This is the reason you go into business for yourself - this is it right here.

When you are self employed you work long hours - often very long hours - and you work very hard, dont let anyone tell you that this won't happen. The old adages that you don't know where your next opportunity is coming from - and you never get a second chance to say no - become your close companions. That phone rings and you take the call. Sure, there's a stage when you feel big enough, busy enough or confident enough to choose your business carefully, and I am a big advocate of this - but you will always still take that call.

Your family won't always (often) understand, especially the husband and especially if he doesnt quite see what you are doing.

Until the money comes in of course... and that's part of the motivation - absolutely. If you're good at what you do the rewards are financial.

And, like me, you're probably not too great at following orders. I know that I know how I think things should be done, and I like it done just that way, so I am happy to put my proverbial butt in the sling and wear the consequences, but I am going to do it my way thankyou, I could not imagine being employed by someone else ever again (I didn't say never mind you - if the offer is right!).

But, overriding this all is choice - choice to work that hour or not, and choice to work where and how I like, for example:

right now I am working (ok not terribly hard presently) by the side of the inlet at The Entrance NSW with my kids playing in the water right in front of me.

I'm almost finished too - so I'll be joining them shortly - and that's what this is all about.

On big business and their employees

I am a passionate small business owner and I pull no punches, big business mentality really sucks.

I'm talking the mentality that says " that's not my job so I'm not going to do it, it can stay undone", or "that wasn't my mistake so I care not that its late and I could fix it right now for you - I have 48 hours to action that", or " I don't want to deal with that so I'm going to put your call through to someone else".

Mistakes happen, that's human nature, but for the sake of all of our reputations mistakes should be acknowledged and fixed as soon as possible, it's often how you deal with mistakes that makes your rep more than when you get things right. In big business sadly it's a faceless, anonymous game where you're not even a name to the person on the other end of the phone so there's little motivation to extend yourself to fix things up. And following you is someone else who cares even less about the effect of the previous department's stuff up, why on earth would they put themselves out to rectify when their guide says they have xx hours to get their job done. Service level agreements are the bane of my life!

In small business, you're talking right to the person affected, and they know your name, and even better  - you care - so you get it done & fast. You take ownership of the problem and you don't drop it until its done. There's simply no one else around to fix it; the buck stops with you. And this is the way it should be.

Equally, there's no job description that defines who's job it is to take the bins out or wash the dishes, so you take turns, you get it done.

And lunch breaks are a luxury, especially an uninterrupted lunch break without phone calls or questions. It's e way of the world. There's simply too much to get done and only just enough time to do it .

So, to all those in small business, I salute you and your positive attitude. If I want something done, and done right, I'm looking at you.

When it all falls down - reinvent!

Sometime last year I realised that I really wasn't satisfied with where I was in business; that things were not what they should have been & the goals & values I held were no longer shared by my business partner.

It was more than that actually, it was more like the goals and values we each held and once shared; were now polar opposites. The very premise that the business was built on - good customer service, responsiveness, helping people make their dreams come true, making the process simple and easy - well what I observed was the very opposite of this.

And more, decisions were being made without my input or worse despite my input but contrary to what I could ever agree to! Decisions that were plainly non-commercial & were proven in time to be wrong. And guess who's back pocket feels the cost of bad decisions when you're in business? And who's butt is in the proverbial sling if things are not done right?

This just wasn't going to do any more, I have to uphold the values I got into this business for - its who I am.

So I took the very brave move to step out of the business and make something new - something I could really love and be passionate about and that upheld all of the core principles that I hold dear.

I also decided to take stock, and this is where the good bit begins.

When you "start agan", when it all falls to pieces and you have nothing left but to start again - it's an absolute blessing! There's nothing to conform to, noone to please but yourself, and it's a creation from scratch rather than a clumsy evolution of tired old systems. 

"You work from home, lucky you"

Working from home - the utopia for all those actively engaged in the daily commute to the office. No traffic, no headaches, no one pinching your lunch, no ugly office gossip, working in your pyjamas!

It's true, I guess, I don't waste time in the car, that valuable time is now spent more productively. I do get buckets more work done now than ever. But I never, ever, work in my pyjamas - the worst you'll see is uggboots (and I used to do that in an office) and an oversized jumper in cold weather. Oh and bulldog clips for hair accessories - but again, I'd do that anywhere too.

The key to successfully running a business at home lies in scheduling and boundaries. Well that's the theory anyway. I struggle with this a bit as I hate scheduling. And even that is not strictly true - I love booking things in and I love to have plans and activities to go to. I can't stand inactivity or not knowing what's coming up, but actually scheduling 9-10 each day as time to do x or y activity - yawn! Routine and I are not friends.

But, alas, I do schedule in the important routine tasks, and I do divide my day into work and play time and try my best to stick to these divisions ( blurry lines, kinda faint but they are there).  Because the nature of my work calls on me to work evenings there are times in the 9-5 day set aside for life & family, and the blurryness of my boundaries allows me the flexibility of answering that call during family time and attending that assembly when it would otherwise be a work hour.

Without clear(ish) boundaries its quite easy to slip back into the office for 10 minutes and slink back out hours later to find the family have moved on without you - be mindful of how quickly time flies when you are not having fun! Work when you are most productive and efficient, or when the work is most important but never lose sight that you are in business to live - not living to work. Very few regret on their deathbed time not spent head down toiling away. 

Children also grow up at an alarming rate when you are in the office, if they are the reason you took work home - don't lose them in the process.

And working from home is quite isolating (especially in pyjamas I imagine!) so schedule in networking and connecting with other people. Not only is it great for business but you learn and grow - I have met some really amazing people who think just like me and this makes me feel incredible and inspired and ever so clever.... Seriously though, the idle chatter of an office is a major party of your social activity that you take for granted, and human beings need this social contact for sanity, this is certain. It's this one aspect that I miss, nothing else.

Girlfriends are essential too. I walk with a friend (almost) daily, and this outlet along with the occasional coffee break is a perk you must include in your routine. Again, are you not doing this running your own business thing for the benefits it affords your life? Friends are the new family community aren't they?

My work day is mainly broken up around the kids - so you'll rarely catch me before 10 am, and from 2 till 3:30 everyday I'm elusive too, and as I work evenings I feel justified in this. If I'm not actually at an appointment of an evening (or two or three in a row as it seems of late!) then I'm sitting with the iPad or laptop and I'm happy to talk and work this way - people are often surprised when i reply to an email st this hour but seriously, thats when its convenient for you and me so why not! Wednesdays are my scheduled "day off" which means I'll clear my emails and take calls and look after anyone urgent but that's the limit. The focus thereafter is my four year old, I've only this last year at home with her.

Fortunately, the key times for this industry are 10 am any given day; but especially Mondays, and from 4 in the afternoon till late every day ( and again especially Fridays). So this suits the balance I aspire to.

The things I don't schedule well are the creative things - like posting here or on my Facebook, these tend to be done when the creative urge hits more than by schedule, and these are the first things to get bumped when when I'm busy elsewhere, so apologies in advance if you're waiting for a post and I'm off being busy...!

As a final note, the beauty of my surroundings is the icing on my work from home cake - I am very lucky to have a gorgeous property with views of green from almost every window, and i can sit on the back deck overlooking the pool if the urge takes me. I chose my office space especially for the view which looks out on a row of camellias - my favourite plants - and within the last week I've had a princess parrot (I think) and yellow tail black cockatoos as visitors to my view. Blue tongues lizards are common place & the biggest garden skinks you've ever seen, and my most faithful companion is my standard poodle Ralph, who sleeps at my feet as I work. If only he could make coffee...

Off topic - where are the leaders?

Last night I sat with a bunch of inspiring local business women (what a fabulous event) and the topic arose - where are our charismatic, purposeful leaders in Australia?

I am of the opinion that our current leaders and political parties are too much focused on their own agendas and not the greater good of the people. I think they have forgotten the real reason they are employed, which is to lead & administer the country with its best interests at heart - and not just to be re-elected by any means.

I'm being idealistic and naive - I am aware of this.

My personal opinion: we don't pay our politicians enough.

If Australia wants to attract the kind of talent capable of running an organisation which ultimately cares for 23 million people and counting, we need to pay the right kind of money; the kind of money which can attract that kind of talent. Seriously. If you're that candidate - you're good enough to run this mega-corporation -  are you going to chose a $350,000 salary and the life of backstabbing and manipulation that we see play out in parliament or are you going to aim to be CEO of our major corporations with salaries in the millions of dollars.  My apologies to those who are in politics for the greater good, and I am sure there are some, but it seems the vast majority of our very top parliamentarians are prepared to take a multi-million dollar pay cut for the sake of power and that's not right for the country.

While we are on the topic of corporations, we really do need to see a more corporate attitude in the running of the country. I would really love to see a corporate leader have free reign to clear out the duplication, remove a whole level of government and start the country running more efficiently, more cost effectively and more accountably. Better still, you haven't seen efficiency like there is in small business - lets get a mother and small business operator to show them how it's done. (Not me, I'm too busy)

One suggestion made was should we elect our media (who I agree have a far greater influence on the population) and have our politicians apply for the top jobs? Interesting, and I can see merit in this.

Overwhelmingly though, the agreement was that in Australia we are too damn lucky. We don't struggle, we don't have suffer, we have great healthcare (relatively) and education, roads, transport etc. we are all blessed and therefore the drive,  the inspiration that creates a great leader is absent. What are our politicians charged with but the administration of Australia - there is no burning agenda for them to address, nothing of the ilk of the rest of the world. Nothing for them to aspire to repair as their own personal legacy. Lucky us.

Gadgets are business essentials - right? Right!

OK so I have a new gadget, and I love it.

Very new, first use today actually, but I'm already hooked.

I bought a bluetooth wireless headset. As far as my accountant is concerned it's a headset for purposes of freeing up my hands to type while I'm on the phone (but actually initially it was for walking without jiggling cords and juggling calls and listening to music in the bath... but well, let's just keep that between us - ok?).

Here's why I love it... I don't know about you but as soon as I walk away from the desk without my phone in hand it rings. If I take it with me - deadly silence - but without the phone it's a mad dash back before voicemail kicks in.

And sometimes its plain inconvenient to take the phone - remember I'm working from home with kids, sometimes I'm working in conditions not conducive to having a phone fall out of your pocket - think water / paint / bending down / almost anywhere!

Enter headset - aha! I've got you now, press a button and the call is answered, which (if you know me) makes my determination to avoid paper & record everything electronically so much simpler. And it has excellent range too - going to check the mail shortly which will test exactly how good that range is.

For those that are thinking I look like a geek, well yes I probably do, but refer above - if working from home  is supposed to mean you can work in your PJ's (and I refuse to do that) then surely a headset is a non-issue?


Gadget junky, yes -  guilty as charged -  but this one is a business MUST!

What's your favourite gadget, for purely business purposes of course?

Working from home with kids? You are officially superwoman!

I am fortunate enough that I work from home around my kids and family - I can structure my day and be here for them as well as achieve in a stellar business *ahem* and maybe even keep the place clean and from falling around my ears.

I am blessed to do this - no question.

But let me tell you, it's less like "balance" and more like "survival of the fittest"!

My darling four year old - love her as I do - takes it as a personal challenge when I pick up the phone.

Try making sense and sounding professional let alone actually delivering quality information with a child climbing up the back of your chair. I am deadly serious. She inserts herself, somehow, between me and the chair back and proceeds to climb onto my shoulders.

Is she interested in me at all when the phone is free - not a chance, but as soon as I pick it up there's a gleam in her eye and I am the target. It's not like she is lacking attention necessarily, I'm sure it's a deliberate test of her skills on her part.

Did you know you can talk on the phone and take notes and make a sandwich all at once? Try working around kids and you will learn skills you never imagined you might have. If only they had a use in the wider community.

I have employed many many devices to help me get my work done well, from headsets and ipad's (for her not me) through to chocolate if necessary (and she believes chocolate is always necessary).

At least she is past the crying baby stage. If you are working around small babies I salute you, because I have been there. Babies are allergic to the ring tone on your phone - any ring tone -  it is guaranteed to wake them up and I also guarantee that you will, at some stage, clean up vomit or poo or something else revolting that has just exploded in front of you with a phone nestled on your shoulder and a blissfully unaware client on the other end of the line.

And so, to fellow mums working from home - you are indeed superwoman, never doubt it - and to our children, challenge accepted, big school is never far away, and I do hope that when you look back on these years you appreciate our presence.

Not sure you're good at this "business" stuff? You've started, that's pretty good!

A little while ago I sat with a group of girls, some of whom are in business and making a living - and one of the ladies - she's a photographer and I am sure she takes amazing photos -  made a comment that she is "not sure she's good at this business stuff".

OK, so this may be reasonable and truthfully I don't know how much money she is making or what difference she is making to her life by "being in business" but it occurs to me that - at this level anyway - it's nowhere near as hard as we imagine.

It occurs to me that maybe we are looking for something more than it is.

Your business covers it's expenses - right?
There's money to spare to put food on the table?
You're getting work and feeling satisfied trading your "hours" for "business"
Good work - you're on top of this!

Small business is not being the CEO of Telstra, you don't have to be the genius entrepreneur or administrator and make complicated decisions that affect the life and livelihoods of multitudes of persons. If you are the CEO of Telstra or other such big corporation maybe you do need to be "good" at this stuff. If not you're good enough, and there's plenty you'll learn along the way to make you better.

My one big tip, if I may, be authentic, be real and true to your "gut", and you're going to be just fine. In my opinion anyway.

Welcome aboard, let's get started.

Welcome, let's get started.

You can call me Bec, I don't stand for this formal stuff, and I don't suggest I have too many uniquely brilliant insights; but what I do have is experience on the run & I'm happy to share it with you!

I have been a running small business in Australia for around 12 years now. 10 of those - or near enough - were in a business partnership and now I am on my own. In that previous structure I had an office, staff and all of the ancillary issues; right now it's just me (2013) and it's quite literally, business, my way.

If you're in business, if you're thinking of going into business, if you have a burning spark of an idea, then I hope we can find something useful in listening to each other.

Enjoy the ride.