage for developing an invention to pre-production phase;  b)  a small repair shop for say, sharpening blade, saws and the like;  c)  an office in the spare room may be sufficient  for on-line business or a tele-sales type operation. (See my http://jaefoo-blogcounciltax.blogspot.com/ for three posts on the issue of working at home and council tax and business rates.)
2. On-the Road:  If you are a) a gardener or event type business, eg gigs, you may need a mobile van, lorry, or caravan etc for the transport of equipment and perhaps, personnel; b) travelling to sell goods you will want not only transport but also a place for the storage of goods - here a self-storage facility will be handy - before you are big enough to need to rent / buy your own warehouse!
3. Franchise Business:  If you take on a franchise requiring premises, some franchisors will assist you with a)  a "specification" for your accommodation and facilities you should best try to find, ie an existing property;  b)  alternatively, the premises must be built from scratch - again the fracnhisor would probably have experience for the development.
4. Serviced Accommodation:   A start-up business may require a presentable office for a kind of "probationary" or "trial" period, say 3, 6 or 12 months, before taking the plunge on a longer-term basis with rented or bought accommodation.   The great advantage here is that the "marketing mix" of the promoters of serviced accommodation is laced with the ethos of flexibility. You will find several possibilities available. Just a (very) few examples:  a) a conference/ presentation  room or meeting room for the one-off event; b) an office(s) for one, two, three... persons on terms and conditions for a definite period or for an indefinite say, monthly term but terminable when you want; c) offices, packing accommodation with storage space. 

Starting a Business No3 - Business Plan Preparation

As soon as I hear the words meaning: "I want to start a business", my reply usually goes something like: "Business plan..? Do you have one?" If not we might talk through a list of topics which might feature in the yet-to-be-prepared business plan. 

One initial question / reaction is "Why bother?"  My reply might be on the lines: "Don't bother.... if you have a brain programmed with Business-Satnav and the pot of gold ready to get well under way!"  If not there are three reasons:

1. If nothing is on paperso far, the preparation of the business plan will pull together ideas, cautions, contacts, timings, dates, prices and costs, etc etc, etc;
2. your first business plan is the initial route map to and indication of a successful (or not) business; and,
3. when you need funds, the funder (a bank, a charitable foundation prospective partner/shareholder) will expect your realistic evaluation of your business future, so that they can assess whether they will get back a loan or get a return on their investment.

The content of the business plan is likely to contain the items shown in the checklist below.  However, if a funder has requested a business plan it may require you to include some mandatory items.

Checklist for a Business Plan
What you include and in what order they appear will be up to you. The following are indicators of likely items. No doubt you will have been thinking about the business for some time, so much of the business plan will be putting on paper (perhaps for the first time) all the things which have been swirling about up top!

4 x Ps

• Prospect - Services and Products: offering is service(s) or a product(s), customer after-service 
• Place or Location:  work from home (urban or rural) or from business premises in town centre or elsewhere;
• Pricing: basis of charging, eg for a service is it an hourly rate, call-out charge, plus consumables and costs, plus overheads, etc;
• Promotion: promotional strategy to include:- advertising, word-of-mouth, free publicity (editorials), special events, public relations (see Starting a Business No 5).

SWOT Analysis
SWOT analysis is a business technique which the new business start-upper (say, as a sole trader) (or  job-seeker) might use to explore the context for a new business (or job or career).  {Note For this post the emphasis is on the business context. - the Swot examples are merely illustrative and may not regflect a true "fit" in the context for a particular business.}

• Strengths: Personal qualifications and experiential knowledge and skills - related to services/products or the industry; government policy or agency practice in supporting industry.
• Weaknesses: State of the economy in the next year or so.
• Opportunities:  Weakness of the £ encouraging exporters; potential use of social media marketing (SMM); availability of loans from charitable foundations for start-ups; trade generation by Olympics 2012; new green technologies.
• Threats:   Competition; adverse changes in the taxation regime appicable to the industry; work-life style balance.

Research No3 - Employer's/ Supplier's Status - Some Looks....?

A prospective employer is a "legal person" with a status having characteristics, powers, duties etc which are prescribed or embedded in law.  In many instances you will take status for granted or perhaps not think about it.  For instance, you may be applying for interview to a "individual", "an estate agent", "a hotel","a company", "a charity", "the council", etc.

This post is a brief look at status in the sense of legal persona. You employer is likely to be one of the following:

• a "sole trader", that is an individual who runs his or her own business;
• a "partnership", for example, group of individuals who run a businesss together;
• a "company", that is an organisation owned by the shareholders and run by appointed directors; 
• a "trust", being an entity set up and run by "trustees"in accord with its governing documents, eg a statute (National Trust) or trust deed.

Different prospective employers will, of course be run in accord with their status; the status determines such matters as: 

1. the aims and objectives underpinning the legal person;
2. the owner of the organisation and the extent of the owner's rights and obligations;
3. the "destination" of the assets of the organisation if it is "folded up" or "dies"; 
4. whether it is a "not-for-profit" enterprise or not; 
5. the kinds of and limitations on the organisation's activities;
6. the nature and extent of the formal statutory duties and obligations of an organisation's directors/trustees, officers, and so on, including you if appointed; 
7. the impact of different types of legislation on day to day operations, that is in terms of exemptions, reliefs and concessions, eg a registered charity is not usually required to pay income taxation or capital gains taxation;
8. the range, nature and severity of the different taxes, if any, which will be imposed;

Intellectual Property Rights No 4 - "Textbook" for Inventors etc....?

This morning I found the third edition of the report by the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights. It is entitled "Integrating Intellectual Property Rights and Development Policy" (see link below).
Although rather dated (2003) it gives an overview of IPR in the context of the development of poorer nations within the world economy. I have not attempted to read it but a few glances at the Contents (for about 191 pages of content) suggest that any jobseeker who desires to know the field will find the an interesting starting point.

I am curious of the content which delves into:
Health, including medicine;

Agriculture;

Traditional knowledge;

Internet;

Patent reform;

International aspects; etc.

Reminding myself of the problems that Alfred must have had 1200 years or so ago in developing steps towards nationhood - education, defence, "town", planning, "civil service"..., I must now scan the last eight years to learn of the impact (or not) of the Report and of any progress!

http://www.iprcommission.org/papers/pdfs/final_report/CIPRfullfinal.pdf

Research No 2 - How to research an Employer, etc using Social Media Marketing?

At the end of a job interview the interviewer almost always asks the likes of: "Have you any questions for me?"

It may be a good idea to have several questions up your sleeve: as opposed to none! Of course you will not be expected to ask more than one or two: the important point is that you will be able to show an interest in the organisation/ position/ department etc. Also, you have the opportunity to surprise or interest the interviewer with a genuine query - that's great.

Researching an employer will probably give many questions - which you might be able to bring into the interview as it progresses - leading to a good interview. So, how to research the employer...? (Similar approaches may be used to look at a supplier or a business which is for sale.)

The starting point is the recruitment literature. It should be sufficiently detailed to attract you to apply for the job being offered! Otherwise you will need to go to other sources.

Social Media Marketing: Today the seemingly progressive employer is into social media marketing so during the interview you will be able to demonstrate (if appropriate) your highly developed SMM knowledge and skills (for business) by referring to the content of :

• the latest tweets that have been issued by the employer - avoid looking at Twitter during the interview(!);
• the latest posts on the organisation's website;
• the most recent Google Alerts about the industry received on your smartphone;
• profiles of directors, managers and others you may have sussed on company's wall on Facebook or within LinkedIn;
• hashtags you use to research products and services in the industry;
• job specifications for positions for the developing SMM employment sector, particularly in the company's industry;
• comments you have made on various blogs associated with the organisation or industry;
• with caution, the Retweets or Likes you have about posts and profiles of the individuals and organisations you follow on Twitter or claim as a Friend on Facebook (respectively); and,
• your blog on Google+ (Sorry, but that might be taken by the interviewer/reader as one-up-manship or one-up-womanship.)

Caution: All the above suggests that you may need to be cautious. This will be particularly so if you sense that the interviewer, perhaps and older person, is not yet into these new fangled thingymijigs. For instance he or she may be an "arch enemy" of one of those you claim to be Follower of or as a Friend.



Finally, the interviewer may listen to you and subsequent to the interview:

• climb on to your Facebook wall;
• seek your Profile on LinkedIn;
• hunt down your wilder comments (to blogs); and/ or
• visit your personal blog or website to read your posts.

This post has tried to cover the jargon and elements of SMM - the next post will seek other sources.

Research No 1 - Why research / evaluate an Employer / a Supplier / a Business for Sale

This post is the first of a short series which looks at researching for particular purposes or circumstances. Thus,the circumstances for evaluation are: i) a job-seeker evaluating a prospective employer; b) a start-up business reviewing a supplier of goods and services; and c) possibly, a start-up business initiating due diligence of a business which is up for sale. All three are is likely to find that it takes time.

Taking time to research properly may well pay-off (in time and cost) for the job-seeker in terms of the likes of:

• aborted or fruitless CVs (and covering letters) or job applications;



• failure to get interviews;



• unpreparedness and hence inadequate interviews.

For the supplier-seeker inadequate research may mean critical losses (of time, costs and customers) due to the likes of one or more of:

• failures of supplies to arrive on time;



• poor quality products or services which need to be returned; and,



• poor after care and support.

The buyer of a business will need to ensure adequate research so as to avoid aborted costs, lost time, and possible problems such as:

• hidden problems, eg unpaid accounts,wages, and/or taxes;



• problems with the management, eg production of goods, delivery of services;



• personnel problem, eg staff leaving;



• outstanding liabilities or claims against the business;



• non-compliance with statutory requirements, eg taxation returns.

Some lines of enquiry and sources of information for each of these will be the same but the approaches are certainly very different.

Intellectual Property Rights No 3 - Value to Business and the Economy

Once again the IPO and government has drawn attention to the very high value of intellectual property rights (IPR). A figure of £65 billion a year is given as the annual increment of value in protected rights generated by businesses and other organisations. They include copyrights, and design rights, including rights in intangible digital assets -software.

It still remains the case, however, that many businesses do not protect the potentially valuable assets of this nature.


Details of recent reports on IPR may be found at http://www.ipo.gov.uk/

Personal Time Management 6A - Managing a To-Do List

Managing a to-do list requires practice. If you regularly use to-do lists you may pick up a few tips from this post but you will probably save time by skipping or speed-reading it. Non-useres or casual users should get something from the points given below.

To-do Lists: The following eight points are in effect habits for managing you daily to-do lists:

1. Begin the list for a particular future day as soon as a "happening" is known and "diaried";
2. Think about and finalise the next day's to-do list in the evening before and check it after a night's sleep;
3. Keep the number of to-do's on the day reasonably do-able in the day (See 1);
4. Note the to-do's as must-do's/ should-do's/ possible-do's, ie have an A-list/ B-list/ C-list;
5. Divide any large to-do into a number of smaller ones;
6. Spread very large to-do's over several days/months... etc;
7. Build into every daily to-do list a bit of slack;
8. Cluster like activities, eg correspondence/ filing/ telephoning.

Storage of Lists: Keep a loose-leaf folder for all future days' daily to-do lists (See 1).

Filing: For the correspondence each day collect the file into any files used but otherwise collect and put in order any papers to be filed later (as a to-do), ie do filing at say, the end of the week (See 8).

Diary: My diary acts as an annual to-do listing (See 1) and has a page for a caution list covering next year and subsequent years. Make an entry in the diary as a reminder that to-do's for this year's events to flag-up a warning a month/ week / few days in advance; thus the diary also acts as a caution listing over time. [Tip 1 Regularly look-at or scan your diary a week to a month in advance.]

Telephoning: Have a telephone pad for notes you wish to keep as a record of any conversations. Pad might show: a) person's telephone number, b) date, c) time, d) important points, e) future action and when. [Tip 2]

See PTM 6B for Complete To-do Lists

Time Management 5 - Do you use Clusters to make Time?

Personal time management is "home-based" and mini-scaled when compared to an employer's likely use of systems. Nevertheless the underlying principles are the same or similar.

Here we examine "clusters" for time-saving - it will involve some time in setting up. In some instances the items will be hard copy but do not ignore opportunitis for digital copies. The following are examples:

• Storage Maps: In principle everything has a place for its storage. Untidiness waste times. Not knowing where things are kept wastes time, Not putting things back in their place wastes time. Create a cluster of storage maps of spaces, ie your kitchen, ...bedroom,... garage,.... shed, etc. Show on each map of a space where "things are stored.




• "Tool Boxes": If possible store complementary things together, ie take on board the idea of "tool boxes" or "needle work boxes" for clusters of things. The list could be endless and these are few examples: i) Christmas decorations box; ii) envelope with last year's Christmas cards; iii) garden tools for weeding (in a bag); iv) an address book; v) a birthday book; vi) bulbs, fuses, etc and tools for minor electrical repairs.... etc; v) hanging box for keys.




• "Organisers" or "Folders": Keep originals or copies of personal papers in a filing system. Suit your own life-style from the likes of: i) personal or family history (births, marriages and deaths etc); ii) executor's file (enabling probate and distribution of your estate); iii) files for financial and investment papers; iv) files for insurances; v) files for records of property matters, eg council tax, insurances, names and addresses of contractors, gardeners, etc. (Again the list seems endless!)




• "Libraries": Have organised "libraries" for records, CDs, DVDs, books, magazines and the like.




• "Trays": Organise your current correspondence into trays - yes - "IN", "PENDING" and "OUT". Try not to handle correspondence twice, ie "pending" is neglible; and "out" is to the mail or filing for retained papers.

Personal Time Management 4 - How do you make Lists?

Time management in business or employment may be highly sophisticated but critical path analysis, PERT, and methodology is often based on lists of tasks and/or events. In this post personal time management and the use of lists is explored.

• Time Audits: Looking at your expenditure of time during a normal week - the last 168 hours - may be rewarding. Periods of time of may be divided intothe following: a) Sleep; b) Personal hygiene; c) Meals; d) Domestic - planned "work" and routine "chores"; e) Planned job-seeking; f) Travel; g) Planned leisure h) Time filler-ing - unplanned time usage - TV watching, dozing, etc. The importance of analysing the time audit is in revealing how much time was spent on achieving you objectives or targets for leisure, job-seeking and other planned activities.




• To-do's List: For each day prepare a list of projects, tasks, jobs and other activities which you intend to complete. Large projects may be broken down into smaller tasks and spread over several days or weeks etc.




• Caution List: A digital or hardcopy reminder or warning system in the form of a "diary" with a list of all the important long-term dates, eg renewal of passport, car insurance, MOT, health check-ups, etc. It may span say, 10 years!




• Executor's File: A folder of all important documents your executor will need to obtain probate and administer your estate. It is likely to contain your Will, insurances, evidence of investments and holdings of property, etc.




• List(s) for Event(s): Different events and trips you make will usually require different sets of belongings, documents and pre-events activities etc. Make a list for each kind of event. A holiday in the UK will be similar to one in say, France but will have marked differences, eg the latter requires a passport, euros and EU health card. By way of example - an American family member has a "recreational vehicle" (RV) checklist of about five pages and a pre-travel check which takes about two hours!

Again, your use of lists may not be as comprehensive as suggested here - just use or develop from the above as your life-style requires!

Personal Time Management 3 - What should be used?

Many of the resources used for personal time management may be transferred into the you place of employment or business.

The list which follows is not exhaustive and some or many items may not suit your circumstances. When used they should help create an ambience for better time management:

Habits or regular practices:

1. Set your watch, wall clocks and alarm clock about five minutes early;


2. List you aims for the forthcoming period (day/ week/ .../five years and then set priorities;


3. Immediately before the next week plan your wardrobe for every day


4. Every night layout your clothes, etc for the next day;


5. Have a "folder for lists" and then make lists for it (see later post);


6. Once in a while, about every two weeks, review the last 164 hours and break down your time into principal activities (see later post);


7. For projects list the main activities and events (an activity starts with an event and ends with an event).

Personal Time Management 2 - What Wastes Time?

Do poor personal time management attitudes and practices spill over and affect an employer's expectation of an employee's poor time management?

Time wasting is a cluster or cloud of unthinking. For a particular individual in may include one or more of the following:

• a lack of clear personal aims and objectives;



• a lack of personal priorities in a given period of time;



• a personal tendency to "butterfly" , ie flit from one thing to another before completing anything;



• a lack of detailed planning;



• a failure to develop an attitude to improve everyday practices;



• a failure to develop habits, routines or protocols in daily life;



• a lack of appropriate resources and so achieve task on time; and,



• a tendency to procrastinate or let go of self-discipline.

The earlier (original) film "Cheaper by the Dozen" and the book upon which the film is based will give a vivid and amusing insight into the above - they are about the Gilbreth Family of Frank Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbeth.

Personal Time Management 1 - Why manage time?

Do the why's and how's of personal time management spill over into an employer's expectation of an employee's attidudes and skills of time management?

In personal life time management might be undertaken for a number of reasons. The following are suggested as some of the possible personal benefits:

• being more effective in getting things done;


• remembering to do things appropriately;


• reducing personal stress;


• reducing dissonance in family and other personal relationships;


• generally having more time and so being able to do more or spend more time on relaxing or enjoying leisure;


• getting household or leisure tasks done on time; and,


• getting to appointments on time.

How to choose a Career or Job - Ideas No1 Life Analysis (Update 28 July 2011)

Choosing the right career or job (or change of career etc) is a basis for happiness so it would make sense to think about your mind-set with the view to fixing the right future for yourself. It is probably quite easy to review your past in terms of experience-based knowledge, skills, insights, contacts, etc. The quality and nature of your mindset may not be so readily apparent to you - this will be considered in Ideas No 2.

Firstly, I suggest that you explore your past with the view to learning about yourself - your own life analysis. A step-by-step approach might be adopted as follows:

1. Collect events or dates about your life and record them in a loose leaf folder - indicating their importance, if any, to your personal development;
2. Collect personal papers, eg old passports, educational certificates, sports awards, testimonials, school reports, etc;
3. Recollect facts and insights from travel - business, work or leisure, eg about languages, countries, customs, etc;
4. Collect or make notes of important happenings, role models, etc from in your past - some may be historic, sporting, etc figures who examples gave you insights and so on;
5. Talk to colleagues, friends and relatives (as and when) about the past and what they can rember about your early days - make notes of snippets and insights gained;
6. Make a list of former work or business contacts, making a note of any memories of important work-related or business-related insights given;
7. Make a list of authors or books which have helped to shape or sharpen insights into identified knowledge, skills; and,
8. List your accomplishments or "track record" from early times, eg school-days, work, business, military, volunteer opportunities, sport or leisure etc.

If you have a particular potential career or job in mind you might like to use the contents of your folder for a personal SWOT analysis, ie relating the analysis to the career and / or job .

"Wheels to Work" - Moped Scheme in New Forest

Looking for work usually involves considerable expensive travel by bus or train, for example:

• travel to interviews at employers' premises;


• regular visits to the office of Jobcentre Plus;


• visits to the nearby town's public library to job-search by on-line or in local newspapers; and,


• travel to Learn Direct or some other training establishment.

Walking up and down on the South Downs Way from Winchester in four days of blissful weather, I came upon the New Forest's "Wheels to Work" Mobed Scheme - details were given on a village notice board.

Wheels to Work enables selected young persons to have a conditional loan of a mobed and a variety of "appendages". The package might include for instance:

• the moped with lock and MOT;


• helmet and clothing;


• insurance;


• training in riding a moped; and,


• etc, etc.

For the young cash-strapped seeker of employment or training for work the scheme is a boon.

Referrals to the scheme may be made by a referring agent, such as - Jobcentre Plus, Youth Service, employer,.. self-referral is allowed. Detailed notes on the Scheme were later found (you know where). Numerous schemes are littering the countryside - see: http://www.cfnf.org.uk/ and search 'Moped'.

Mandatory Work for Jobseekers and Job Clubs

Regulations 2011 SI 2011 No 688 has been scrutinised by the Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee of theHouse of Lords(?) and the reponse from the Department of Works and Pensions was useful in getting a handle, ie for me, on mandatory work for jobseekers. Initially a minimum of 10,000 persons will come within the scheme and it is expected to grow. For Job Clubs there is scope to help those who might otherwise or will come within the mandatory work scheme. Initially consideration for needs advice and practice might be based upon:

• the importance of the practice of personal time management - setting and identifying targets and outcomes;


• how to source and procure support in personal job searching;


• learning and taking on board innovative and speculative approaches to job searching;


• action-research in obtaining and rationalising work experience into meanful outcomes;


• recording and explaining "work experience" from life experiences in situations involving work (of course) but also leisure, volunteering, church activities; home life and so on;


• networking at courses, exhibitions. business shows etc so as to understand how employers "think2 and "react" to one's personal behaviour;


• the rationale of complaining and the current procedures for progressing a complaint.

Members' experience in and with their job club will enable them to successfully avoid the negative aspects of indicating behaviours (to use the DWP jargon) and so get regular work by their own efforts - this not wishful thinking!

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldselect/ldmerit/126/12606.htm

Intellectual Property Rights No 2 - Protection of IPRs

Since the last post on niche members the government's Department for BIS has issued a press release on the need for companies to protect their intellectual property, ie innovations requiring protection with patent, registered design, copyright, ...etc. The press release (link below) shows the range of services available from the Intllectual Property Office. http//nds.coi.gov.uk/content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=418943&NewsAreaID=2&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bis-news+%28BIS+News%29 The British Library runs a free on-line short course which introduces the subject of IP protection - a good first step!

Courses for Job Club Leaders - Part 1 (Update No 1 - 8 January 2012)

Received news and documentation of the governmental interest in work clubs and enterprise clubs - how to set up and run them. I now believe that the "job club movement" is going to become institutionalised. Will training and education catch hold this movement and create certificates, diplomas, degrees, masters degrees and doctors degrees? I learned this morning that Douglas College has a certificate in "job club leadership"!

Having researched for setting up a job club network, I now appreciate how much I did not know before I started and how much I want/need to know - to be really effective. (No course was available - I should say that I did not find one!) If I were to work up a course syllabus I would want to understand who are the end-users (members of job clubs) and what are their requirements. Here one is into niche marketing.

So far my research suggests end-users will be categorised in no particular order as :

• return-to-work mothers;
• graduates seeking employment or internships;
• school-leavers wanting apprenticeships;
• inventors wanting to protect their ideas (patents, etc) and then licence-out or start-up a business etc;
• those with a product or service idea who want to start a business;
• recently or not recently unemployed wanting to get employment;
• those with a small business wanting to develop or to expand;
• keen-to-work persons with disabilities or health problems;
• former business owners wanting to move into employment;
• individuals at the first or a later threshold working life and without an inkling of the potential for themselves in the world of work; and,
• etc, etc.

A syllabus-deliverer has his or her work cut out to create a course for job club leaders where each will have that mix of group! Is it feasible to have such a mix...?

Today (9 January 2012) I found information about a USAID course for job club leaders in Argentina. Must now seek details of the syllabus!
http://mazedonien-nachrichten.blogspot.com/2011/12/job-club-re-opens-in-strumica.html

Starting a Business No 2 - Business Link Courses

Twenty or so of us sat for nearly three hours to listen and talk about starting a new business. The morning course was set-up by Sevenoaks District Council and was delivered by Business Link South East.

The speaker's style was informal and was inter-active - we were kept on or toes so to speak. The aim was to examine "starting a business". This was in the sense that by the end of the session a participant would go away fired-up to take on (or perhaps not) his or her idea for a business.

Self-commitment to the numerous tasks ahead was made obvious to all. The exploratory approach meant that many of the self-examine worksheets of questions could not be completed in the time available. This was entirely acceptable because the broad nature of the insight given would enable the wannabee business-eer to take a suitable period for the work-up to commitment.

A few had already started their business so the opportunity to network was taken by all - business cards, email addresses or telephone numbers were exchanged by those prepared to seek or do business.

Business Link offer a range of developmental opportunities - courses going deeper into the topics introduced in this first session.

Hopefully 20 new businesses or recently established will prosper as a result of the day's workshop session - they should do so with the kind of grounding on offer.

Books for Job Clubs No 3 - CVs in a Week (Book Review)

In 2002 the Chartered Management Institute published CVs in a Week, a book of about 84 effective pages, which day-by-day gives motivation to the CV-compiler to complete a first class CV of appropriate style in seven days. The authors are Steve Morris and Graham Willcocks.

The seven 'chapters' are indicated by page headers as the days of the week. Each gives directions and balanced comment on a selected part of the process, namely:

1. ways to see oneself in a processed manner (on Sunday);
2. basics of the CV (on Monday);
3. understanding the prospective employer(s) from the advert and in other ways (on Tuesday);
4. a retrieval mapping approach to one's life and working life (on Wednesday);
5. putting the CV on paper - approaches to style and format - almost a first draft (on Thursday);
6. fine-tuning the layout and phraseology of the various sections of the CV (on Friday); and,
7. attracting the right employer - partly by the covering letter (on Saturday).

The approach will give the applicant a wealth of self-understanding, approaches and ideas for the CV and confidence that one is probably spot-on. A criticism of this slender volume is that there is no index - hopefully, however, the reader will only once need to use the book for the first CV that is then sent to the perfick employer who immediately recognises the perfick employee!
Footnote: It was not until about Wednesday that I remembered that I am a member (albeit retired) of the CIM!

Books for Job Clubs No 2 "How to turn an Interview into a Job" (Book Review Update july 2011)

How to turn an Interview into a Job (2004 Edition) by Jeffery G Allen has about 98 very effective pages (veps) of seemingly effective advice for the would-be job searcher cum interviewee.

The 14 chapters are short and pithy; the chapters, notes and index etc are written for the USA market circa mid-2000's but I would guess this very readable and useful book has a UK-following. The first read took less than a day but it is a book I would want to go back to time and again.

The principal subject matter of the early chapters includes:

• the process of preparing for a job interview;
• job searching on the internet;
• the use of 72 buzz words for CVs;
• some 75 questions for stress or interrogation interviews;
• researching the employers;
• Do's and Do not's in given situations;
• etc, etc.

Although written for the job seeker in the USA much of the material is transferable to the UK. Some of the advice might be innovative or even over-the-top for the UK job market in 2004 and since. My read has taken less than a day and I want to go back to the book for mock interviews at the Hextable Job Club and Swanley Job Club. - as interviewer!

Frequently were the thoughts: "Why haven't I thought of that!" or "I will adopt that approach!"

Job Club Diary No1 Events in the Hinterland

Diary creation for a job club is a patchwork of internal and external events. Internal events are special happenings at the regular weekly meetings - say, a speaker on a specialist topic. Outside events are quite different! Literally the sky is the limit but for now we have our feet firmly grounded.

A search has given our members much to do. Mention was made previously of the joint HMRC and HSE event in Swanley. Just recently at a meeting a jobs fair was bought to my attention. Back home I googled and found two more job fairs within reasonable distance of travel.

We now have a fairly full diary of business-to-business shows, business-to-consumer exhibitions, job fairs, and trade exhibitions. "WHY?"

The answer to the "WHY?" may lie a marketing approach when attending a meeting such as a job fair or trade show. The formulation of a personal or business promotion based on networking to convey specific messages to targeted audiences, ie individuals or businesses. Hopefully the result will be an invitation to a job interview or an opportunity to bid for business.

Job Clubs for Parents

Places where parents cluster for parenting matters - schools, nurseries, Sure Start, etc may be the kind of places at which facilitators might either offer typical services that job club members need or recruit new members.

The book "Working mothers - An essential guide" (see Book review) does not give details of the importance of the role of job clubs to mothers and fathers who want to return to work or work for the first-time.

Of course, if niche job clubs are created for say mothers, bankers, surveyors etc, wanting to work it could be argued that the unique worth of an all-comers job club might be lost. An essential feature of many, if not all job clubs, is the members' diversity of experience, age range and knowledge and skills which can be utilised for the mutual benefit of members. This might be absent in a niche club.

Starting a Business No 1 HMRC and Taxation

Business and tax go together so the start-upper needs to know the exemptions, reliefs and concessions which may be available. As a start members of the Job Club might attend a few HMRC courses.  Our Job Club has taken the opportunity to attend a HM Revenue and Customs event on starting a business. The emphasis on VAT and income taxes was expected from the programme but other subjects included:

• online VAT returns (computer demonstrated) and other online services;
• Health and Safety (from the HSE); and,
• 10 tips for success from a Business Link representative.

Members of Job Clubs in attendence had a good opportunity to discuss issues with the staff of HMRC and HSE - both groups were very informative. The "course" included opportunities:

• to brush up knowledge on tax and other business related topics;
• to network with the presenters and other attendees;
• to collect detailed Notices, information leaflets; and,
• prospectively, to update the CV and covering letter!

We were told that the course was a taster; more detailed courses on taxation matters are available in Kent (and elsewhere no doubt).
Members who missed today will find the programme very useful.

Swanley Job Club - The Beginning - 2nd March 2011

Not quite, yet! Meetings will be dovetailing with those of Hextable Job Club - which has already began on 9th February.

Swanley Job Club - free to members - will be meeting on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month at 3pm to 5pm. Starting on 2nd March 2011. Meetings will be informal with an ethos of mutual support in planning the approach to getting employment or going into business. Career planning and/or business planning will feature in some sessions but the initial emphasis is likely to include:

• improving, if necessary CV and covering letters;
• developing employment search potential - on-line and hardcopy;
• progressing approaches to interviews; and,
• forging the best interviewing skills.

It must be said that the activities will be largely member progressed.

By kind permission of Swanley Town Council our venue is within the Cafe of the Library and Information Centre, Town Centre, London Road, Swanley, BR8.

GB Job Clubs - in Kent and Elsewhere (Updated July 2011)

Kent is gaining a share of the momentum or surge of job clubs being created in the country - a total of nearly 100. Hextable which started on the 9th February 2011 is probably one of the latest; it must be one of the few situated in a village.

Other Kent job clubs include Ashford, Edenbridge & Oxted, Dartford, Folkestone, Gravesend, Hextable, Sevenoaks and Strood. Swanley started in March 2011. They are all listed in the on-line GB Job Clubs Directory. See the linked pages at: www.gbjobclubs.org/

The Jericho Skills Directory webpage embraces what might become of considerable interest to job club members seeking a loan for their business start-up. In essence upto £2,000 may be forthcoming to members who meet the requirements.

The website is wealthy in information about and for job clubbing. Any wannabe facilitator, coordinatior or leader of a job club cannot better the advice available at this site or from Chris Neal and Jane Gould.

Since starting we are now getting a trickle of referrals from the government's Job Centre Plus and have informal links with other agencies, eg HMRC and HSE. Found a HuffPost Social Network reference which indicated that the US Federal Government values job clubs. See Twitter Jaef2

Working Mothers - the essential guide (Book review)

The 2008 2nd Edition came my way this week. It was easy to read and not long - about 70 pages of followable chaptered prose - with some useful information sections at the back.

Lacking an index worried me a little but the Contents clearly demarked the subjects covered. However, a list of the seven main sections of the Helplist is essential for later editions. These include: Financial; Childcare; Small Business Resources; Professional Organisations and Networking; and Links for Fathers. Most of the entries in Helplist give website addresses which allows the reader to update any dated material in the chapters.

The strength of this slim volume is in the treatment of life as a working mother. The gist of the contents lies in each chapter title; the latter include: Flexible Working and Time Off; Childcare; Financial Help for Working Parents; and The Role of Fathers. Other chapters concern time, childcare, health, staying positive and guilt.

The shortish chapter on Starting your own Business could have said more and a miss was a chapter entitled say, Seeking and being Selected for a Job - it might be a useful addition..? One problem an author faces in writing about governmental policy and statutory mattes, eg benefits, is updating - the solution in this guide is the use of website references.

Denise Tyler has given mothers who work or who intend to work a sympathetic and valuable insight into the issues of managing life with work colleagues, children and any other half. It is packed with references and has a very short bibliography.

HEXTABLE JOB CLUB

Hextable Job Club is the first past the post in the Swanley and Northern Parishes Job Club Network's stable. We started on 9th February 2011 in the Heritage Centre. Our job club will meet every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month at 1.30pm to 3pm. The use of the accommodation in the Heritage Centre is by the kind permission of the Hextable Parish Council. Our next meeting is on Wednesday 23 February 2011.

Hopefully, accommodation at the Olympic in Swanley will be confirmed shortly. Meanwhile, the HM Revenue & Customs one day course on Thursday 17th February 2011 in Swanley and the Business Link half-day course on Saturday 5 March 2011 in Swanley will both be available to members who want to find out about starting a business.

There are other Job Clubs in Kent at Ashford, Edenbridge & Oxted, Dartford (soon), Gravesend, Sevenoaks, and Strood.

Intellectual Property Rights No1 - Job Clubs for Inventors?

After I closed down the last post a thought galloped into my mind. I wondered whether aspiring inventors could be another potential group of members for any job club.

After a bit of searching I had came across a British Library free on-line course in protection of intellectual property. It covers the definitions, background history, and procedures for obtaining the appropriate protection for an idea etc, namely:

• patents;
• copyright;
• registered designs; and,
• trade marks.

The job club function would cover the above by facilitating the would-be inventor to get into:

• the need for early protection;
• concurrently or subsequently, appproaches to the development and start-up of a business.

SWANLEY AND NORTHERN PARISHES JOB CLUB No 1 - STARTING

Slow start to the Job Club but since the spur of announcing it to many, we began to canter to the real start line. On course and several hurdles have been jumped to the end of the beginning and the start of the real work. There are several hurdles still to be jumped but have trotted round them and will come back to them on the second lap.
Secured one venue for two afternoons a week and a second venue is likely to be confirmed shortly.

"What is a job club?" has been asked on many occasions since the 1 December 2010 - the virtual beginning. I have visited three and seen descriptions of many more - on-line articles.

My conclusions are as follows:

• a regular informal gathering members, ie those looking for employment or wanting to start up a new business;
• a set of principles for the operation of the club's activities;
• a ethos of mutual assistance between members
• a supported network of individual volunteers and community organisations;
• a set of agreed principles for working the job club;
• an underlying desire of every member to leave the job club's membership!

No doubt the my conclusions will be modified and expanded as the Job Club starts to gallop!